Mariposa Grove Tunnel Trees by Zina Abbott

The bulk of this post was first published on the Cowboy Kisses blog on July 27, 2019. Since I recently published a book in which the Mariposa Grove plays a prominent role in the setting, I consider it appropriate to share it again.

Mariposa Grove is located near Wawona, California. It is the largest grove of giant sequoias, or Sequoiadendron giganteum, in the park, with several hundred mature examples of the tree. 

My husband grew up in Merced County and visited Yosemite National Park, includng Mariposa Grove, frequently in his youth. I moved up this way later. In all the times I have been to Yosemite, I don’t recall having visited Mariposa Grove. Then, when he and I decided to visit this park attraction several years ago, we were told no. 

The Mariposa Grove was closed for three years for renovations. It reopened in June, 2018. Unfortunately, although we had been waiting those three years for Mariposa Grove to open, our 2018 trip to Yosemite National Park took place before the opening date. 

Things have changed. It used to be visitors could drive to the various famous and named trees within the grove. We can no longer do that. There is now a parking lot by the visitors center where people must leave their vehicles behind and board a shuttle bus to take them to the walking tour area. There are three walking tours available: one about .3 miles one way, one about 2 miles round trip, and one 8 miles round trip. We took the middle tour at the end of which was the surviving tunnel tree in Mariposa Grove.

At one time there were two tunnel trees.

Wawona Tunnel Tree

Wawona Tree 1887 Painting

The Wawona Tree, also known as the Wawona Tunnel Tree, was a famous giant sequoia that stood in Mariposa Grove until February, 1969. It had a height of 227 feet (69 m) and was 26 feet (7.9 m) in diameter at the base.

The origin of the word Wawona is not known. A popular story claims Wawō'na was the Miwok (a local Indian tribe who often inhabited Yosemite) word for "big tree", or for "hoot of the owl". Birds are considered the sequoia trees' spiritual guardian.

A tunnel was cut through the tree in 1881, enlarging an existing fire scar. Two men, the Scribner brothers, were paid $75 for the job (equivalent to $1,947 in 2018). The tree had a slight lean, which increased when the tunnel was completed. 

Created by the Yosemite Stage and Turnpike Company as a tourist attraction, this human-made tunnel became immensely popular. Visitors were often photographed driving through or standing in the tunnel.

The following is from the book, The Pacific Coast Scenic Tour by Henry T. Finck published in 1890:

There is aflutter of excitement as we approach the Tunnel Tree, or Wawona (which is Indian for big tree), through which the stage drives as it stands, with horses, passengers, and all. The diameter of this tree at the ground is twenty-seven feet, or three feet less than the Grizzly Giant; the tunnel of which we go through it is ten feet high and from six to ten feet wide. Just as we drive into it, a poetic youth exclaims to his fair companion, Now look out for spiders!

Even President Theodore Roosevelt, during his 1903 visit to Yosemite National Park, traveled through the Wawona Tree Tunnel.

President Theodore Roosevelt traveling through Wawona Tunnel Tree- 1903

Maintaining the Wawona Tree was part of an effort by the Park Service to increase tourism in the age of the automobile. Stephen Mather, the first Director of the National Park Service, was a main supporter of building a tourist clientele for the parks, which would in turn attract increasing appropriations from Congress and establish the Park Service as a legitimate and noteworthy bureaucratic agency. 

1918- Automobile travels through Wawona Tunnel Tree

Mather and his chief aide, Horace Albright, who would also be his successor, worked to make the parks as accessible as possible and, with drive-through attractions such as the Tunnel Tree, as memorable as possible. Mather and Albright had already worked on the "See America First" campaign, trying to connect with western railroads to increase visitation to the parks.

Automobile by Wawona Tunnel Tree - 1929

In the 1920s, the Park Service actively promoted automobile tourism. Roads and roadside attractions bloomed on the sites of Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, and Yosemite. Roads, they believed, would also increase accessibility for "those who are not as strong and agile as you and I, for they too are entitled to their inspiration and enjoyment,"  

Fallen Tunnel Tree

After a heavy load of snow fell on its crown in February, 1969, the Wawona Tunnel Tree fell. It was estimated to have been 2,300 years old. At the time, the park service debated about what to do with it. It has remained where it fell primarily for ecological reasons. Because of their size, giant sequoias can create vast new ecosystems when they fall, providing habitat for insects and animals and allowing new plant growth. Currently, it is known as the Fallen Tunnel Tree and is still a tourist destination.

California Tunnel Tree

1920s Park Employee & passenger California Tree

A modest notice of both the Wawona Tree and another tunnel tree appears in the May 28, 1899 issue of a Sacramento Daily Union article: "In the lower grove there is another tree through which the wagon road runs. It is named California and is twenty-one feet in diameter at the base and 248 feet in height."

