The Days of a Man 1894 



Save the 

 Redwoods 



The Big 



Basin 

 statute 



In the course of the summer of 1894 we made a 

 delightful trip by carriage from Ukiah in Mendocino 

 County to Eureka in Humboldt, where I gave two 

 or three lectures. At Vichy Springs above Ukiah, 

 a resort standing in a class by itself, we stopped for 

 a night, principally for a delicious "Apollinaris" 

 bath in its hot carbonated water. On this run we 

 happily had with us Dr. Thoburri, a keen-eyed 

 naturalist as well as warm-hearted moralist. The 

 long drive through giant forests of undisturbed red- 

 woods was especially impressive. Unluckily much 

 of that magnificent timber has been cut away, and 

 a "Save the Redwoods" movement is becoming a 

 vital issue in northern California. 



In our section of the state we have been more 

 fortunate. The grove near Felton, already de- 

 scribed, has long been protected as a forest resort. 

 And in 1902 it was my privilege to help Governor 

 Henry T. Gage decide in favor of a bill authorizing 

 the purchase, as a state park, of the Big Basin, a 

 superb redwood forest at the head of Boulder Creek 

 in Santa Cruz County, an area covering about 3800 

 acres of undisturbed woodland. On the enthusiastic 

 initiation of the Sempervirens Club, including such 

 active beauty lovers as Father Kenna, president of 

 Santa Clara College, Andrew P. Hill of San Jose, 

 Josephine McCracken of Santa Cruz, and Professor 

 Dudley, the bill in question had been duly introduced 

 and passed by the state legislature. Yet the gov- 

 ernor hesitated. Another meritorious forestry meas- 

 ure, providing for certain investigations, also awaited 



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