February 1960

YOSEMITE I VOLUME XXXIX - NUMBER 2 FEBRUARY 1960

IN COOPERATION WITH THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.

A Giant Sequoia towers above other trees in London 's Kew Gardens. COVER — Yosemite Valley in winter. —Anderson, NPS

Since 1922, the monthly publication of the National Park Service and the Yosemite Natural History Association in Yosemite National Park.. John C. Preston, Park Superintendent Douglass H. Hubbard, Park Naturalist Robert F. Upton, Associate Park Naturalist Paul F. McCrary, Assistant Park Naturalist Herbert D. Cornell, Junior Park Naturalist Keith A. Trexier, Park Naturalist Trainee

IN.. XXXIX FEBRUARY 1960 NO. 2 GIANT SEQUOIAS AND ENGLAND

Richard G. Beidleman Zoology Department. Colorado College the year 1759 the British Museum's land records strange and distinct events. For example, three rings for centuries in London's Kew Gardens in the Bloomsbury district of London first opened its doors to the public. And thousands of miles away in the undiscovered Fresno Grove of Giant Sequoia Trees, south of Yosemite, the date is being recorded in the trunk of a Giant Sequoia. In 1892 this particular 6-foot tree was cut down, and eventually a section, taken eighteen inches above the base, reached the British Museum for exhibition. Through the years thousands of visitors have viewed this trunk, first at Bloomsbury and later at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. As with similar Sequoia sections in America, tree rings dating historic events have been marked. Ushers find the events familiar to Americans discover that the famous New World dates of 1492 and 1776 have been passed by for Old World ones of 1415, The Battle of Agincourt, and 1759, the opening of the British Museum. This Sequoia, of 49-foot girth, exhibits 1335 annual rings, with the earliest marked rings, like that honoring the accession of Alfred the Great, having been laid down over a thousand years ago. London Bridge, the first Norman conquest, destruction of the Spanish Armada, the first English Bible, the death of Shakespeare and great fire of London, union with Scotland and union with Ireland are among the events singled out. The most intriguing date is the 1720 collapse of the South Sea Bubble, a fraudulent colonial trade scheme in-

The British Museum's Sequoia section beside the Wawona Tree.

volving the British government. One can hardly imagine our marking the year of the Teapot Dome scandal! About the only date Sequoia sections in New World museums commonly share with the British Museum specimens men is that of 1215, the Magna Carta.

Wawona Tunnel Tree, photograph to show a troop of cavalry riding through. Both of these scenes were presented to the Museum in 1910 by our Southern Pacific Railroad Company.

Sierra Nevada giants are not only to be found in England dead and indoors. The climate of the British Isles has appealed to them, and there have been many successful plantings of this tree which British botanist Lindley originally named Wellingtonia, honoring the death of England's war hero of 1852.

A letter at London's Kew Gardens throws light on the expense of procuring such sections in the last century. Professor William Brewer, Yale University geologist who visited both the Mariposa and Calaveras Groves in 1864, wrote in that year that it would cost $200 to $300 just to purchase a section fourteen feet in diameter, adding optimistically that he hoped "in a few years it will be more practicable."

A chap named J. D. Matthew, visiting the Calaveras Grove in 1853, was the first to send seeds to England. These seeds growing into trees which were still thriving half a century later. In December of that year a botanical collector for the Exotic Nursery of Chelsea, Mr. Lobb, brought home to England many seeds and even two living plants.

Flanking the British Natural History Museum's section, which covers a good bit of wall in the North Hall, are two famous reminders of Yosemite's Mariposa Grove. On the left is a tall photograph of the Grizzly Giant, while on the other side is the Wawona Tunnel Tree.

YOSEMITE

By 1900 there had been introduced many specimens of Giant Sequoia, the oldest at that time reaching 100 feet in height and 17 feet in diameter. There is a beautiful individual today in Kew Gardens which rises far above its companions, but probably the finest English array is the 1200- avenue of redwoods which was planted, fittingly near Wellington Lodge ninety years ago!

