{{Short description|Historical giant sequoia tunnel tree in Calaveras Big Trees State Park, California}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2017}} {{Infobox tree | name = Pioneer Cabin Tree | image = CalaverasTreeTunnel1.jpg | alt = Photo of the tree from 2006. Tree has a tunnel through center of trunk. There is a marked path for people to walk through it. | image_caption = The Pioneer Cabin Tree in 2006 | species = Giant sequoia | binomial = ''[[Sequoiadendron giganteum]]'' | location = [[Calaveras Big Trees State Park]], California, U.S. | coordinates = {{coord|38|16|48.6|N|120|18|11.3|W|region:US-CA|display=inline, title}}<ref name="CSP">{{cite web |url=https://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/551/files/northgrove.pdf |title=A Guide to the North Grove Trail of Calaveras Big Trees {{ndash}} Marker 21|year=2006 |work=H Calaveras Big Trees State Park |publisher=[[California State Parks]] |page=12 |access-date=January 15, 2017}} [[USGS]] satellite view of N Grove Trail https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/maps/topoview/viewer/#19/38.28017/-120.30314</ref> | seeded = | felled = {{End date|2017|01|08}}<ref name="Domonske">{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/09/508919216/iconic-sequoia-tunnel-tree-brought-down-by-california-storm |title=Iconic Sequoia 'Tunnel Tree' Brought Down By California Storm |date=January 9, 2017 |first1=Camila |last1=Domonoske |publisher=[[National Public Radio]] |access-date=January 9, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Hockaday">{{cite web |url=http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Historic-Pioneer-Cabin-Tree-toppled-in-California-10844206.php |title=Historic Pioneer Cabin Tree toppled in California storm |first1=Peter |last1=Hockaday |date=January 8, 2017 |newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |access-date=January 9, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Andrews">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/01/09/winter-storm-fells-one-of-calif-s-iconic-drive-through-tunnel-trees-carved-in-the-1880s/ |title=Morning Mix: Winter storm fells one of California's iconic drive-through tunnel trees, carved in the 1880s |first1=Travis M. |last1=Andrews |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=January 9, 2017 |access-date=January 9, 2017}}</ref> | custodian = | website = }}
The '''Pioneer Cabin Tree''', also known as '''The Tunnel Tree''', was a [[Sequoiadendron giganteum|giant sequoia]] in [[Calaveras Big Trees State Park]], [[California]]. It was considered one of the U.S.'s most famous trees,<ref name=BBC> {{Cite news | title= Pioneer Cabin Tree in California felled by storms | author= <!--No byline --> | date= January 9, 2017 | work= [[BBC]] | url= https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38561877 | access-date= January 9, 2017 }} </ref> and drew thousands of visitors annually.<ref name="NYTimes"> {{Cite news | title= Giant Sequoia 'Tunnel Tree' in California Is Toppled by Storm | last= McCann | first= Erin | date= January 9, 2017 | work= [[New York Times]] | url= https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/us/pioneer-cabin-tree-sequoia.html | access-date= January 9, 2017 }} </ref> It was estimated to have been more than 1,000 years old,<ref name=BBC/> and measured {{convert|33|ft|m}} in diameter; its exact age and height were not known.{{efn-ua | An 1856 news article lists the height of the tree without its broken off top as {{convert|150|ft|m}}.<ref> {{cite news | title= Excursion to Mammoth Cave, Big Trees | newspaper= [[Sacramento Daily Union]] | volume= 11 | number= 1603 | date= 15 May 1856 | url= https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18560515.2.13&srpos=6&e=-------en--20-SDU-1--txt-txIN-%22Pioneer%27s+Cabin%22-------1 }} </ref> In 1900, the [[United States Forest Service]] wrote it was {{convert|280|ft}} tall.<ref Name="USFS"/> }}<ref> {{cite web | title= Beloved California Giant Sequoia Tree Felled by Storm | publisher= [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] | date= January 9, 2017 | url= https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/db3dd399-5da8-3373-91fc-751030c47daa/beloved-california-giant.html | access-date=January 9, 2017 }} </ref><ref name="AP"> {{cite news | title= The Latest: Famed giant sequoia topples in California storms | agency= [[Associated Press]] | date= January 9, 2017 | url= https://www.yahoo.com/news/latest-famed-giant-sequoia-topples-california-storms-091457616.html | access-date= January 9, 2017 }} </ref> The tree was topped before 1859.