The Mark Twain Tree was a giant sequoia tree located in the Big Stump Forest of Kings Canyon National Park. It was named after the American writer and humorist Mark Twain. It had a diameter of 16 feet (4.9 meters) when it was felled in 1891 for the American Museum of Natural History as an exhibition tree.[1]
| Mark Twain Tree | |
|---|---|
 The Mark Twain Tree falling in what is now Kings Canyon National Park. | |
  Mark Twain Tree | |
| Species | Giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) |
| Coordinates | 36°43′01″N 118°57′54″W / 36.717°N 118.965°W |
| Diameter | 4.8 m (16 ft) |
The process of felling the tree took 13 days and was carried out by lumbermen Bill Mills and S.D. Phips, with assistance from Barney and John Lukey.[2] The tree was later shipped to the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the British Museum in London at the expense of Collis P. Huntington, the president of the Southern Pacific.[3] Despite the establishment of the Sequoia National Park, access to the sequoia groves was difficult and the existence of such large trees was not widely believed at the time.[1]
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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.
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Big Stump
editThe Mark Twain stump, the remains of the tree, are preserved as part of the Big Stump Picnic Area in Kings Canyon National Park.[1] The stump is near the entrance to Grant Grove.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.. "Big Stump".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Mark Twain Tree (Plaque near tree). Kings Canyon National Park: National Park Service. 2022.
- ^ Johnson, Hank (1996). They Felled the Redwoods. Fish Camp, CA: Stauffer Publishing. p. 20. ISBN 0-87046-003-X.
