Discover History
History
The Sequoia National Forest received its name for the 33 groves of giant sequoia, Sequoiadendron giganteum, located within its boundaries. In 1847 a German botanist named Stephen Endlicher named the coastal redwood trees Sequoia sempervirens. He presumably was honoring the Cherokee Chief Sequoya or Sikwayi who invented a phonetic alphabet of 86 symbols for the Cherokee language. In 1854 a French botanist, Joseph Decaisne, applied the name to the giant sequoias, which are closely related to the coastal redwoods.
Historical and Archaeological Sites
People have been living, working, and playing in the Sequoia National Forest and Giant Sequoia National Monument for more than 9,000 years. Evidence of Native Americans, explorers, miners, loggers, and herders remain at the thousands of prehistoric and historic archaeological sites and historic buildings and structures scattered throughout the Sequoia. Remember these special places (anything over 50 years old) are protected by the Archaeological Resources Protection Act; removal or disturbance of any artifact, structure, or buried material is illegal. Enjoy the cultural resources of the Sequoia, but please help us protect them for future visitors.
Historic buildings and features to visit include the Hume Lake Dam and forest guard stations available for overnight rental (see “Staying Overnight”). Rent Oak Flat Lookout overnight, or tour one of the working fire lookouts. These fire lookouts are staffed during summer months, and visitors are welcome. The lookout towers may be closed, due to days off, lightning, fire, inclement weather, or other emergencies. Please be respectful of the person staffing the tower. Check with the local ranger station for hours of operation.
Buck Rock Lookout, in the northern portion of the monument in the Hume Lake Ranger District, is one of the oldest fire lookout buildings still in use. Enjoy the spectacular 360-degree view from Buck Rock. Built in 1923, the tower is constructed on a 300-foot granite dome. Interpretive programs and events are posted online at www.buckrock.org.
If the land could speak, it would tell many stories of Native Americans, cattle, gold prospecting, lumber camps, sheep drives, early day resorts, hot springs, pack stations, and isolated forest guard stations and fire lookouts. More than one hundred years ago in July 1908, the Sequoia National Forest was formed, and the Forest Service became responsible for the perpetuation of the natural and cultural assets within the national forest boundary.
On July 1, 2008, the Sequoia National Forest celebrated its centennial. Historical structures located throughout the forest tell a rich cultural history that have value in interpreting Forest Service history.
Forest Service Guard Stations
Guard stations were built across the forest to accommodate early rangers and their families. Many of these are in remote locations and exist today. The earliest examples were built with local materials, such as hand-hewn pine logs, using broad axes and crosscut saws. Some of these structures are recorded as historic sites, and a few are recreation rental cabins or administrative sites.
These rangers may be compared with the fire prevention technicians (FPTs) that the visitor is likely to meet during their visits today. How has field work, equipment, and lifestyle changed since the days rangers lived in the field in these guard stations?
Fire lookouts
Eleven remaining fire lookouts exist on the Sequoia, eight of which are still operated by seasonal employees or volunteers as fire lookouts and are open to the public. Oak Flat is available to visitors as a recreation rental. The Buck Rock Foundation is a volunteer organization that is involved in restoration efforts, fund raising, staffing, and interpreting these structures.
For more information, see www.buckrock.org.
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
This federal work program was started in the 1930s as a human resource conservation program during the Great Depression. These young men developed job skills, while performing resource conservation work.
Enrollees built structures, such as fire lookouts, recreation sites and retaining walls, planted trees, and fought forest fires. Their work can still be seen and enjoyed in some areas of the forest. Many of the fire lookouts and the guard stations on the Sequoia were built by the CCC and may be the best opportunities to interpret their legacy. [Photo inset: Cabins on the Forest.]
For more information, see http://ccclegacy.org/
Historic Logging Operations
Before the area became part of the Sequoia in 1935, the largest grove in the world, Converse Basin, was the site of the most extensive giant sequoia logging operation.
Amazingly, the operation never produced a profit for the operators. During the late 1930s, after the purchase of the cutover lands from timber interests, the Forest Service, with the help of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), began a gradual and extensive cleanup of the obsolete lumber camps at Hume, Millwood, and Converse Basin and the restoration of the forest ecosystem. Today these cutover lands host some of the best examples of giant sequoia regeneration, with vigorous stands of young trees thriving near the remaining monarchs.
