Month: April 2021

Sequoia Entrance Sign Restored

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The historic entrance sign where nearly every visitor on a Sequoia Park adventure stops and takes the first park photograph of the day has been restored.

A compilation of two articles by John Elliott and The Kaweah Commonwealth staff, January and May 2018.

Nearly every visitor who enters Sequoia National Park via the Ash Mountain entrance for the first time pulls off at the turnout a quarter-mile beyond the gate to take a photo of Sequoia’s most-oft seen and photographed landmark: the historic Indian head sign. The iconic sign conjures wonderful memories for returning visitors and begins new memories for first-timers.

Carved in 1935, the mammoth sign was chiseled from a fallen giant sequoia that easily could have been 2,000 years old. The sculptor was George Muno, who was serving in the Civilian Conservation Corps at the time.

The image of the “Indian chief” was based upon the Native American profile depicted on the Buffalo nickel, first minted in 1913. The iconic sign evokes many aspects of American history from a famous American Indian to the visual stereotyping of American Indians, from Depression-era hard times to booms in tourism, from using the wood of a giant sequoia to the preservation of the Big Trees, to name a few of the more obvious contrasts that come to mind.

But even giant sequoias don’t last forever, especially ones that have been carved and painted.

In late November 2017, the 4′ high, 10’wide, 450-pound sign was taken down from its post and transported to the sign shop at Ash Mountain headquarters just up the road. For the next six months, until its remounting Wednesday, May 16, the sign’s restoration became the priority project for Bill Schenher, sign painter for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

In nearly every step along the way, Schenher had to overcome obstacles and come up with some creative problem-solving. First, he had to file a restoration plan with the office of the keeper of the National Register of Historic Places. In 1978, the huge carving was officially listed as a historic landmark.

Its cultural and historical significance is obvious, not the least of which is that it was carved and installed in 1935 during the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) tenure in Sequoia National Park. In those days, Kings Canyon National Park had yet to be created, and the Grant Grove area was still called by its original name: General Grant National Park.

Schenher began the restoration by painstakingly stripping off the paint, numerous coats of veneer, and patching a number of places that had rotted away.

“The toughest part of the entire process was doing the reverse engineering to ensure the preservation of the sign’s historical composition and appearance,” Schenher said.

Next came the making of the new post that supports the sign.

“I don’t know how the old one was still standing,” Schenher said. “It was structurally unsound.”

A sequoia log was selected from the Moro Rock-Crescent Meadow Road area and fashioned into a post that now measures 38 inches in diameter and 10 feet tall. Schenher said he counted the rings on the log he used and the post piece was approximately 400 years old.

The last post stood for 50 years and the new one should last even longer, Schenher said. On Thursday, May 17, 2018, the cones and flagging were removed from along the highway that was keeping the turnout off limits until the sign work was completed.

Within minutes a procession of vehicles began to pull in and park visitors resumed doing what they have been doing for the past 83 years — snapping photos of the landmark entrance sign and making new Sequoia Park memories to last a lifetime.

Mining Artifacts Tell Story

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A large mining artifact on display at the Three Rivers Museum helps tell the story of a time when miners flocked to the area with dreams of silver.

By Sarah Elliott and Laile Di Silvestro, 15 June 2018, The Kaweah Commonwealth; editorial update 2 April 2021

CAPTION (FIRST PHOTO): Taking part in the transfer of an iron tank associated with the Mineral King mining days from a Three Rivers ranch to the Historical Museum were Sequoia-Kings Canyon staff (from left to right) Ward Eldredge, museum curator; Gioia Spatafora, museum technician; Jimson Vincent; Jim Barton (donor); Anthony Hilson; Mike Varela; and Pat Lasswell.

CAPTION (SECOND PHOTO): In May, a Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks crew of six delivered the historic water-jacket furnace from the Mineral King mining heyday to its new home at the Three Rivers Historical Museum. Those ensuring this phase of the project when smoothly were park staff Ned Aldrich, Mike Judd, Lynn Harrington, Todd Newton, Tim Riddle, and Phil Woods.

