Redwood Classic

by Ralph W. Andrews

This book is one man's memorial to the magnificent natural redwood Sequoia trees in California which today number only a fraction of the groves of 125 years ago. Through outstanding photographs, Ralph Andrews presents 239 different views of redwood trees three thousand years old on average at various stages of use. Straight, elegant trees are so wide 20 men touching fingers-to-fingers can stand around the trunk. These trees were used to build lumbering empires, and they kept thousands employed. Many of the lumbermen themselves are quoted in memories of their work on the old trees--hardships, inventions, earthquakes and fires, sawmills, logging camps and shipping are remembered.

174 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1985

Reviews

[Chason · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very thorough recounting of the history of the destruction of the redwood forests in California, both the coast redwoods and the giant sequoias. The author does an exhaustive recounting of all the individual mills and the individuals who owned and ran them, so much so that some of the paragraphs are just lists of the names of mills and people. For those who are interested in that level of detail this is an excellent resource, but for me I couldn’t care less and skipped those parts. I understand that these people were simply trying to make a living and their inventiveness in optimizing the efficiency of how they harvested the timber deserves a certain respect. The building of San Francisco, Sacramento, and other cities in California led to a demand for materials and redwood with its renowned resistance to rot, destruction by insects, and attractiveness made it extremely desirable.

Initially, the redwoods along the harvesting of coast redwoods was very laborious, with the massive trees basically dragged out of the forest by teams of oxen over skid roads and down to ships, which would sometimes take multiple days and was fairly dangerous due to the rockiness of the California coastline. Over time the development of heavy machinery like steam donkeys made transporting the redwoods a bit easier and more efficient and the building of roads - mainly highway 101, the “Redwood Highway” - and the invention of automobiles made transporting the trees even more so.

The book also details the harvesting of the giant sequoias of the Sierra Nevada, an extremely difficult task that although was attempted by many actually was so expensive that very few turned a profit, making it a more egregious tragedy. One of the most interesting parts of the book is the recounting of a reporter who rode down an extremely long logging flume aboard a hollowed out log along with two of the owners of the logging company that build the flume, which was reportedly 70+ miles long and cost $300,000 to build. It was a harrowing ride to say the least and one all the men agreed was an experience they would never want to repeat.

The book is full of interesting photographs, many featuring the huge logs with the lumbermen standing around them, clearly illustrating the massiveness of the old growth redwoods. In just 150 years man managed to cut down all but 5% of the old growth coast redwoods, a fact that is one of the greatest tragedies in California history. As I mentioned, the harvesting of the giant sequoias rarely led to a monetary profit and many who attempted it went bankrupt in the process, a fact that I take some satisfaction from. I feel zero sympathy for the rich people who lost their fortunes trying to destroy these wonders of nature, but for the common lumbermen they had to earn a living somehow and their work and lifestyle was both dangerous and difficult.

Overall this was an interesting read and I’d recommend it despite the negative feelings I had while reading it. It definitely gave me an even greater appreciation for the people who fought to preserve the remaining old growth redwood forests and protect them for future generations to appreciate.