<ref name=hutchings1859/> It fell and shattered during a storm on January 8, 2017.<ref name=BBC/><ref name="CSP"/><ref name="Harala"> {{cite web | url= http://www.sciencealert.com/the-1-000-year-old-iconic-tunnel-tree-pioneer-cabin-has-fallen-from-a-winter-storm | publisher= sciencealert.com | title= California's iconic 'tunnel tree' has finally fallen: Goodnight, sweet prince. | first1= Josh | last1= Harala | date= January 13, 2017 | quote= "Sierra redwoods (also known as Giant Sequoias) are the largest objects ever to have lived on Earth. The fossil record of the redwood family dates back 180 million years to the age of the dinosaurs, and individuals can live over 3,000 years", explains the California Department of Parks and Recreation. | access-date= January 15, 2017 }} </ref>
== History == [[File:The Pioneer's Cabin 1860-80 seethrough.png|thumb|300px|c. 1860–1880, before the tunnel was opened further]]
The Pioneer Cabin Tree got its name from its distinctively hollow trunk, partially burnt by [[lightning strike]]s and [[forest fire]].<ref> {{cite web | title= Heavy Rains Topple Iconic Pioneer Cabin Tree at Calaveras Big Trees State Park | publisher= California Department of Parks and Recreation | date= January 9, 2017 | url= https://www.parks.ca.gov/NewsRelease/720 }} </ref><ref Name= "USFS"> {{cite book | author= USFS | author-link= United States Forest Service | title= Report on the Big Trees of California | publisher= Govt. Print. Off. | date= 1900 | location= Original from the [[University of Michigan]] | page= 14 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=XAs2AAAAMAAJ&q=Pioneer&pg=PA13 }} </ref> It had small compartments as in a [[log cabin]], with the tree's burnt core as a chimney, and a small opening as a backdoor.<ref> {{cite news | title= The Mammoth Trees | work= Sacramento Daily Union | date= 10 September 1853 | volume= 5 | number= 769 | url= https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18560515.2.13&srpos=6&e=-------en--20-SDU-1--txt-txIN-%22Pioneer%27s+Cabin%22-------1 }} </ref><ref> {{cite book | title= The Odd Fellow's Companion | publisher= M.C. Lilley & Co | page= 239 | volume= XIX | date= November 1876 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=65UeAQAAMAAJ&q=pioneer's+cabin&pg=RA1-PA239 }} </ref><ref> {{cite news | title= The Big Trees | work= Sacramento Daily Union | volume= 24 | number= 3606 | date= 18 October 1862 | url= https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18621018.2.14&srpos=4&e=-------en--20-SDU-1--txt-txIN-%22Pioneer%27s+Cabin%22-------1 }} </ref>
In 1857 it was noted that the "top half" of the tree was broken off at about 150 feet, and that the tree was hollow.<ref name=hutchings1859> {{citation | title= The Mammoth Trees of California | work= Hutchings’ California Magazine | date= March 1859 | number= 33 | page= 393 | url= http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/hutchings_california_magazine/33.pdf }} </ref><ref> {{cite news | title= The Giant Trees of California | newspaper= [[The Morning Post]] | date= April 8, 1857 | issue= 25981 | page= 3 | url= http://find.galegroup.com/bncn/infomark.do?docType=LTO&docLevel=FASCIMILE&prodId=BNCN&tabID=T012&type=multipage&version=1.0&retrieveFormat=MULTIPAGE_DOCUMENT&docPage=article&docId=R3212059197&contentSet=LTO&source=gale | via= British Library Newspapers | url-access= subscription | quote= The "Pioneer's Cabin" is 150 feet high; where the top is broken off it has a small opening through it. }}
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[[File:Pioneer's Cabin, Calaveras Grove, Cal., U. S. A., by Singley, B. L. (Benjamin Lloyd).jpg|thumb|left|A [[stereoscope]] image of the Pioneer Cabin Tree with people and horse passing through (c. 1867–1899)]]
In the early 1880s,<ref> {{cite news | title= Trip to the Big Trees | work= Sacramento Daily Union | date= 8 September 1883 | page= 2 | volume= 18 | number= 15 | url= https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18830908.2.10&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1 | quote= The "Pioneers’ Cabin" had a large burnt cavity, which this year has been so enlarged by workmen, that a stage could easily pass through it with enough of the tree left on each side to support it in health. }} </ref><ref>{{cite web | title= Hanging On By A Branch: The Pioneer Cabin Tree | author= California State Parks | date= 2008 | url= http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=95184 | access-date= January 10, 2017 | archive-date= January 11, 2017 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170111000739/http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=95184 | url-status= dead }}</ref> a tunnel was cut through the compartments by a private land owner at the request of James Sperry, founder of the Murphys Hotel, so that tourists could pass through it.