It seems strange to find California's Giant Sequoias thriving in faraway England, and perhaps unbecoming for American Sequoia sections to record European dates... But Britain has some prior claim. She, like many other parts of the world, was once home to the ancestors of these mighty trees in those days before glaciers carved an incomparable valley out of Sierran granite.

MARCHING SHADOWS

(From the Summit of the Sierra) Little rain drops, little sunbeams Groomed the meadows and the trees, And it seemed as if the mountains Were bending to their knees. Shadows marching on their shoulders As if to claim their majesty, Till I wondered was it real, Or a dream, a fantasy. Then I saw the great white billows Looking from eternal blue On all the emerald garments Of the mountains, bright and new. Then gently lifted shadows For horizons farther on The Eternal Painter needed For another people 's dawn. Alfred E. Brighton

YOSEMITE INVASION OF A MEADOW BY LODGEPOLE PINE

Neva Snell This meadow at about 8200 feet elevation in the north part of the Park is rapidly becoming a dense lodgepole pine forest. On a 100-foot square research plot, partly included in the photographs, the tree count changed from 44 in 1933 to 1634 in 1953. All of the trees counted in 1953 were lodgepole pines with the exception of four small red fir seedlings. This forest invasion presumably is the natural consequence of a gradual drying of the meadow. Lodgepole pine is commonly the first tree to move in as Sierra meadows become sufficiently dry. In 1933 two small streams ran through this meadow, but judging by the young trees in their former beds, they had been dry several years before 1953. A larger stream still flows near the edge of the meadow, to the right of the pictured area. Probably it has gradually cut deeper, thereby lowering the water table and permitting the surrounding area to dry. In the immediate vicinity of the meadow large lodgepole pines mingle with red fir. But the predominant forest in the general area is a beautiful, dense stand of red fir. We will be interested in watching the possible progress of red fir in the meadow as further drying takes place. Several research plots in this area are being studied by a group of Yosemite Field School alumni and other interested persons. Paul Allen, who has been very active in these studies, is responsible for the 1953 tree counts.

YOSEMITE

—Joseph S. Dixon. 1933 Neva Snell, 1957

The national parks are more than the storehouses of Nature's rarest treasures. They are the playlands of the people, wonderlands easily accessible to the rich and the humble alike. They are great out-ofdoors recreation grounds, where men, women and children can forget the cares and the sounds of the cities for a few days. The serenity of the mountains and the forests is contagious. A story of mountains and glaciers is told to park visitors on a naturalist-conducted easel tour, a new interpretive service started this winter at Badger Pass. —McCrary, NPS

HORACE M. ALBRIGHT AND FRANK J. TAYLOR

YOSEMITE PERSONAL NAMES IN THE VERNACULAR NOMENCLATURE OF YOSEMITE BIRDS

C. O. Harris, Park Naturalist, Rocky Mountain National Park Of the 202 birds now recorded for Yosemite National Park a total of 32 ) bear personal names as a living tribute to men and women of yesterdays. This precious glory for an individual' s name issometimes reflected in the latinized scientific name of a bird. Through the years changes in assigned scientific names have come about, usually based on earlier published names, so that some personal names have been lost. Recently the American Ornithological Union, in an attempt to help restore emphasis to the species, has decided to abandon the vernacular names for subspecies. This has also eliminated some interesting names. The following notes are based on the personal names presently used for Yosemite birds, following the American Ornithological Union Checklist (1957). ALLEN'S HUMMINGBIRD - Charles Andrew Allen 1841-?) secured a new hummingbird in Marin County, California. Henshaw named this bird in his honor in 1877. ANNA 'S HUMMINGBIRD - Anna, Duchess of Rivoli, wife of foreign bird collector Prince Victor Massena. This hummingbird, the first described from California, was named in her honor by Lesson in 1829. AUDUBON'S WARBLER - John James Audubon (1785-1851), the famous bird painter and naturalist, was memorialized by Townsend in 1873 with Dendroica audubon. Audubon never visited California, but described the Western Gull and several other birds collected in the State by others. BARROW'S GOLDENEYE - Sir Barrow (1764-1848) a Secretary of the Admiralty, traveler, writer, and founder of the Royal Geographical Society. The Barrow Straits, and Barrow and Point Barrow preserve his name, as well as this well known duck which was named by Swainson and Richardson in 1831. BELL'S VIREO - John Graham Bell (1812-1899), a well known taxidermist who accompanied Audubon on his Mississippi River journey in 1814. Audubon named this bird Vireo Bell in 1844. BEWICK'S WREN - Thomas Bewick (1753-1825) an English artist and hand engraver. He was a friend of Audubon who named this bird in 1827.