Flumes
Elevation and steep terrain prompted timber companies to look for ways other than roads and wagons to transport the product to market. Flumes were their answer. These structures were used to transport lumber harvested and milled on the mountain ridges down to the Central Valley. The Sanger flume was constructed in 1889 and ran from the mill at Millwood, along Mill Flat Creek (54 miles), to Sanger. This flume also transported people down the mountain on occasion. In 1910, the Hume Bennett Mill constructed the longest flume that began at Hume Lake and traveled 59 miles down Tenmile Creek to the Kings River, connecting to the old flume to Sanger. The Tenmile Creek segment was too steep for all but a few flume riders. (See They Felled the Redwoods and The Whistles Blow No More, by Hank Johnston.) Traces and remnants of the flume are still present in some areas.
Flumes and penstocks diverting water to power plants are prominent in some areas of the forest. Along the Tule River, the flume is visible from Highway 190, from Springville to Pierpoint Springs, and even crosses over the highway. Other highly noticeable flumes and penstocks in use today are located along the Upper and Lower Kern River.
Lumber Mills
Millwood was located near Sequoia Lake, which was created as a storage pond and water source for the flume. This mill was used during the logging of Converse Basin. The Hume Bennett Mill replaced Millwood and was located in Long Meadow at the confluence of Tenmile and Long Meadow Creeks. Construction began in 1908 when Converse Basin was nearly cut over.
Hume Dam was the first concrete reinforced multiple arch dam built in the United States. Nominated as a National Historic Landmark, if designated, the dam would become one of the few National Historic Landmarks in the National Forest System. The resulting lake was used for log storage and as a water source for the flume. Today the lake is a popular recreation destination.
Hoists and Logging Railroads
Hoists were used, along with log chutes, to transport logs to mills, rough sawn lumber to the drying yards, and to the flumes. Converse Hoist was located on Hoist Ridge. Remnants of the hoists, such as the Rob Roy hoist, and evidence of the chutes can be seen today in some areas.
Early Settlers
Large-scale logging, gold mining, ranching, and farming brought settlers to communities in and near the Sequoia's boundaries. Evidence of many cabins on the forest still exists. The Kern Valley Museum in Kernville has displays and exhibits on the history of ranching, mining, the film industry, and hydroelectric development in the Kern River Valley.
Native American Heritage Resources
Prehistory: The Sequoia has a long and rich history of Native American occupation, travel, and trade, dating back at least 10,000 years. That prehistoric use has left behind thousands of archaeological sites throughout the forest at all elevations and in all environmental ecotones.
Winter villages, large sprawling summer trade camps along high elevation travel routes, stone-tool manufacturing locations, small overnight hunting camps, food processing sites, and plant collecting areas have all been documented in great abundance on the forest. These sites were occupied by a variety of tribes who have lived in the southern Sierra Nevada, including very recent occupations within the lifetimes of many local residents.
The Sequoia occupies transition zones between the desert cultures to the east and Central Valley cultures to the west. Yokuts, Kawaiisu, Tubatulabal, and Mono Indians all utilized portions of the forest. The Tule River Indian Reservation, the second largest in California, is partially surrounded by the forest.
Historic Trails
The Sierra Nevada was a steep and formidable obstacle, especially for settlers and miners attempting to reach new territories open for settlement or exploration. Toll trails offered these early travelers passage over the mountains. Examples of these trails are the Dennison Trail, Hockett Trail, and Kanawyer Trail.
Mining
Mining in the Sequoia is primarily associated with the metamorphic formations, and mainly in pursuit of gold, uranium, and tungsten.
Mining activity was concentrated on the southern portion of the forest in the Kern River District, along the Upper and Lower Kern Canyon and in the Piute and Greenhorn mountains. Early settlement patterns of the Kern River Valley were largely influenced by this activity.
Today gold mining is confined mostly to weekend prospecting. Mining is not allowed in the Giant Sequoia National Monument.
During the gold rush, gold mining in this area was focused in the Kern River Valley. The first significant discovery of placer gold was at Greenhorn Gulch in 1855. When placer gold played out, miners found gold bearing quartz and extracted the gold, using stamp mills to crush rocks and chemical processes to extract the gold. The Kern Valley Museum has displays and exhibits on the history of gold mining in that area.