Mineral King’s silver rush took place from 1873 to 1881. Although traces of nearly every mineral found in the Sierra Nevada are present at Mineral King, prospective miners flocked to the area with dreams of silver.

In 1873, 65 claims were filed. Work began in White Chief Canyon, on Empire Mountain, and throughout the remote valley. By 1874, there were 166 mining claims. In 1875, 140 additional claims were filed.

Farmers left their farms,  businessmen their businesses, stockmen their herds, and preachers their pulpits, all bound for the land of silver (Times-Delta, April 1912).

Urgently needed for the success of the Mineral King Mining District was a wagon road because once the area had a good road, a smelter and the necessary mining machinery could be transported to the valley. A smelter was of critical importance for the processing of the Mineral King ore.

In 1875, buoyed by San Francisco investors and speculators, the New England Tunnel and Smelting Company, with all the equipment necessary to process ore, began operations in Mineral King. The NETSC turned out to be not as viable as they would have liked folks to believe.

And they couldn’t keep their financial difficulties, personnel problems, or greed and deceit hidden for long. The company soon became known as the New England Thieving and Swindling Company by miners in the know.

New exhibit

Now all of Three Rivers and its visitors  have the opportunity to learn all about the area’s mining boom and, specifically, the New England Tunnel and Smelting Company. The Mineral King Preservation Society, which operates the Mineral King Room at the Three Rivers Historical Museum, is has been working with several partners to develop a comprehensive exhibit of mining artifacts.

In May  2018, a portion of the  New England Tunnel and Smelting Company water jacket smelter was delivered to the Historical Museum by a Park Service crew.

On Tuesday, June 5, 2018 a history-filled vessel was reunited with an important artifact of the Mineral King’s silver rush in a new outdoor exhibit at the Three Rivers Historical Museum. The solid iron tank, which is estimated  to weigh more than 300 pounds, dates from the 1870s and was intended to hold molten silver produced by the smelter, a portion of which now stands in the center of the exhibit. 

Together, these immense iron artifacts help tell the story of Mineral King, Sequoia National Park, and Three Rivers. They tell the story of greed, deceit, hope, and a community spirit that persists today.  

The new exhibit is the result of a collaboration between the Mineral King Preservation Society, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Three Rivers Historical Society, and Jim Barton of Three Rivers, who donated the iron tank to Sequoia National Park. The installation of the artifacts is the first step in a process that will entail restoration, preservation, and development of descriptive materials. 

Upon completion, the Mineral King Preservation Society will host an interactive public event where the artifacts’ stories will be told and their mysteries unveiled.

Power House Number 2

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A glimpse inside Three Rivers’ Power House Number 2 reveals equipment installed when the power house was constructed in 1905–equipment that still provides power to the region today!

By Sarah Elliott, 2 April 2019, 3RNews; editorial update 2 April 2021

Three Rivers hosts three  historic hydroelectric powerhouses, which provided the electricity that contributed to the growth of agriculture in the valley below and its eventual designation as “the world’s breadbasket.”

Power House Number 2, built in 1905 by Mt. Whitney Power & Electric Company, uses flume-fed water pressure to produce the kilowatts necessary to power 1,000 homes with clean, renewable energy. This is accomplished using some of the original equipment from 114 years ago (in photos).

Taken over by Southern California Edison in 1917, the hydroelectric system as a whole consists of four check dams at Mineral King (Franklin, Upper Monarch, Crystal, Eagle), two diversion dams (Middle Fork, Marble Fork), three forebays, many miles of flumes, and three powerhouses: Powerhouse No. 1, built in 1899, located on Highway 198 near the Mineral King Road; Powerhouse No. 2, described above; and Powerhouse No. 3, built in 1913.

Prehistoric Rock Basins

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One of Sequoia’s ancient mysteries, prehistoric bedrock basins present an unsolved riddle handed down from from the native denizens of this land to its current visitors.

Bedrock Basins, Atwell Grove

NOTE: This is a compilation of two articles written by John  Elliott, 3RNews, in August 2019, with an editorial update in 2021.

One of the unsolved riddles handed down by Kaweah Country native people to present-day occupants are the prehistoric bedrock basins.

