Sequoiadendron giganteum is a species of coniferous tree, classified in the family Cupressaceae in the subfamily Sequoioideae. Giant sequoia specimens are the most massive trees on Earth. They are native to the groves on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California but have been introduced, planted, and grown around the world.
Kings Canyon National Park is a national park of the United States in the southern Sierra Nevada, in Fresno and Tulare Counties, California. Originally established in 1890 as General Grant National Park, the park was greatly expanded and renamed on March 4, 1940. The park's namesake, Kings Canyon, is a rugged glacier-carved valley more than a mile (1,600 m) deep. Other natural features include multiple 14,000-foot (4,300 m) peaks, high mountain meadows, swift-flowing rivers, and some of the world's largest stands of giant sequoia trees. Kings Canyon is north of and contiguous with Sequoia National Park, and both parks are jointly administered by the National Park Service as the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
Sequoia National Park is a national park of the United States in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and today protects 404,064 acres of forested mountainous terrain. Encompassing a vertical relief of nearly 13,000 feet (4,000 m), the park contains the highest point in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney, at 14,505 feet (4,421 m) above sea level. The park is south of, and contiguous with, Kings Canyon National Park; both parks are administered by the National Park Service together as Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. UNESCO designated the areas as Sequoia-Kings Canyon Biosphere Reserve in 1976.
Calaveras Big Trees State Park is a state park of California, United States, preserving two groves of giant sequoia trees. Located 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Arnold, California in the middle elevations of the Sierra Nevada, it has been a major tourist attraction since 1852, when the existence of the trees was first widely reported. Two famous exhibition trees, the Discovery Tree and the Mother of the Forest, were felled for display. It is also considered the longest continuously operated tourist attraction in California.
General Grant Grove, a section of the greater Kings Canyon National Park, was established by the U.S. Congress in 1890 and is located in Fresno County, California. The primary attraction of General Grant Grove is the giant sequoia trees that populate the grove. General Grant Grove's best-known tree is called General Grant, which is 267 ft (81 m) tall and the third-largest known tree in the world. The General Grant tree is over 1,500 years old and is known as the United States' national Christmas tree. General Grant Grove consists of 154 acres (0.62 km2) and is geographically isolated from the rest of Kings Canyon National Park.
Mariposa Grove is a sequoia grove located near Wawona, California, United States, in the southernmost part of Yosemite National Park. It is the largest grove of giant sequoias in the park, with several hundred mature specimens. Two of its trees are among the 30 largest giant sequoias in the world. The grove attracts about one million visitors annually.
Sequoia National Forest is located in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains of California. The U.S. National Forest is named for the majestic Giant Sequoia trees which populate 38 distinct groves within the boundaries of the forest.
Redwood Mountain Grove is the largest grove of giant sequoia trees on earth. It is located in Kings Canyon National Park and Giant Sequoia National Monument on the western slope of California's Sierra Nevada. The grove contains the world's tallest giant sequoia. The Hart Tree and Roosevelt Tree grow in the grove and are two of the 25 largest trees by volume in the world. The largest tree is the General Sherman Tree in the Giant Forest grove to the southeast.
The Giant Forest, famed for its giant sequoia trees, is within the United States' Sequoia National Park. This montane forest, situated at over 6,000 ft (1,800 m) above mean sea level in the western Sierra Nevada of California, covers an area of 1,880 acres (7.6 km2). The Giant Forest is the most accessible of all giant sequoia groves, as it has over 40 mi (64 km) of hiking trails.
The Wawona Tree, also known as the Wawona Tunnel Tree, was a famous giant sequoia that stood in Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park, California, United States, until February 1969. It had a height of 227 feet (69 m) and was 26 feet (7.9 m) in diameter at the base.
Converse Basin Grove is a grove of giant sequoia trees in the Giant Sequoia National Monument in the Sierra Nevada, in Fresno County, California, 5 miles (8 km) north of General Grant Grove, just outside Kings Canyon National Park. Once home to the largest population of giant sequoias in the world, covering 4,600 acres (19 km2) acres, the grove was extensively logged by the Sanger Lumber Company at the turn of the 20th century. The clearcutting of 8,000 giant sequoias, many of which were over 2,000 years old, resulted in the destruction of the old-growth forest ecosystem.
Mountain Home Grove is a grove of giant sequoia trees located in the southern part of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, and includes some of the largest trees in the world.
The General Noble Tree was a monumental giant sequoia situated in the Converse Basin Grove, within the boundaries of the Giant Sequoia National Monument, in Fresno County, California. It was believed to be the biggest tree in the world before it was felled in 1892 to become an exhibition tree at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. It was the largest tree ever felled.
The Hume-Bennett Lumber Company was a logging operation in the Sequoia National Forest in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The company and its predecessors were known for building the world's longest log flume and the first multiple-arch hydroelectric dam. However, the company also engaged in destructive clearcutting logging practices, cutting down 8,000 giant sequoias in Converse Basin in a decade-long event that has been described as "the greatest orgy of destructive lumbering in the history of the world."
The Pioneer Cabin Tree, also known as The Tunnel Tree, was a giant sequoia in Calaveras Big Trees State Park, California. It was considered one of the U.S.'s most famous trees, and drew thousands of visitors annually. It was estimated to have been more than 1,000 years old, and measured 33 feet (10 m) in diameter; its exact age and height were not known. The tree was topped before 1859. It fell and shattered during a storm on January 8, 2017.
Big Stump Grove is a giant sequoia grove located at the southwest entrance of Kings Canyon National Park in the Sierra Nevada of California. It is one of a group of eight close but narrowly separated Giant Sequoia groves situated in Giant Sequoia National Monument and Kings Canyon National Park.
Charles Clifford Curtis (1862–1956) was a pioneering American photographer who is best remembered for his documentary photography of the logging industry in the Sierra Nevada mountains in the late 19th century. His photographs, which captured the felling of the famous Mark Twain Tree and the General Noble tree, helped to convince the public that these giant sequoias were not a hoax. Curtis was well known for his use of large plate photography, which allowed him to capture portraits of people and gatherings that were dwarfed by the scale of the giant trees. His images of logging crews working in the rugged terrain of Converse Basin are considered some of the most iconic and enduring images of the era.
The Discovery Tree, also known as The Mammoth Tree was a Sequoiadendron giganteum tree located in Calaveras Grove, California. In 1852, A.T. Dowd found a grove in the Sierra Nevada; the trees in the grove were believed to be the first giant sequoia trees to be discovered, though some earlier reports of giant sequoias were reported. The trees he discovered included the Discovery Tree, with a height of 300 feet (91 m) high and a base measuring over 24 feet (7.3 m) in diameter. The Discovery Tree was cut down and shipped to San Francisco and New York City as an exhibition tree. The tree played a large role in the introduction of the Yosemite Grant to Congress, an act that helped preserve the giant sequoias. The stump of the Discovery Tree is a popular attraction in Calaveras Grove, which has about 200,000 visitors each year.
Exhibition trees are monarch specimens of Sequoiadendron giganteum harvested from California's Sierra Nevada Mountains and displayed at international expositions, world's fairs, and botanical gardens during the late 19th century. Renowned for their immense size and age, these trees fascinated 19th-century audiences and played a pivotal role in raising awareness about the need for conservation.
The Mark Twain Tree falling in what is now Kings Canyon National Park.
The end view of the Mark Twain Tree when it was felled in 1891.
Fifty men stand on the massive stump of the Mark Twain Tree.
Assembling the trunk section of the Mark Twain Tree for display in New York in 1892.
Vintage postcard.
The Mark Twain Tree display at the American Museum of Natural History in 2012.