The California Tunnel Tree, whose passage was dug in 1895 as a novelty for stagecoach riders, is still standing. Visitors are allowed to walk through it. Evidently, while the Wawona Tunnel Tree still stood, the California Tunnel Tree got no respect from the historical photographers. Most images I found online were taken after the Wawona Tree toppled in 1969.

After we reached the California Tunnel Tree, both my husband and I decided whoever determined the length of this hike must have measured “as the crow flies.” We were sure it was longer than .9 miles. Since we live about 100 feet above sea level and this section of the park is about 5,500 feet elevation, it turned into quite a jaunt. Because we did not realize until after we arrived that visiting the trees in Mariposa Grove these days involves hiking, we did not bring water with us on the shuttle bus. Fortunately, a kind fellow hiker gave us a bottle of water. If you visit Mariposa Grove, be sure to bring water.

 

California Tunnel Tree today

 

We did make it to the California Tunnel Tree. My husband recalled being able to drive through this tunnel tree before they closed it to automobile traffic in 1969 or so. Here he and I are standing at the entrance.

For more images of tunnel trees, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

My recent publication, Anthelia Yosemite Bride, is set next to the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees with scenes inside the grove. At the time, the grove was not part of Yosemite National Park, but was included in the Yosemite Grant along with Yosemite Valley.

 

Anthelia Yosemite Bride currently available for sale as an ebook. It is also available on Kindle Unlimited. You may find the book description and purchase link by CLICKING HERE.

Sources:

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/02/15/opening-date-announced-for-yosemites-famous-mariposa-grove/

https://hyperallergic.com/350561/drive-through-trees-in-pictures/

https://archive.org/details/pacificcoastscen00finc/page/n10

Singing the praises of the wheelbarrow ~ Gini Rifkin

   Over the last twenty years, I've spent a good amount of time pushing a wheelbarrow. They should make one with an odometer! 

   Until it breaks down, this simple farm implement is hugely taken for granted. When it does go south, you are up a creek with more than no paddle.

The term "wheelbarrow" is made of two words: "wheel" and "barrow." "Barrow" being a derivation of the Old English "barew". It originally denoted a simple frame with handles and no wheel used for carrying loads, often requiring two people to operate. 

 In ancient China, the wheel was typically in the center of the barrow. There is little evidence that the Greeks used this idea, and the Romans preferred four wheeled carts.  

The first wheelbarrows in medieval Europe appeared sometime between 1170 and 1250. the first archival reference was in medieval Europe 1222, specifying the purchase of several wheelbarrows for the English king's works at Dover.

 When we were children, wheelbarrow was a game of competition. 

 That still holds true today, especially if libations are allowed. 

In Hungary, they have The Wheelbarrow Olympics. It's an international sporting event! 

Participants compete individually and in teams, in several categories: solo, double, triple, sandwich, and in speed and skill exercises.

  Take a minute and watch the Red Barrows of Devon, England. They have ramps, a ring of fire, and precision barrow-flying moves.  

Meet the flying Red Barrows

The Red Barrows competition

England also has the Overton's Fancy Dress Wheelbarrow Race. Looks like they pick a different theme every year. 

I'm was thinking of decorating my wheelbarrow, although the goats would most likely make short work of anything I put on it, including paint.    

They have two-wheeled models now. They don't fall over as easily when attacked by naughty goats, but they are far less maneuverable in stalls.  

    Here's a snazzy one, so pretty, but no way could I bring myself to filling it with donkey doo!

  Who knew the unassuming ancient wheelbarrow would make it to modern times as an essential helper on the farm, as well as become a source of competition and merriment. 

Amazon author  https://amzn.to/2R53KA9

Western Romance:

* Break Heart Canyon * Undercover Outlaw*  A Cowboy’s Fate 

* Special Delivery* Cowboys, Cattle and Cutthroats 

Contemporary Romantic Thriller:

* Fatal Recall

Contemporary Fantasy

The Fae Warriors Trilogy: 

*Solace * Bliss * Portence

Medieval Romance:

*The Dragon and The Rose * Iron Heart * Promise Me Christmas

Victorian Romance: * Lady Gallant * Victorian Dream

 

When Is the Harvest Moon 2025? by Reggi Allder

 

   The Harvest Moon is not always in the same month. It’s the full moon that occurs nearest to the autumn equinox (September 22 or 23).

This means that the Harvest Moon can occur in September or October, depending on how the lunar cycle aligns with the Gregorian calendar. Gregorian calendars are based on the progression through the seasons as the Earth revolves around the Sun. 

      The Harvest Moon refers to the full, bright moon that occurs closest to the start of autumn. The name dates from the time before electricity.