Commonly called “Indian Bathtubs,” these cavities are located in granite slabs, measure four to five feet in diameter, and are two or more feet in depth. They are shaped like huge wash bowls with smooth curved sides and bottoms.

Although they may be work of an ancient people, the the present-day Native Americans know nothing about them — either who made the basins or how.

Some researchers believe they were worn by the action of running water or glaciers. But some basins are found in locations where there is no historical evidence of creeks or rivers, and some are located below the assumed lowest extent of the Tahoe and Tioga glaciations.

The Sequoia basins are found in groups at elevations from 4,000 to 9,000 feet, scattered over an area about 35 miles long. Similar basins occur through the southern Sierra Nevada, however, from northernmost California to Lake Isabella on the south.

Colonel John Roberts White (left), superintendent of Sequoia National Park from 1920-1939 and 1943-1947, with George W. Stewart, the Father of Sequoia National Park.

In 1925, George W. Stewart was camped at Redwood Meadow in Sequoia National Park, where he inspected some of these mysterious basins in the company of Stephen Mather, first director of the National Park Service.

Known as the “Father of Sequoia National Park” for his role in the creation of the park in 1890, Stewart was the editor and publisher of the Visalia Delta newspaper. He is remembered for his efforts to preserve the Big Trees. Before his death in 1931, he wrote extensively on national parks including an article on the rock basins that was published in the American Anthropologist in 1929.  

In this article, Stewart described the basins near Redwood Meadow. These specimens had been excavated in the tops of small granite knob-like outcrops scattered among the giant sequoias, pines, and firs adjoining the meadow.

“The knobs consist essentially of unfractured, massive granite and measure from five to fifteen feet in height and from twenty to thirty feet in major diameter” he described. “The basins are almost perfectly circular in outline and smoothly concave. In a general way, they resemble the well known mortar holes in which the Indians grind acorns and seeds, but they are many times larger and more smoothly finished.”

More current research suggests the Modoc people to the north and east of Lassen country may have used the basins to evaporate salt; however, the basins in Sequoia country are not near significant salt deposits or saltwater sources — they were used for something else.

Nearly a century later, there is still no scientific consensus explaining these curious basins.  Who made this curious rockwork and how they were used remains one of the great mysteries of the Sequoia region of Tulare County.

Many people would walk right past this without realizing what they were seeing.

John Uhlir of Silver City, the intrepid basin hunter.

Bedrock basin, Atwell Grove

Bedrock basin, Redwood Grove

Disclaimer: These rock basins are archaeological sites and may contain information helpful to researchers in deciphering their origin. To protect them is illegal to excavate or disturb them in any way, including moving or removing any artifacts, duff, dirt, or forest materials from those vicinities.

Colonel Charles Young Memorial Highway

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As a tribute to Colonel Young (1864-1922) and his enduring legacy, a three-mile stretch of Highway 198 from Salt Creek Road to the Park’s gate was renamed the Colonel Charles Young Memorial Highway.

This is a compilation of stories written by Sarah and John Elliott, 3RNews, in October and November 2019

The easternmost of two signs that designate a three-mile stretch of Highway 198 in Three Rivers from Salt Creek Drive to the Ash Mountain entrance of Sequoia National Park. The signs and highway dedication honor the career of Colonel Charles Young, U.S. Cavalry commander of the Buffalo Soldiers.

In August 2018, California lawmakers passed Assembly Concurrent Resolution 142, establishing the Colonel Charles Young Memorial Highway in Three Rivers, near the entrance to Sequoia National Park. The bill was authored by Republican Assemblymembers Devon Mathis and Jim Patterson.

The portion of highway to be designated is the three miles from Salt Creek Road to the Sequoia National Park entrance. The naming of the highway pays tribute to the memory of Colonel Charles Young, a distinguished American who dedicated his life to the service of the United States, including at Sequoia National Park.

Colonel Charles Young

Charles Young was born into slavery on March 12, 1864, in Mays Lick, Kentucky, to Gabriel Young and Arminta Bruen. After his father, Gabriel Young, escaped from slavery and enlisted in the Fifth Regiment of Colored Artillery, his service earned Gabriel and his wife their freedom.

