“Santa Cruz was associated in our minds with neither
seaside resort nor mission, but with the grove of giant redwoods second only to
the mighty trees of Mariposa … [we] crossed by a high, frail looking suspension
footbridge which swayed and quivered in a most alarming manner, though it probably
was safe enough. The trees are at the bottom of the canyon in a deep dell shut
in by towering hills on either side. They are known as Sequoia Sempervirens (a
slightly different species from the Sequoia Gigantea of the Mariposa Grove) a
variety never found far from the sea.”
“The grove is private property and the guardian
nonchalantly said, ‘Two bits each, please,’ when we expressed our desire to go
among the trees. He then conducted us around a trail, reciting some interesting
particulars about the tawny Titans.”
‘There are eight
hundred trees in the grove,’ he said, ‘and of these one hundred and fifty are
over eleven feet in diameter. The largest of all, the Giant, is twenty-two feet
in diameter and three hundred and six feet high; these proportions vary curiously
from his namesake, the Grizzly Giant of Mariposa,* supposed to be the oldest
tree in the world, which is thirty-four feet in diameter and two hundred and
twenty-five feet high. This is the only group so near the coast and generally
they grow much higher above the sea level. I saw two of them fall in a terrific
storm that swept up the valley a few years ago and the shock was like an
earthquake. You can see from the one lying yonder that their roots are shallow and
they are more easily overthrown than one would think from their gigantic
proportions. This old fire hollowed fellow here could tell a story if he could
speak, for General Fremont made it his house when he camped in this valley … Yes,
it is a good deal of a picnic ground here in season—the grove is so accessible
that it is visited by more people than any of the others.’
“All of which we counted worth knowing, even though
recited in the perfunctory manner of the professional guide.”
This tour group was guided through the grove in 1915. Unfortunately,
the identity of the guide is not given. It seems likely this recitation was
typical of the grove guides. Though this guide had a little trouble with dates.
He told the visitors that Frémont camped in the grove in 1848, when in
truth, Frémont’s scientific expedition spent a few weeks in the grove during the Spring of
1846. The guide also repeated the oft told "story" of Frémont camping within the hollow of a redwood.
In 1908 Herman Welch claimed his family kept three men
employed to maintain a constant watch against visitors taking strips of bark
and branches out of the grove as souvenirs. Perhaps these men also served as tour
guides. The identities of a few grove guides at the opening of the 20th
century are known because of brief mentions of the occupation in their
obituaries such as William H. Orchard (guide from circa 1900 to 1920) and Harley Kelly. Will Leslie, a UC Berkley law
student, spent at least one summer (1909) working as a guide. It is hoped that
more information about them and other grove guides will be found in the future.
* The visitor is comparing the giant sequoia, the Grizzly Giant of the Mariposa Grove in Yosemite with Big Trees Grove's largest coast redwood, the Giant which was originally named Fremont's Tree but also known as the San Lorenzo Giant.
Source: On Sunset Highways – A Book of Motor
Rambles in California, by Thos. D. Murphy, The Page Company: Boston, 1915.
