GENERALS & GIANTS OF SEQUOIA & KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS
A Love Your Parks Tour “Following in the Footsteps of Generals” story assigned by award-winning military historian and author Mike Guardia, who talks with Big Blend Radio about the accomplished military careers of General Sherman and General Grant.
Award-winning military historian and author Mike Guardia talks about the accomplished military careers of General Sherman and General Grant, on Big Blend Radio, both who have Giant Sequoia Trees named in their honor.
Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks in central California are home to two of the world’s largest trees by volume, the General Sherman Tree and the General Grant Tree. In fact, these two giants are easily accessible by following the Generals Highway that connects the two parks, as well as the Giant Sequoia National Monument and Sequoia National Forest.
The General Sherman Tree, reportedly the largest living tree on the planet by volume, is located in the Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park. It is approximately 2200 years old with its largest branch being seven feet in diameter. Every year it grows enough new wood to produce a 60 foot tree of usual size. It is over 275 feet tall and over 103 feet in diameter. Its weight is an estimated 1,385 tons and luckily, this tree is still standing. The General Sherman Tree was named after the American Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman, in 1879 by naturalist James Wolverton, who had served as a lieutenant in the 9th Indiana Cavalry under Sherman.
The Grant Grove in Kings Canyon National Park is home to the General Grant Tree, declared by legislation as the Nation’s Christmas Tree (1926) and a National Shrine in memory of the men and women of the Armed Forces (1956). It is also the third largest tree, by volume, on the planet. The tree was named in 1867 after Ulysses S. Grant, Union Army general and the 18th President of the United States (1869–1877). Kings Canyon National Park was established March 4, 1940, incorporating lands initially protected as General Grant National Park.
Learn more about California’s Sequoia Country at www.DiscovertheSequoias.com.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.