Sequoia National Forest

The giant sequoias of The Sierra Nevada are the largest trees in the world. Located along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains, the largest of these giants have no match in height or girth. They often grow for thousands of years, making them among the oldest living things on earth. California has two species of sequoias: the coastal sequoia of Northern California, and the giant sequoia of the High Sierra.

In 1852, a story trickled down from the gold fields of the Sierras about the discovery of trees even larger than the coastal sequoia. A hunter, A.T. Dowd, stumbled onto the Calaveras Big Trees near Murphey's Camp, and soon newspapers across the country carried the story. Although pioneers had made a few sightings of other groves in previous years, it was Dowd's discovery that brought the Sierra sequoias to the attention of the world.

Sierra Sequoias
Sequoias of the Sierras are impressive to observe. Although shorter than coastal sequoias, the Sierra trees are greater in total volume as their diameters are enormous, reaching up to 40 feet. Mature sequoias are often 2,500 to 3,500 years old and could easily be older, making them second only to bristlecone pines in age.

The giants have thick, fibrous bark. Some have bark up to two feet thick. Redwood bark is resistant to insects, and affords some protection from fire damage. Root systems of the giant trees are amazingly shallow, usually penetrating only up to six feet. However, the lateral spread may reach 300 feet.

Chicago Stump
After Dowd's discovery, curious spectators made the journey to see the giant trees for themselves. Seeing the financial possibilities, a number of enterprising promoters started cutting down the larger trees for public exposition. They soon discovered that larger sections of the enormous trees were too heavy to move, so they cut the trunks into smaller cross-sections or even just sections of the thick bark. One of these Nested giants, the General Noble tree, was cut and a section of its bark sent to the 1895 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The tree was first cut off at a height of 50 feet and the stump hollowed. Fourteen-foot-long by six-inch-thick exterior sections with the bark still attached were then carefully removed, marked for reassembly, and shipped to Chicago. Visitors can view the 20-foot remaining stump on the Hume Lake Ranger District.

Early Sierra Sequoia Logging
When loggers started commercial logging of Sierra sequoias in the 1800s, they expected an incredible amount of timber volume from each tree. However, their age and size made the trees extremely brittle. Trees often shattered upon impact when felled. Many of the pieces were still too big to handle so they dynamited the huge chunks into more manageable sizes. Transport from remote areas was expensive. Whole groves were decimated before it was realized that harvesting the mature sequoias bore no major financial gain.

One of the most extensive sequoia logging operations took place in the Converse Basin. In the 1880s, the Kings River Lumber Company bought up tens of thousands of acres of forest and announced their plans for a massive logging operation. They planned to build two sawmills in the mountains and a lengthy flume system to connect the mills with the railroad in the San Joaquin Valley. In 1889, the mills became operational, and work began on the flume. They completed a total of 54 miles in 1891. As logging operations increased, other equipment was introduced, including a narrow-gauge railroad and steam-driven Dolbeer donkeys.

Following a financial recession, the company reorganized into the Sanger Lumber Company. To meet increasing operating expenses, they planned a sawmill in the nearby Converse Basin area and harvest of the giant sequoias. In 1897, operations began at the new mill. By 1908, they had thoroughly logged the area. High operation costs were never offset by the value of the lumber produced.

Boole Tree
In 1903, as logging activity still continued on Converse Mountain, word spread throughout the camps about a sequoia that dwarfed all others. This tree soon became an attraction. Tourists and lumbermen alike traveled the distance to see it. At 269 feet in height, 112 feet in circumference, and 35 feet in base diameter, the tree turned out to be the third largest sequoia known to exist. It was named "Boole" after Frank Boole, the general manager of the Sanger Lumber Company. Spared the fate of its neighbors, the Boole Tree still stands today on the Hume Lake Ranger District.

In 1905, wealthy Michigan lumberman Thomas Hume backed Ira Bennett in his bid to buy the Sanger Lumber Company. In 1908, the new Hume-Bennett Lumber Company began building a dam east of Converse Basin, the first step to moving logging operations out of what had been the largest sequoia grove. Although loggers continued to harvest sequoias in the years to come, the numbers of giants cut would never come close to those in Converse Basin.

A New Beginning
Today, the USDA Forest Service manages the giant sequoias. Natural tannins make the wood quite resistant to decay, and it is possible to see many stumps and chunks of the trees throughout much of the Forest. Today the ancient giants are no longer under threat of harvest. The best way to grasp the extent of the historical logging operation is to walk in the Converse Basin area. Quite a few mature sequoia trees and a number of groves exist throughout the Hume Lake Ranger District.