Mariposa Grove
Encyclopedia
Wawona, California
Wawona is a census-designated place in Mariposa County, California. It is located east of Mariposa, at an elevation of 3999 feet...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, in the southernmost part of Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain...
. It is the largest grove of Giant Sequoias in the park, with several hundred mature examples of the tree. Two of its trees are among the 25 largest Giant Sequoias in the world.
The Mariposa Grove was first visited by non-natives in 1857 when Galen Clark
Galen Clark
Galen Clark is known as the first European American to discover the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia trees, and is notable for his role in gaining legislation to protect it and the Yosemite area, and for 24 years serving as Guardian of Yosemite National Park.-Early life and education:Galen Clark...
and Milton Mann found it. They named the grove after Mariposa County, California
Mariposa County, California
Mariposa County is a county in the U.S. state of California, located in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. It lies north of Fresno, east of Merced, and southeast of Stockton. As of the 2010 census, the population was 18,251 up from 17,130 at the 2000 census...
, where the grove is located.
The Giant Sequoia named Grizzly Giant
Grizzly Giant
The Grizzly Giant is a giant sequoia in Mariposa Grove, located in Yosemite National Park. The tree has been measured many times, most recently in 1990 by Wendell Flint. It has a volume of , making it the 26th largest giant sequoia living today....
is between probably 1900–2400 years old: the oldest tree in the grove. In 1932, park officials claimed it as the fifth largest (by volume) tree in the world, but other trees were subsequently found to be larger. It has a volume of 34010 cubic feet (963.1 m³), and is counted as the 25th largest tree in the world. It is 210 feet (64 m) tall, and has a heavily buttressed base with a basal circumference of 28 m (92 ft) or a diameter of 30 feet (9.1 m); above the buttresses at 2.4 m above ground, the circumference is only 23 m. Grizzly Giant's first branch from the base is 2 m (6 ft) in diameter. Another tree, the Wawona Tree
Wawona Tree
The Wawona Tree, also known as the Wawona Tunnel Tree, was a famous giant sequoia that stood in Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park. It had a height of and was in circumference....
, had a tunnel cut through it in the nineteenth century that was wide enough for horse-drawn carriages and early automobiles to drive through. Weakened by the large opening at its base, the tree fell down in a storm in 1969.
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
signed an Act of Congress on June 30, 1864 ceding Mariposa Grove and Yosemite Valley
Yosemite Valley
Yosemite Valley is a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada mountains of California, carved out by the Merced River. The valley is about long and up to a mile deep, surrounded by high granite summits such as Half Dome and El Capitan, and densely forested with pines...
to the state of California. Criticism of stewardship over the land led to the state's returning the grove to federal control with the establishment of Yosemite National Park.
The Mariposa Grove Museum is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Noteworthy trees
Some of the trees found in the grove that are worthy of special note are:- The Fallen Monarch: A tree that fell more than three hundred years ago. Giant sequoias are resistant to decay, so their remains can linger for a long period of time if undisturbed.
- The Bachelor and Three Graces: A group of four trees, three of them growing very close together, with a fourth a little more distant. Their roots are so intertwined that if one of them were to fall, it would likely bring the others along with it.
- The Grizzly GiantGrizzly GiantThe Grizzly Giant is a giant sequoia in Mariposa Grove, located in Yosemite National Park. The tree has been measured many times, most recently in 1990 by Wendell Flint. It has a volume of , making it the 26th largest giant sequoia living today....
: The oldest tree and second largest tree in the grove, with a volume of 34010 cubic feet (963.1 m³) - The Washington tree: the largest tree in the grove, with a volume of 35950 cubic feet (1,018 m³)
- The California Tunnel tree: Cut in 1895 to allow coaches to pass through it (and as a marketing scheme to attract visitors to the grove), this is the only living tree with a tunnel in it since the fall of the Wawona Tunnel Tree in 1969.
- The Faithful Couple: A rare case in which two trees grew so close together that their trunks have fused together at the base.
- The Clothespin tree: Countless fires throughout the decades nearly severed this tree's trunk, creating a space in it large enough for a pick-up truck to drive through.
- The Telescope tree: A tree that has become completely hollow from repeated fires through the decades. Despite that, the tree is still living, as Giant Sequoias do not require a whole trunk to survive. It is possible to walk inside the tree and, from there, see the sky. This condition leaves the tree weakened and makes it more difficult for it to withstand strong winds. This tree (and the Clothespin Tree) could topple at any time.
- The Columbia tree: The tallest tree in the grove and in Yosemite National Park at 285 feet (86.9 m).
- The Galen Clark tree: Of historical importance, as it is said to be the first tree seen by Galen ClarkGalen ClarkGalen Clark is known as the first European American to discover the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia trees, and is notable for his role in gaining legislation to protect it and the Yosemite area, and for 24 years serving as Guardian of Yosemite National Park.-Early life and education:Galen Clark...
when he entered the grove, and inspired his love for the Giant Sequoias and struggle for setting aside the land for preservation, a new concept in the mid-19th century. - The Wawona Tunnel TreeWawona TreeThe Wawona Tree, also known as the Wawona Tunnel Tree, was a famous giant sequoia that stood in Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park. It had a height of and was in circumference....
: Renamed the "Fallen Tunnel Tree" after it toppled over during a snow stormWinter stormA winter storm is an event in which the dominant varieties of precipitation are formed that only occur at low temperatures, such as snow or sleet, or a rainstorm where ground temperatures are low enough to allow ice to form...
in 1969. In 1881, this was the first tree to have a tunnel carved through its trunk. Its collapse is seen as a turning point in the preservation program in National Parks in the United States. So grave was the shock of the tree's collapse that the result was a greater awareness of the sensitivity of ecosystems, even for a living thing as massive as the Giant Sequoias. - The Fallen Giant: It was one of the largest trees in the grove, until it fell in 1873.
- The Massachusetts tree: It was one of the most famous trees in the grove. It fell in 1927.
Further reading
- Geology of U.S. Parklands: Fifth Edition, Eugene P. Kiver and David V. Harris (John Wiley & Sons; New York; 1999; page 227) ISBN 0-471-33218-6
External links
- Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias - Yosemite National Park
- Yosemite and the Mariposa Grove: A Preliminary Report, 1865, California State
- "Mariposa Grove", National Geographic Society
- Record from the 38th Congress, 1864 Act granting the grove to California
- Record from the 59th Congress, Act returning the grove to federal control
- Short radio episode Samoset about John MuirJohn MuirJohn Muir was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions...
showing Ralph Waldo EmersonRalph Waldo EmersonRalph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century...
the Mariposa Grove, from The Life and Letters of John Muir, 1923. California Legacy ProjectCalifornia Legacy ProjectThe California Legacy Project began in 2000 as a project at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, CA and later partnered with Heyday Books in Berkeley, CA. The project uses a research team of SCU interns to create radio scripts for the radio anthology "Your California Legacy" on KAZU 90.3 FM,...
.