YOSEMITE

BULLOCK'S ORIOLE - William Bullock (1775-?), a traveler and miner who collected a number of new species near Mexico City. His name was preserved in the description of these new species by Swainson, 1827.

CLARK'S NUTCRACKER

12-13

BULLOCK' S ORIOLE

7%-8! 1

BREWER'S SPARROW AND

BREWER'S BLACKBIRD - Dr. Thomas Brewer (1814-1880), an editor of the Boston Atlas, author of North American Oology, champion of the English Sparrow. The blackbird was named by Audubon, the sparrow by Baird.

CASSIN'S FINCH AND CASSIN'S

SOLITARY VIREO - John Cassin (1813-1869), was the author of Illustrations of the Birds of California, etc.; curator of birds at the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences, who reported on collections made on several government expeditions. He described 193 species of birds, of which 29 occur in California. CLARK'S NUTCRACKER - Capt. William Clark (1770-1838) was one of the species collected by the expedition and was described by Wilson, who gave the common name Clark's Crow which has been modified to its present name. COOPER'S HAWK - William Cooper (1778-1864), was one of the founders of the New York Lyceum of Natural History. He was also the father of Dr. J. G. Cooper (1830-1902) author of the Ornithology of California, and namesake of Cooper Ornithology Club. HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER - William Alexander Hammond (1828-1900) former Surgeon General U.S.A.; writer, introduced John Xantus to Prof. Baird. Xantus described this bird from a specimen collected at Fort Tejon, California. HARRIS' SPARROW - Edward Harris (1799-1863), traveler with Audubon on his Mississippi River trip 1843. This bird named in his honor by Audubon. HUTTON'S VIREO - William Hutton collected birds in California in 1847-1848, during this time he collected the bird which bears this name. LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCH - George Newbold Lawrence (1806-1895) assisted Baird and Cassin in classifying birds collected on the Pacific Railroad Surveys. He published on a number of California birds, including descriptions of the Pacific Loon, Western Grebe, California Gull and the Black Brant.

LEWIS' WOODPECKER - Capt. Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) one of the leaders of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Wilson bestowed this name in his memory. LINCOLN'S SPARROW - Thomas Lincoln (1812-1883). At age 21, he accompanied Audubon on a trip to Labrador and the only new bird discovered on the adventure was this one. Named by Audubon 1834. MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER - William MacGillivray (1796-1852). A Scotch ornithologist who aided Audubon. In recognition of his assistance Audubon named this bird Sylvia macgillivray in 1839. Two months earlier J. K. Townsend had named it Sylvia tolmiei, so this name had priority.

SAY 'S PHOEBE

7-8 SAY'S PHOEBE - Thomas Say (1787-1834) was the entomologist on Long's Rocky Mountain Expedition. His report described several new species of western plants and animals. This bird was described by Bonaparte in 1825. STELLER'S JAY - George Wilhelm Steller (1709-1746), the naturalist on Bering's Expedition to Bering Sea, 1741-1746, and the first European in Alaska. He died on his way home from this ill-fated trip. His name is not only associated with this bird, but

STELLER ' S JAY I2-I3

also with a sea lion, sea otter, and an Alaskan mountain and a bay.

SWAINSON'S HAWK AND SWAINSON'S (WARBLING) VIREO

AND SWAINSON'S THRUSH - William Swainson (1789-1855), an English ornithologist. His association with west coast birds is due to several ornithologists who named these species in his honor. THURBER'S (OREGON) JUNCO - Eugene Carleton Thurber (1865-1896)

was chiefly known for his excellent list of the Birds of Morris County, New Jersey, and for his collections in southern California. He found this junco, named by Anthony, on Wilson Peak in the San Gabriel Mountains, 1890.

TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE

TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE AND

TOWNSEND'S WARBLER - John Kirk Townsend (1809-1851), is best known for his Narrative of a Journey Across the Rocky Mountains, 1839. On this trip to the northwest he collected and described several birds. Among those which bear his name are Townsend's Fox Sparrow, Townsend's Murrelet, Townsend's Bunting. TRAILL'S FLYCATCHER - Dr. Thomas Stewart Traill (1781-1862), a Scotch professor, one of the founders of the Royal Institution of Liverpool, who assisted Audubon during his visits to Liverpool. He also edited the Eighth edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. To show his appreciation Audubon named a new flycatcher in his honor.

VAUX'S SWIFT WILLIAMSON 'S SAPSUCKER

of a woodpecker he named Picus thyroidcus in 1851. Finally Henshaw, in 1873, found Picus williamsonii and Picus thyroideus breeding together and showed they were one and the same species. WILSON'S PHALAROPE - Alexander Wilson (1766-1813), sometimes called the father of American Ornithology. His name is commemorated in several species, including Wilson's Petrel and Wilson's Snipe.

WILSON 'S SNIPE

VAUX'S SWIFT - William Saunders Vaux (1811-1882), a friend of J. K. Townsend who named this new swift in his honor.

WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER -

Robert Stockton Williamson (1824-1882), Col. U.S.A., was in charge of the Pacific Railroad Survey party in northern California. Dr. Newberry, the surgeon of the expedition, found only males of a new woodpecker which he named Picus williamsonii in 1857. Cassin had found only females

BOOK REVIEW

Allan Shields, Ranger-Naturalist Clarence King, A Biography, by Thurman Wilkins, The MacMillan Company, New York, 1958; 441 pp. As an original surveyor of the boundaries of Yosemite National Park in 1864, Clarence King can be claimed as an important link in the chain of the Park's past. Beyond this, the subject of this excellent and colorful biography is best known to present audiences for his Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada. This book, more than many early writings about the region, brought attention to the Sierra Nevada in general, and to Yosemite in particular, from a wide public. Readers of the biography will be surprised to learn of the wider, illustrious life of King, of the many important roles he played during his hyperactive life as mountaineer, surveyor, geologist, editor, raconteur, first Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, cattleman, investor, entrepreneur, mining engineer, world traveler, bon vivant, art connoisseur, sometimes poet, literator, lecturer, and politician. King's life story has champagne qualities. One might wish that Mr. Wilkins had made more use of the Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada to symbolize King's spirit. Apparently the author can be assumed to have familiarity with the work by the reader. He may be right. But the reader will miss a great deal of the excitement and adventure of the mountaineering sections in this otherwise superior account. One flaw needs remarking. On p. 79 the author calls the Obelisk of Mount Clark "... the center peak in a mountain group southeast of the valley." A check of the topo map will show the error. Mount Clark is the first prominence of the Clark Range southeast of the Valley, in case someone wants to avoid a pilgrimage to the wrong summit! Mr. Wilkins' handling of the more delicate sides of King's personal life is subtle, in good taste, and factual. He restrains himself nobly from moralizing, from doing what the philosopher T. V. Smith calls "...making easy simplicity of lives not our own." Anyone interested in the human history of the Yosemite region will want to read this fine addition to the Mountain literature.

PUBLICATIONS FOR SALE AT THE YOSEMITE MUSEUM

All mail orders should be addressed to, and remittances made payable to, Yosemite NATURAL HISTORY ASSOCIATION, Yosemite NATIONAL PARK, CALIFORNIA. Prices include postage, insurance, and proper items. California State Sales Tax 3.5%, plus 1% County Tax.