<ref name="AP"/><ref name="KramerAssociation2010"> {{cite book | author1= Carol Kramer | author2= Calaveras Big Trees Association | title= Calaveras Big Trees | date= September 6, 2010 | publisher= [[Arcadia Publishing]] | isbn= 978-1-4396-2522-4 | pages= 118– | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=MPdcyeVvr44C&pg=PT118 }} </ref><ref> {{cite web | title= The Calaveras Big Trees North Grove Trail | first1= Jennifer | last1= Bourn | date= September 28, 2016 | publisher= Inspiredimperfection.com | url= https://inspiredimperfection.com/adventures/calaveras-big-trees-north-grove-trail/ | access-date= January 9, 2017 }} </ref> The tree was chosen in part because of the large forest fire scar. The Pioneer Cabin Tree emulated the tunnel carved into Yosemite's [[Wawona Tree]], and was intended to compete with it for tourists.<ref name="Hongo"> {{cite web | title= After More Than 100 Years, California's Iconic Tunnel Tree Is No More | first= Hudson | last= Hongo | newspaper= [[Gizmodo]] | date= January 9, 2017 | url= https://gizmodo.com/after-more-than-100-years-californias-iconic-tunnel-tr-1790964594 | access-date= January 9, 2017 }} </ref><ref name="Mazza"> {{cite news | title= GREEN: Pioneer Cabin Tree, Iconic Giant Sequoia With 'Tunnel', Falls In Storm | first= Ed | last= Mazza | newspaper= [[The Huffington Post]] | date= January 9, 2017 | url= https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pioneer-cabin-tree-great-sequoia-fallen_us_58731f8be4b099cdb0fe05f9 | access-date= January 9, 2017 | quote= The tree was “barely alive” due to the hole punched through it in the 1880s. }} </ref><ref name="Summers2012"> {{cite book | first= Jordan | last= Summers | title= 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Sacramento: Including Auburn, Folsom, and Davis | date= May 15, 2012 | location= Birmingham, Alabama | publisher= Menasha Ridge Press | isbn= 0897326040 <!-- | ISBN= 978-0897326049 --> | page= 120 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=tNC47X7rovgC&pg=PA120 }} </ref>
Since the 1880s and for more than 50 years, visitor [[graffiti]] was encouraged,<ref name="Hockaday"/> but this practice was prohibited in the 1930s.<ref name="KramerAssociation2010"/> At first only pedestrians were allowed to pass through the tree.<ref name="NBC"> {{cite news | title= Pioneer Cabin Tree, Famous for Tunnel, Is Toppled by Storm | first1= Don | last1= Melvin | first2= Kurt | last2= Chirbas | publisher= [[NBC News]] | format= Video | url= https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/pioneer-cabin-tree-famous-tunnel-toppled-storm-n704616 | access-date= January 9, 2017 }} </ref> Later, for many years, automobiles drove through it as part of the "Big Trees Trail".<ref name="NBC"/> It was one of several drive-through trees in California.{{efn-ua | "It's unclear exactly how old the tree was, but the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' reports that the trees in the state park are estimated to be more than 1,000 years old. Sequoias can live for more than 3,000 years. The iconic tree was one of just a few tunneled-through sequoias in California. The most famous was the Wawona Tree, in Yosemite National Park; it fell during a winter storm in 1969 at an estimated age of 2,100 years. The other remaining sequoia tunnels are dead or consist of logs [lying] on their side, the Forest Service says."<ref name="Domonske"/><ref name="StJohn"> {{cite news | first1= Paige | last1= St. John | first2= Matt | last2= Hamilton | title= An iconic tunnel tree in a California state park is no more after huge storm | date= January 8, 2017 | newspaper= [[Los Angeles Times]] | location= Truckee, California | url= https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-live-winter-weather-california-iconic-sequoia-tree-in-california-state-1483942759-htmlstory.html | access-date= January 9, 2017 }} </ref><ref name="Destination"> {{cite web | title= Destination drive through trees | publisher= OhRanger.com | url= http://www.ohranger.com/blog/13/08/destination-drive-through-trees | access-date= January 9, 2017 }} </ref> }} Subsequently, only hikers were allowed to pass through the tree's tunnel as part of the North Grove Loop hiking trail.<ref name="Hockaday"/><ref name="StienstraBrown2016"> {{cite book | first1= Tom | last1= Stienstra | first2= Ann Marie | last2= Brown | title= Moon Northern California Hiking | date= July 26, 2016 | publisher= [[Avalon Travel Publishing]] | isbn= 978-1-63121-549-0 | page= 516 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=z-EvDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT516 }} </ref>
== Fall ==
The Pioneer Cabin Tree fell during a rain storm and flooding on January 8, 2017.<ref name="Hockaday"/><ref name="NBC"/> It was the strongest storm to hit the area in over a decade.<ref name=BBC/> The flooding, combined with the shallow root system of giant sequoias, likely caused it to fall.<ref name="Hockaday"/> A park volunteer reported that the tree had been weakening, becoming brittle and leaning to one side for several years, with only a single branch remaining alive.<ref name="Hockaday"/> It had been weakened by the severe damage caused by the tunnel carved through its trunk.<ref name="Hongo"/><ref name="Mazza"/> The tree shattered on impact with the ground due to the brittle wood of mature sequoias.<ref name="Hockaday"/><ref name="NBC"/>
After the fall of the tree the park trail closed for a cleanup operation.<ref name="Hale">{{cite news |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/travel/index.ssf/2017/01/iconic_drive-through_tree_in_c.html |title=Iconic drive-through tree in California has fallen |first1=Jamie |last1=Hale |newspaper=[[The Oregonian]] |date=January 9, 2017 |access-date=January 10, 2017}}</ref> Some sections of the tree remained intact, but the park's preservation policy prevented them from being cut up, for example to determine the tree's exact age.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://fox40.com/2017/01/09/iconic-pioneer-cabin-tree-crashes-down-in-calaveras-county/ |title=Iconic Pioneer Cabin Tree Crashes Down in Calaveras County |last=Recede |first=Kay |date=January 9, 2017 |publisher=FOX40}}</ref>
At least one observer suggested that the tree fell victim to the profit motive and greed, not just a storm,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-ol-le-tree-20170114-story.html |title=Opinion California's iconic Pioneer Cabin Sequoia was felled by more than weather |quote=Those who created this “tourist attraction” killed the tree slowly. ... We appear to be a nation of short-term thinkers, ... and people who take the long view seem to be in the minority. I wonder why humans can’t simply see the beauty of nature as it exists. Rather, they need to “improve” it or “make it into a profit center” Why can’t a millennium-old tree just be valued because it exists? |date=January 14, 2017 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=January 15, 2017}}</ref> as it was one of several trees that were mutilated to promote tourism.<ref name="CSP"/><ref name="Meier">{{cite web |url=http://hyperallergic.com/350561/drive-through-trees-in-pictures/ |format=Photo Essay |title=The Drive-Through Tree, a Relic with Roots in American Tourism |quote=Last weekend, the Pioneer Cabin Tree in California collapsed. It was one of a number of West Coast trees that had holes cut through them in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. |first1=Allison |last1=Meier |publisher=hyperallergic.com |date=January 11, 2017 |access-date=January 15, 2017}}</ref> California State Parks supervising ranger Tony Tealdi said in the modern day the hollowing out of a tree would not have been permitted.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2017/01/09/509001377/pioneer-cabin-tree-giant-sequoia-with-tunnel-toppled-by-storm?ft=nprml&f=509001377 |title=AROUND THE NATION: Pioneer Cabin Tree, Giant Sequoia With Tunnel, Toppled By Storm |date=January 9, 2017 |work=[[All Things Considered]] |first1=John |last1=Sepulvado |publisher=[[National Public Radio]] |format=Audio |access-date=January 15, 2017}}</ref>
==Drive-through and other noted trees== This was one of several trees that were hollowed out for the amusement of tourists.<ref name="Meier"/><ref name="McCannnjan">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/us/pioneer-cabin-tree-sequoia.html?smid=pl-share |title=Giant Sequoia 'Tunnel Tree' in California Is Toppled by Storm |work=[[The New York Times]] |first1=Erin |last1=McCannjan |date=January 9, 2017 |access-date=January 15, 2017}}</ref>
[[File:The_Pioneer%27s_Cabin_and_Pluto%27s_Chimney,_Big_Tree_Grove,_Calaveras_County,_by_Lawrence_%26_Houseworth.png |thumb|350px|A [[stereoscope]] image of the Pioneer Cabin Tree and Pluto's Chimney (left in the distance)<ref>{{cite journal| title=Tree Wonders of California |journal=The Phrenological Journal and Life Illustrated |quote=[The Cabin Tree is] so named from the cabin like chamber and chimney its hollow trunk exhibits...|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=05XNAAAAMAAJ&q=%22pluto's+chimney%22+%22pioneer's+cabin%22&pg=RA1-PA46 |volume=53 |number=1 |date=July 1871 |page=46}}</ref> (c. 1864–1874)]] The two [[giant sequoia]] drive-through trees have both fallen: *[[Wawona Tree]], in [[Mariposa Grove]], [[Yosemite National Park]], fell in 1969. *Pioneer Cabin Tree, in Calaveras Big Trees State Park, fell in 2017.<ref name="usdf">{{cite web |url=https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsbdev3_058751.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021074335/http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsbdev3_058751.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 21, 2014 |publisher=United States Forest Service |title=Where is the tree you can drive through? |access-date=January 10, 2017}}</ref><ref name="NPS">{{cite web|title= The Myth of the Tree You Can Drive Through |publisher= [[National Park Service]] |work=Sequoia & Kings Canyon |access-date= January 10, 2017 |url= https://www.nps.gov/seki/faqtunnel.htm |quote= [The Wawona Tree] was the second standing sequoia to be tunneled (the first, a dead tree, still stands in the Tuolumne Grove in Yosemite).}}</ref><ref name="McCannnjan"/>
Two walk-through giant sequoia tunnel trees still stand: *California tunnel tree in [[Mariposa Grove]], [[Yosemite National Park]]<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|title=Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias - Yosemite National Park (U.S. National Park Service)|url=https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/mg.htm|access-date=2021-05-18|website=www.nps.gov|language=en}}</ref> *A dead tunnel tree in [[Tuolumne Grove]], [[Yosemite National Park]]<ref name="Destination"/><ref name="usdf"/><ref name="NPS"/>
Two others have edifices carved within: *[[Hercules (tree)|Hercules Tree]] in [[Mountain Home Grove|Mountain Home State Forest]] has a room carved into it, and it is still alive.<ref name="usdf"/> *[[Tharp's Log]] in [[Sequoia National Park]] [[Giant Forest]], a fire-hollowed fallen giant, was utilized as part of a cattleman's cabin.<ref name="usdf"/><ref name=kaiser2002-1>{{cite book|last=Kaiser|first=Harvey H.|title=An Architectural Guidebook to the National Parks: California, Oregon, Washington|url=https://archive.org/details/architecturalgui0000kais|url-access=registration|year=2002|publisher=[[Gibbs Smith]]|location=Layton, Utah|isbn=1-58685-0660|pages=[https://archive.org/details/architecturalgui0000kais/page/96 96–97]}}</ref>
[[Tunnel Log]] is a fallen giant sequoia tree in [[Sequoia National Park]]. The tree, which measured 275 feet (84 m) tall and 21 feet (6.4 m) in diameter, fell across a park road in 1937 due to natural causes. The following year, a crew cut an 8-foot (2.4 m) tall, 17-foot (5.2 m) wide tunnel through the trunk, making the road passable again.<ref name="usdf"/>
There are three [[coast redwood]] trees that can be driven through near [[U.S. Route 101 in California|US 101]] in [[northern California]], namely: Klamath Tour Thru Tree; Shrine Drive-Thru Tree; and [[Chandelier Tree]].<ref name="usdf"/>
The loss of the Pioneer Cabin Tree occasioned an encomium to other important trees that still remain.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/10-incredible-trees-still-visit-081449199.html |title=Lifestyle: 10 Incredible Trees You Can Still Visit, Now That Pioneer Cabin Is No More |via=[[Yahoo]] |work=[[Travel+Leisure]] |date=January 14, 2017 |access-date=January 15, 2017}}</ref>
== See also == * [[List of giant sequoia groves]] * [[List of individual trees]] * [[List of California state parks]] * [[Mother of the Forest]] – a huge ''Sequoiadendron'' tree
==Notes== {{reflist|group=upper-alpha}}
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==Further reading== *{{cite book |author1=Flint, Wendell D. |author2=Law, Mike, photographer |year=2002 |title=To Find the Biggest Tree |edition=2nd |publisher=Sequoia Natural History Association |location=Three Rivers, California |isbn=1878441094 <!--|ISBN=978-1878441096-->}}
==External links== *{{Commons category-inline}}
[[Category:2010s individual tree deaths]] [[Category:2017 in California]] [[Category:History of Calaveras County, California]] [[Category:History of the Sierra Nevada (United States)]] [[Category:Individual giant sequoia trees]] [[Category:Roadside attractions in California]] [[Category:2017 disestablishments in California]]