Charles Young attended an all-white high school in Ripley, Kentucky, and graduated at the top of his class. In 1883, Charles Young took an examination for appointment as a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and was admitted the next year.

Young graduated from West Point in 1889 with a commission as a second lieutenant, the third African American to do so at the time.

In 1903, Young, by then a captain, was appointed acting superintendent of Sequoia and General Grant National Parks, becoming the first black superintendent of a national park. This was pre-National Park Service when national parks were overseen by military officers appointed by the War Department.

Young is responsible for creating the first road into the Giant Forest, finishing what the Kaweah Colony had started from the North Fork to the present-day Crystal Cave Road. In one summer, Young and the Buffalo Soldiers he commanded completed the route.

During his tenure at Sequoia National Park, livestock grazers were evicted and trails were built including a route to Mount Whitney that the National Park Service plans to restore as a national historic trail. Young also took an option on the Marion Griffes ranch in Three Rivers (later the Thorn Ranch on North Fork Drive) but was reassigned so he abandoned his plans to become a local landowner

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE LIFE OF CHARLES YOUNG AND HIS TENURE AT SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK SEE “CHARLES YOUNG: THE ROAD TO SEQUOIA.”

Young was laid to rest at Arlington Cemetery.

Dedication Ceremony

On November 111, 2019, Veterans Day, the Colonel Charles Young Foundation and Sequoia Parks Conservancy hosted host a commemoration of the legacy of Colonel Charles Young and a dedication event in honor of the naming of the Colonel Charles Young Memorial Highway. The event highlighted the history and importance of Colonel Young.

“This is an important celebration for the National Park Service and the State of California,” said Superintendent Woody Smeck. “It recognizes the significant contributions made by the Buffalo Soldiers and then Captain Charles Young to early park protection and administration.”

The dedication ceremony was the culmination of  a cooperative effort from key stakeholders all across the country from Ohio (Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument) to Washington DC (NPS) to Sacramento (Cal Trans and the State Assembly). The driving force was the Charles Young Foundation. The Foundation’s CEO and Charles Young descendant Renotta Young summed up what that simple green highway sign will mean to all who see it. Colonel Charles Young Memorial

“There will be those who pass the sign and say ‘Charles Young… who is that?’ and they will Google him,” Young said. “Then there will be those who say we know who that is and they will be proud.”

Keeping the Charles Young Story Alive

Shelton Johnson, who has devoted his career as an interpretive ranger in Yosemite National Park to telling the story of the Buffalo Soldiers, told the attendees of the dedication ceremony that the world is finally catching up to Charles Young.

“Captain Young I like to call him because I’m a historian and that’s who he was when he came to Sequoia,” Johnson said. “He was not just fighting for his country but simultaneously he was fighting for his people.”

If the National Park Service published a handbook on how to be an interpretive ranger, Shelton Johnson would be on the cover. Ranger Johnson, currently assigned to Yosemite National Park, can be found at his home park recreating his role as a Buffalo Soldier or on the road for speaking engagements, all while inspiring a diverse multitude of people to love America’s national parks.

Shelton has traveled as far away as China with an NPS delegation and Panama to attend an international parks conference, among other far-flung destinations. On Monday, November 11, Johnson was in Sequoia National Park delivering his take on Colonel Charles Young and his role in the early history of Sequoia National Park. Johnson also explained how Young was a seminal figure in a civil rights movement a half-century before there was a Civil Rights Movement.

Johnson calls Colonel Young a voice crying out in the wilderness.

“The Buffalo Soldiers were warriors not just fighting for the U.S. Army but they were fighting for the rights of human beings to be recognized as men,” he said.

If you watched The National Parks: America’s Best Idea (2009), a six-part, 12-hour documentary series by Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan, Ranger Shelton Johnson’s was featured prominently. Now watch as Johnson tells 3R News why there is a Charles Young Memorial Highway in Three Rivers, his love for Sequoia National Park, and what November 11, 2019, means to all Americans and its rightful place in the Civil Rights Movement.

“Most people in this world will be forgotten, but not Charles Young, ” Shelton said.

Neither will Shelton Johnson.