According to the Farmer’s Almanac in 2025, the bright Harvest Moon is on Monday, October 6, full illumination at 11:47 P.M. The full moon will last for three days, including the prior night of October 5 and the following night of October 7. If the Harvest Moon is not in September, the full moon is called a Corn Moon. If the Harvest Moon is not in October, the full moon is often known as a Hunter’s Moon.

     When farmers depended on the moon’s light to harvest their crops, they worked late into the night. With the bright light from the full moons, the longer days helped them to harvest the crops before the colder months arrived.

   Cowboys were not specifically affected by the moon except to say they worked dawn to dusk, so in that sense, they had to work longer hours during the Harvest Moon.

  Why mention these full moon dates in late August? If you know, you might plan to be somewhere you can see the bright illumination unaffected by city lights.

Her Country Heart by Reggi Allder Sierra Creek Series Book 1 of 4 books. Amy Long needs a forever home. Downsized, she lost her apartment in the city and returned to the small town of Sierra Creek to find a fresh start. In the California foothills, she plans to run her grandmother’s organic apple farm and harvest the apples. 

Does Amy belong? Cowboy Wyatt Cameron doesn’t think so. She’s in the way of his plans and as executor of her grandmother’s estate, he has the power to send her packing.

What can she offer to change his mind?

5 stars reviews “If you love cowboys, small towns, second chances, and real-to-life characters, the Country Heart Sierra Creek books are for you!” “Perfect when you need a feel-good read.” “A seriously great book!!” “Great characters, I couldn’t stop reading to find out what happened next!” ★ 

Excerpt: 

Her Country Heart by Reggi Allder

Wyatt’s black pickup truck was parked at the curb in front of the building when she came out of the courthouse.

“I’ll drive you to Granny’s farm.”

Don’t you mean your farm? She bit back the caustic reply. A thief, the thought of sitting next to him in the truck turned her stomach. But with no cab or bus in town, a five-mile walk to Granny’s house dragging a giant suitcase in one-hundred-degree heat wasn’t appealing either. She squelched the need to tell him what he could do with his ride. With a hiss under her breath, she got in his truck and slammed the door shut.

“Amy, did you say something?”

“No.”

He looked unconvinced but started the engine without saying anything more.

A few minutes later, the Ford turned off the two-lane highway onto Star Route Three.

She waited for Granny’s property to come into view at the end of the road. Had it been two years since she’d come home? It seemed like yesterday. How could everything look the same when her world had totally changed?

In anticipation, she sat forward. The apple orchards appeared first, the trees green-leafed and flushed with fruit almost ready to be harvested. No matter how many new brands of apples came on the market, the red delicious apple defined the fruit for her.

The white two-story traditional American farmhouse with its pointed gables and wraparound porch, so popular in the Sierra Foothills, glistened in the late afternoon. Her chest tightened at the sight.

Soon, the sun would be setting. So many times, she and Granny had sat on the porch peeling apples for applesauce as they watched the late afternoon sky turn orange.

Wyatt drove the truck into the driveway and turned off the engine. Anxious to get into the house, she reached into her pocket and felt for the key Granny had given her many years earlier.

“If you will get my suitcase out of the truck, I won’t keep you. I’m sure you’d like to get home.”

Wyatt’s eyebrows rose as he turned to face her. “I thought you understood—I live here.”

Buy links: 

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https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B012U5UTGW/

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B012U5UTGW

https://www.amazon.ca/ebook/dp/B012U5UTGW 

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Cowboy Kisses News ~ Julie Lence

Hello Cowboy Kisses Readers! Just a quick update regarding author changes. Jan Scarbrough and Cali Black have resigned their positions and moved on to other adventures in their writing careers. Western romance authors Amanda A. Brooks and Niki Mitchell are replacing them. Amanda is taking over the 2nd Monday slot, while Niki is taking over the 1st Friday slot. The Cowgirls are happy to have them as part of the team and hope you will extend them warm welcomes, too. When they become available, be sure to check out their author pages located on the right-hand toolbar.  

Thank you, & Welcome Amanda and Niki!! 

Julie  

**San Tan Flat **

The Legend of Rawhide. Nebraska or Wyoming???

  

The word Rawhide carries certain grit. It conjures up images of cattle drives, wagon trains, and the vast open prairie of the west. In both Wyoming and Nebraska, it is more than a name. It is a Legend.

The other day I fell in the YouTube rabbit hole learning about lore and legends in different states. While listening to the legends in Nebraska, the Rawhide legend caught my attention. "That happened in Wyoming," I told the television. So, I jumped on Google and looked it up and turns out there are two Legends of Rawhide.

The Legend of Rawhide Creek, Nebraska

Rawhide Creek meanders through, Dodge, Washington, Douglas, and Colfax counties. According to lore, the creek earned its title in 1849, at the height of the California Gold Rush. A young Wisconsin emigrant vowed to kill the first Native American he saw. His victim wasn't a warrior, but a Pawnee woman.

After her murder her tribe demanded justice. The man was captured, tied and flayed alive along the bends of the creek. His skin left as a warning to others passing through. 

Reuben W. Hazen, a former Army captain and Dodge County Sheriff, published a book titled History of the Pawnee Indians in 1893. In the chapter "The Pawnees Flaying a Man Alive" Hazen tells the story. He gives a detailed account of the legend. 

"After crossing the Missouri River at Council Bluffs, thence traveling 22 miles, they came to the Elkhorn River. After crossing the river, the young man saw a squaw sitting upon a log, to make his promise to kill an Indian good, he drew a bead upon his rifle and the squaw rolled off the log. The Wagon train continued to a small stream of water and camped for the night. They had not been in camp but a short time, before the Pawnees began to collect around them, their faces painted in warlike colors in streaks of red and black, to the number of hundreds, and demanded the culprit who killed the squaw... The party saw their situation and thought better that one of them be scarified than the whole party lose their lives... the young man was surrendered to them... stripped of his clothes, then laying upon his back, his hands and feet pinioned to the ground. Then they drew a knife lengthwise of the body, skinning him alive. At the same time, the Pawnee compelled the party to look upon the ghastly and horrid sight. They cut Esterbrook's body to pieces and immersed the man's skin in the little stream and since that event it derives its name, the Rawhide. The man's skin has been tanned and was in the Pawnee's possession when they went to their reservation."

Historians have tracked the location of the skinning three miles due west of Elk City, a tiny unincorporated village just south of Highway 36 about a mile and a half east of the Elkhorn River.

Many saw that the man still haunts that area. Reports of a skinless man screaming in the wind or a skin hanging from a tree have been reported.

The Legend of Rawhide, Wyoming

In Lusk, Wyoming, a wagon train is heading west from Iowa to California during the 1849 gold rush. Among a wagon train traveling west, Clyde Pickett, vows to kill the first Native American he sees. That person was a Sioux princess.

The wagon train is besieged, and the settles face harrowing choices. In the end, Clyde surrenders and meets a violent fate. His punishment, being skinned alive. The event took place near the buttes outside Lusk. They are called the Rawhide Buttes.

The Legend of Rawhide takes on a theatrical form. Every second weekend in July, the little town comes alive with the Legend of Rawhide reenactment. The town hosts parades and events with proceeds supporting local economy.

In 1946 the county didn't have much money, and they wanted to improve the fairgrounds. EvaLou Paris wrote the script for the Legend of Rawhide. The community put on the pageant, and it was a huge success. The written story for the show is about Clyde Pickett, who falls in love with Kate Farley. Clyde vows to kill the first Indian he sees to impress Kate.

Over 200 volunteer actors are involved and the reenactment draws in a large crowd to watch.

Though Nebraska and Wyoming Rawhide legends are basically the same and have no proof it actually happened, they are both frontier morality tales. Rash actions, cultural clashes, and consequences.

So who really knows if these events actually took place, but the legends continue to spark interest.

Judge Roy Bean

 Judge Roy Bean, often dubbed the "Law West of the Pecos, was one of the Old West's most colorful and controversial figures. Born in Kentucky in 1825, Bean drifted westward, living a rough-and-tumble life that included gunfights, smuggling and gambling. By the late 1880s, he had set up shop in Langtry, Texas, running a combination saloon and makeshift courthouse. From behind the bar, Bean dispensed his unique brand of justice--often guided less by the letter of the law and more by his own notions of fairness, profit, and frontier practicality. His rulings were swift, unpredictable, and occasionally laced with humor, all while he sipped whiskey and kept an eye on the poker game.

Bean's court was far from ordinary. He held trials in his saloon, the Jersey Lilly, named after the British actress Lillie Langtry, with whom he was infatuated despite never meeting her. The "courtroom" was decorated with posters of Langtry, and Bean would happily tell travelers tall tales about her. His sentences could be unconventional--fining the dead man in a shooting case for "carrying a concealed weapon" or letting offenders go if they agreed to buy a round of drinks for the crowd. Though his methods skirted official law, Bean maintained order in a rough border region where formal justice was scarce, earning him both admiration and scorn.

Despite his eccentricities, Roy Bean became a living legend before his death in 1903. Stories of his rulings spread far and wide, mixing fact and folklore until the man and the myth were nearly inseparable. For many Western readers, Bean represents the wild spirit of frontier law--where survival often depended on wit, courage, and a willingness to bend the rules. Whether viewed as a shrewd showman, a corrupt opportunist, or a folk hero who brought a kind of order to lawless lands, Judge Roy Bean's place in Western lore is secure, his life a reminder that in the Old West, justice could be as unpredictable as the desert wind. 

 

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