GENERAL

A Guide to Yosemite Valley, Illustrated $1.65 A Tour of Yosemite National Park - Ditton and McHenry $.60 Campsite Finder (Western) - Hartesveldt $1.15 Climbers Guide to High Sierra - Sierra Club $3.25 Devils Postpile National Monument - Hartesveldt $.30 Exploring Our National Parks and Monuments - Butcher (paper) $3.75 Exploring Our National Parks and Monuments - Butcher (cloth) $5.40 Camping Light - With Backpack or Burro - Sierra Club $2.25 Happy Isles Nature Center, Your Guide to - Hubbard $.20 National Park Story in Pictures - Story $.80 National Parks, The - What They Mean to You and Me - Tilden (cloth) $6.20 National Parks, The - What They Mean to You and Me - Tilden (paper) $1.15 Nature Trail - Inspiration Point Self-Guiding - Carpenter $.20 Nature Trail - Mariposa Grove Self Guiding - Wason $.20 Place Names of Yosemite Valley - Hartesveldt $.30 Rocks & Minerals, How to Know Them - Pearl $.65 Starr's Guide to John Muir Trail and High Sierra Region $2.25 This is California - Obert $8.00 Waterfalls, Famous, of the World - Brockman $.60 Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada - Ansel Adams & John Muir $12.70 Yosemite Story, The - Scott $1.20 Yosemite Trails & Tales - Taylor $.90

ANIMAL LIFE

Animal Tracks, Field Guide to - Murie $4.30 Birds of Pacific States - Hoffman $6.20 Birds, Western, Field Guide to - Peterson $4.30 Birds of Yosemite - Stebbins $.85 Fishes of Yosemite National Park - Evans-Wallis $.50 Mammals, Field Guide to - Burt and Grossenheider $4.30 Mammals of Yosemite National Park - Parker $.60 Reptiles and Amphibians of Yosemite National Park - Walker $.45 Survey of Sierra Nevada Bighorn - Jones $.60

GEOLOGY AND MAPS

Broadleaved Trees of Yosemite National Park - Brockman

Cone-bearing Trees of Yosemite National Park - Cole $.45 Ferns, Field Guide to - Cobb $4.30 Sequoias, Yosemite, Guide to the - McFarland $.45 Wildflowers of the Sierra (80 color photos) - Hubbard $.55 Wildflowers, Western, Field Book of - Armstrong $5.40

HISTORY AND INDIANS

Ghost Mines of Yosemite - Hubbard (paper) $1.20 Ghost Mines of Yosemite - Hubbard (cloth) $3.00 Gold, Guns and Ghost Towns - Chalfant $4.05 Indians, Yosemite, Yesterday and Today - Godfrey $.35 John Muir, Protector of the Wilds - Haines-Morrill $2.00 Miwok Material Culture - Barrett and Gifford (paper) $2.20 Miwok Material Culture - Barrett and Gifford (cloth) $3.25 Mother Lode Country, Guide to the - Brockman $.60 100 Years in Yosemite - Russell (paper) $2.20 100 Years in Yosemite - Russell (cloth) $3.25 Steve Mather of the National Parks - Shankland $6.20 Wilderness World of John Muir, The - Teale $4.85 Yosemite: The Story of An Idea - Huth $.35

GEOLOGY AND MAPS

Geologic History of Yosemite Valley (Prof. Paper 160) - Matthes $5.75 Geology of Yosemite Valley, Brief Story of - Batty $.25 High Sierra Camp Areas, Pocket Guide to - Clark $.60 High Sierra Camp Areas, Trail Guide to - Clark $1.15 Incomparable Valley, The - Matthes (paper) $2.15 Map of Yosemite National Park, Topographic - USGS $.60 Map of Yosemite Valley, Topographic, (geology story printed on back) $.60 North Country of Yosemite, Pocket Guide to - Clark $.60 North Country of Yosemite, Trail Guide to - Clark $1.15 South Boundary Country, Pocket Guide to - Clark $.60 South Boundary Country, Trail Guide to - Clark $1.15

FOR CHILDREN

A Day with Tupi, An Indian Boy of the Sierra - Hubbard (paper) $1.20 A Day with Tupi, An Indian Boy of the Sierra - Hubbard (cloth) $3.00 Animal Friends of the Sierra - Hubbard (paper) $1.20 Animal Friends of the Sierra - Hubbard (cloth) $3.00 A National Park Adventure - Hubbard (paper) $1.20 A National Park Adventure - Hubbard (cloth) $3.00

Digitized by Yosemite Online Library Dan Anderson