General Grant Tree
ECW welcomes back guest author Nate Pederson.
I collect real photo postcards (RPPCs) of historic trees and have written twice for this blog about items in my collection with a Civil War connection.[1] The series continues today with the General Grant Tree, “the Nation’s Christmas Tree,” located in Kings Canyon National Park in California.
The giant sequoia tree, at 267.4 feet tall and 107.6 feet in circumference, is the second largest tree by volume in the world. Euro-American settlers first discovered the tree in 1862, while the American Civil War was in full swing. Officially, the discovery of the 1,650-year-old tree is credited to Joseph Hardin Thomas, owner of a local sawmill, who may have named the tree in honor of Grant as early as 1862. Grant’s historical reputation, however, was far from secure in 1862 when he was heavily criticized for being surprised and incurring significant casualties at Shiloh, despite it being a United States victory. It thus seems more likely the tree was named in his honor somewhat later after he took command of the United States Army or in the immediate aftermath of the war.
According to the National Park Service, the official credit for naming the tree goes to Lucretia Baker, who camped near the tree with her family in 1867. At a minimum, Baker first drew Grant’s attention to the tree when she wrote him a letter, accompanied by branches from the tree, that same year. Grant had been freshly appointed the secretary of war in the Johnson Administration and was two years away from being elected to the United States presidency.
Baker’s letter informed the general that the tree, at the time thought to be the largest in the world, was named in his honor. Grant wrote back a kindly message on October 4: “Your favor of the 5th of September, by Express, accompanying a box containing branches &c. from the largest tree in California, and no doubt in the world, which too partial friends have done me the honor to name after me, is at hand. Please accept my thanks for thus remembering me and also for the kind expressions of regard contained in your letter.”[2]
In the 1870s, preservation efforts were launched to protect the tree and other impressive giant sequoias nearby. These efforts eventually led to the creation of the General Grant National Park, since absorbed into the Kings Canyon National Park. Grant himself visited his namesake tree in 1879 during a six-day stagecoach tour of the Yosemite Valley.
The General Grant Tree received its “National Christmas Tree” designation in 1926 when President Calvin Coolidge designated it as such after a successful public relations campaign led by Charles E. Lee of nearby Sanger, California. Two years previously, Lee had been standing by the tree when supposedly a little girl, also visiting the tree, proclaimed, “What a wonderful Christmas tree it would be.”[3] Lee liked the idea, and the next year he organized the first official Christmas program held at the tree, laying the groundwork for an annual ceremony that continues to this day.
The tree received one more presidential honorary designation thirty years later in 1956, when President Dwight Eisenhower declared it a National Shrine, dedicating it to the memory of the men and women who have given their lives in service to the United States of America. Park rangers continue to place a large memorial wreath at the base of the tree each Christmas in honor of those who paid the ultimate price for their service to this country.
Nate Pedersen is a writer and historian in Savannah, Georgia. He is the co-author of Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything. His website is http://natepedersen.com
Endnotes:
[1] I previously wrote about a witness to the battle of Pea Ridge and Custer’s Elm.
[2] Ulysses Grant to Lucretia Baker, October 4, 1867, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park, Digital Archive, https://www.nps.gov/npgallery/SEKI/AssetDetail/118dc2dd-c9e3-475d-abe3-ca032033ef13, accessed November 14, 2024.
[3] “The General Grant Tree,” Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park, https://www.nps.gov/seki/learn/nature/grant.htm, accessed November 14, 2024.
Interesting story… made even better by the fact General Grant actually visited the tree. Over the course of his life Ulysses S. Grant accumulated experiences beyond his involvement in two wars: his visit to the Tomb of Napoleon and climbing active volcano Popocatepetl (nearly) to the top were crossed off Grant’s bucket list.
“Accumulated experiences” indeed! My copy of his memoirs includes a chronology, and I was greatly surprised to find that, after his presidential terms expired he went on a world tour that included Japan and shook hands with the emperor — “reported to be the first time an emperor of Japan had ever done so.”