PARK AND CEMETERY. 
196 
MUIR WOODS, CALIFORNIA’S NEW BIG-TREE PARK 
VIEW IX MUIR WOODS. CALIFORNIA’S NEW NATIONAL PARK. 
for sentimental reasons jealousl}' guard- 
ed the timber from harm or destruc- 
tion. IModern methods of logging would 
make short work of the timber and 
would besides put a handsome profit in 
the hands of the owners. 
This national monument has been 
named Muir Woods, after John Muir, 
the noted naturalist. The giants of 
Redwood Canyon will now have perma- 
nent protection by virtue of the Act of 
June 8, 1906, which provides that ob- 
jects of scientific interest may be de- 
clared national monuments if such ac- 
tion is deemed necessary for their pres- 
ervation and protection. 
The chief reason for the permanent 
protection of the land by the govern- 
ment is that there is no other redwood 
grove in the world more accessible to 
so many people. The canyon is in ab- 
solutely primeval condition, not so much 
as scratched by the hand of man. It 
is within an hour’s ride of San Fran- 
cisco. Two-thirds of the entire popu- 
lation of California live within a radius 
of 60 miles of Muir Woods. The Mount 
Tamalpais Scenic Railway Company 
has constructed a road from the famous 
‘‘Bowknot” down to the Muir Woods 
Park, a distance of about two miles. 
By this route this grand old forest may 
be easily and swiftly reached by resi- 
dents and tourists. 
Originally this land was part of the 
old Spanish grant. Rancho Sausalito. 
The largest redwoods are eighteen feet 
in diameter at the butt and will ap- 
proach three hundred feet in height, 
rising with perfectly straight and clean 
stems. As none of the big trees have 
been cut, their age is, of course, some- 
what problematical, but it is safe to say 
that the veterans have stood from one 
thousand to fifteen hundred years. 
The total stand of redwood, roughly 
estimated, is about 30,000,000 feet, with 
some 5,000,000 feet of* fir and a consid- 
erable amount of tanbark oak. The red- 
wood alone has a market value of $150,- 
000 as it stands. Except for a narrow 
strip of brush along the east border 
and a fringe along the southwest line, 
the whole canyon is covered with a 
dense forest growth. The stand is 
heaviest along the creek and on the 
lower slopes, becoming poorer above. 
Redwood is - the dominating tree, tow- 
ering high above everything else, and 
forming fully three-fourths of the whole 
forest. Douglas fir is next in impor- 
tance, and scattered over the entire tract 
are all the various hard woods common 
to the region, chief among which are 
the numerous oaks, madrono, alder, ma- 
ple and mountain Taurel, all of which 
form a kind of dwarf underwood to the 
lofty redwood and fir. The redwood 
occurs both in big and small groups 
and single trees, while the other species 
are sprinkled throughout. , 
The destruction of redwood by lum- 
bering has been so rapid in the last 
decade that it is now only a question 
of years when the original growth will 
have wholly disappeared. 
One of the most public-spirited gifts 
ever made to the government came from 
William Kent, of Chicago, who, two 
years ago, deeded to the United States 
295 acres of primeval redwood forest 
on the southern slope of Mount Tamal- 
pais, about six miles from San Fran- 
cisco. 
This means that more of California’s 
redwood giants will be saved for the 
scientific study and pleasure of the 
whole country — in fact, the whole world, 
for the great sequoias are only found 
in California. This grove given to the 
government by Mr. Kent is one of the 
only tracts of redwood forests to be 
found in its natural state in California 
to-day. The land is said to have cost 
Mr. Kent $47,000 some years ago, but 
the redwood timber alone is now valued 
at more than $150,000. 
The canyons of Tamalpais, which 
drain into San Francisco Bay, were cut 
clean years ago and the redwood ob- 
tained from them went into the con- 
struction of the old San Francisco. The 
giants on the tract, to be known as 
Muir Woods, escaped the axe, however, 
chiefly because the outlet is on the ocean 
side instead of the bay side, and also 
because the owners of the land have 
ONE OF THE BIG TREES IN MUIR 
WOODS. 
