Tharp's Log - Sequoia National Park, California
Posted by: teeoff2
N 36° 33.626 W 118° 44.560
11S E 344049 N 4047524
A giant red wood log used as a home for Hale Tharp, the first European settler to homestead in the Sequoia Giant Forest.
This house is on a nice trail that starts at the Cresent Meadow Picnic area in Sequoia National park.
Waymark Code: WM52BB
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 10/30/2008
Views: 37
Taken from the following
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visit link)
By the time the first European settlers arrived in the area, smallpox had already spread to the region, decimating Native American populations. The first European settler to homestead in the area was Hale Tharp, who famously built a home out of a hollowed-out fallen Giant Sequoia log in the Giant Forest next to Log Meadow. Tharp allowed his cattle to graze the meadow, but at the same time had a respect for the grandeur of the forest and led early battles against logging in the area. From time to time, Tharp received visits from John Muir, who would stay at Tharp's log cabin. Tharp's log can still be visited today in its original location in the Giant Forest.
However, Tharp's attempts to conserve the Giant Sequoias were at first met with only limited success. In the 1880s, white settlers seeking to create a utopian society founded the Kaweah Colony, which sought economic success in trading Sequoia timber. However, Sequoia trees, unlike their Coast Redwood relatives, were later discovered to splinter easily and therefore were ill-suited to timber harvesting, though tragically thousands of trees were felled before logging operations finally ceased.
Visit Instructions:Date, time-of-day, your photo, preferably including yourself or a member of your party, & desciption of your impressions
In good Groundspeak tradition, RESPECT PRIVATE PROPERTY. Most treehouse owners are proud of their treehouse and would be happy to show it to you if asked. Be sure to obtain permission to enter private property. Photos and GPS coordinates may be taken from the street or nearest appropriate vantage point.