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The Sierra Nevada is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily in Nevada. The Sierra Nevada is part of the American Cordillera, an almost continuous chain of mountain ranges that forms the western "backbone" of the Americas.
Madera County, officially the County of Madera, is located at the geographic center of the U.S. state of California. It features a varied landscape, encompassing the eastern San Joaquin Valley and the central Sierra Nevada, with Madera serving as the county seat. Established in 1893 from part of Fresno County, Madera County reported a population of 156,255 in the 2020 census.
Oakhurst is a census-designated place (CDP) in Madera County, California, United States, 14 miles (23 km) south of the entrance to Yosemite National Park, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. At an elevation of 2,274 ft (693 m), Oakhurst is situated at the junction of Highway 41 and Highway 49, marking the southern end of California's Gold Country. It is part of the Madera metropolitan statistical area.
A log flume is a watertight flume constructed to transport lumber and logs down mountainous terrain using flowing water. Flumes replaced horse- or oxen-drawn carriages on dangerous mountain trails in the late 19th century. Logging operations preferred flumes whenever a reliable source of water was available. Flumes were cheaper to build and operate than logging railroads. They could span long distances across chasms with more lightweight trestles.
Sierra National Forest is a U.S. national forest located on the western slope of the central Sierra Nevada in California, bounded on the northwest by Yosemite National Park and on the south by Kings Canyon National Park. The forest is known for its mountain scenery and beautiful lakes. Forest headquarters are located in Clovis, California. There are local ranger district offices in North Fork and Prather.
Nelder Grove, located in the western Sierra Nevada within the Sierra National Forest in Madera County, California, is a Giant sequoia grove that was formerly known as Fresno Grove. The grove is a 1,540-acre (6.2 km2) tract containing 54 mature Giant Sequoia trees, the largest concentration of giant sequoias in the Sierra National Forest. The grove also contains several historical points of interest, including pioneer cabins and giant sequoia stumps left by 19th century loggers.
Fresno Dome is a dominant granite dome rising in isolation above the forest of Soquel Meadow in the Sierra National Forest in Madera County, California.
Bass Lake, situated in Madera County, California, within the Sierra National Forest and approximately 14 mi (23 km) south of Yosemite National Park, is a popular recreational area. The lake, formed by the Crane Valley Dam on Willow Creek, a tributary to the San Joaquin River, spans about four miles (6.4 km) in length and one-half mile (0.80 km) in width. Constructed in 1910 by Pacific Gas and Electric, the 145 ft (44 m) concrete gravity dam generates hydro-electric power through controlled releases. The lake supports a diverse ecosystem, including species such as black bears, mule deer, bald eagles, and Great blue herons, along with a variety of fish species.
Fish Camp is a census-designated place in Mariposa County, California, United States. It is located 18 miles (29 km) east of Mariposa, at an elevation of 5,062 feet (1,543 m). The population was 49 at the 2020 census. The ZIP Code is 93623, and the community is inside area code 559.
North Fork is an unincorporated community in Madera County, California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census it had a population of 3,250. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined North Fork as a census-designated place (CDP). North Fork is part of the Madera Metropolitan Statistical Area and is home to the tribal headquarters of the Northfork Rancheria of Mono Indians of California.
The Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad (YMSPRR) is a historic 3 ft narrow gauge railway with two operating steam locomotives located near Fish Camp, California, in the Sierra National Forest near the southern entrance to Yosemite National Park. Rudy Stauffer organized the YMSPRR in 1961, utilizing historic railroad track, rolling stock and locomotives to construct a tourist line along the historic route of the Madera Sugar Pine Lumber Company.
The Shaver Lake Railroad was a standard gauge logging railroad that operated in the Sierra Nevada of Fresno County, California. The line was abandoned in 1927.
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 Railroad Fire was a wildfire that burned in between the communities of Sugar Pine and Fish Camp in the Sierra National Forest in California, United States. The fire was reported on August 29, 2017 and burned 12,407 acres (50 km2) before it was fully contained on October 24. It occurred during the historic 2011–2017 California drought. The cause of the fire remains unknown.
Shuteye Peak is a mountain located in the Sierra National Forest in Madera County, California on the highest point of Chiquito Ridge. It is home to the first permanent fire lookout built in the Sierra Nevada.
The Madera Sugar Pine Company was a United States lumber company that operated in the Sierra Nevada region of California during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The company distinguished itself through the use of innovative technologies, including the southern Sierra's first log flume and logging railroad, along with the early adoption of the Steam Donkey engine. Its significant regional impact led to the establishment of towns such as Madera, Fish Camp, and Sugar Pine, as well as the growth of Fresno Flats and the formation of Madera County.
The Sugar Pine Lumber Company was an early 20th century logging operation and railroad in the Sierra Nevada. Unable to secure water rights to build a log flume, the company operated the “crookedest railroad ever built." They later developed the Minarets-type locomotive, the largest and most powerful saddle tank locomotive ever made. The company was also a pioneer in the electrification of logging where newly plentiful hydroelectric power replaced the widespread use of steam engines.
The Fresno Flume and Irrigation Company was established in 1891 as a logging and water transportation company in California. A 45-mile cedar flume was built to transport lumber from Shaver Lake to the finishing mill in Clovis. The company changed its name to the Fresno Flume and Lumber Company in 1908, and over the course of its 21-year lifespan, cut an average of 25 million board feet of lumber each year. However, in 1912, the company was sold and ceased all operations after a storm destroyed 2 miles (3.2 km) of the flume. In 1919, Southern California Edison Company bought most of the Shaver property for the Big Creek Hydroelectric Project.
References
- ↑ "The California Lumber Co". Merced County Sun. March 1874. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
The object of the company is to supply the San Joaquin Valley with a superior article of lumber at reduced prices. To accomplish this they design sawing the lumber in the great sugar-pine forests of Fresno Flats and floating the lumber down, by means of a flume, to a convenient point upon the railroad for shipping
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rose, Gene (1994). Sierra Centennial: 100 Years of Pioneering on the Sierra National Forest. Three Forests Interpretive Association. ISBN 0-944194-31-1.
- ↑ Godfrey, Anthony The Ever-Changing View-A History of the National Forests in California USDA Forest Service Publishers, 2005 p. 92
- ↑ Fresno Flats Historical Village and Park (Museum display). Oakhurst, CA: Madera County Historical Society. 2022.
- ↑ "Fire Station Proves Valuable". Santa Cruz Sentinel. Vol. 55, no. 240. 9 October 1909.
- ↑ Ritzman, David; Makdisi, Faiz; de Larios, Joseph; Sun, Joseph; Ahlgren, Charles (May 2, 2013). "Seismic Retrofit of Crane Valley Dam". Missouri University of Science and Technology. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
- ↑ Johnston, Hank (1997). The Whistles Blow No More. Stauffer Publishing. ISBN 0-87046-067-6.
- ↑ "Sugar Pine's Chinatown had its revenge". The Madera Tribune. August 8, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
- ↑ "Spectacular Display". Madera Tribune. Vol. 74, no. 37. 7 July 1965. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
- ↑ "Life in a Lumber Camp". The New York Times. New York Times. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
- ↑ Thompson, Hunter S. (1966). Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs.