Sherman Tree, perhaps the oldest and largest living thing, 36.5 feet at its greatest diameter and 272.4 feet high. There are scores of trees almost as large as the General Sherman, hundreds over 10 feet in diameter, and many thousand from the seedling stage upward.

In his book, Our National Parks, John Muir says, "* * * I entered the sublime wilderness of the Kaweah Basin. This part of the Sequoia belt seemed to me the finest, and I then named it 'The Giant Forest.' It extends, a magnificent growth of giants grouped in pure temple groves, ranged in colonnades along the sides of meadows or scattered among the other trees, from the granite headlands overlooking the hot foothills and plains of the San Joaquin back to within a few miles of the old glacier fountains at an elevation of 5,000 to 8,400 feet above the sea."

Giant Forest is also the name of the village beneath the sequoias where the Giant Forest Lodge and the housekeeping and auto camps are situated. Its summer population is about 3,000.

THE MEADOWS

The beauty of the Giant Forest region is much enhanced by the many upland meadows, flower-strewn from the first blossoming of the amethystine cyclamen, or shooting stars in May, to the golden autumn glow of the goldenrod in September. The best-known meadows are Round, Circle, Crescent, and Log, all within 2 miles of Giant Forest Camp.

THE SEQUOIAS

The California Big Trees must ever remain the supreme attraction of the park, although for many the mountain scenery and the fishing are added allurements. The Big Tree (Sequoia gigantea) is sometimes confused with the redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), the smaller species of Sequoia found only in the Coast Range of California. While gigantea approaches 40 feet in base diameter, sempervirens rarely exceeds 20 feet. The wood is similar in color and texture, but the foliage is distinct, and the bark of the Big Tree is much thicker and of a rich red color, instead of a dull brown. The most distinctive characteristic is that the Big Tree is reproduced only from the seed while the redwood when cut down sprouts from the stump.

There are many world-famous Big Trees in the Sequoia National Park, of which the General Sherman is the largest and best known. But there are scores or hundreds unnamed and almost equal to the General Sherman in size and majesty.

In addition to those noted for their size, the National Park Service has named and signed many of singular form, burned by fire, struck by lightning, or fallen in strange fashion. The trees which should be seen by all visitors are:

The General Sherman Tree.—The largest, and perhaps the oldest living thing. Discovered by James Wolverton, a hunter and trapper, on August 7, 1879, at which time he named the tree in honor of General Sherman, under whom he had served during the Civil War as a first lieutenant in the Ninth Indiana Cavalry.

The age of the tree is unknown. It is estimated by those who have made a study of the subject as between 3,000 and 4,000 years. During this time it has withstood the ravages of countless fires, and, though greatly damaged, it has continued to flourish, and today produces thousands of cones bearing fertile seed from which many seedlings have been grown.

The results of the fire damage are seen in the great wounds at the base of the tree. Through repeated fires the sap-pumping system has been damaged, and portions of the top have died; only 40 percent of live wood is in contact with the ground. The Sequoia, however, has such recuperative power that in time these fire scars will be completely healed.

The dimensions of this tree are as follows: