The General Noble Tree was a monumental giant sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') situated in the

Converse Basin Grove Converse Basin Grove is a grove of giant sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') trees in the Giant Sequoia National Monument in the Sierra Nevada, in Fresno County, California, 5 miles (8 km) north of General Grant Grove, just outsid ...

, within the boundaries of the

Giant Sequoia National Monument The Giant Sequoia National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located in the southern Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada in eastern central California. It is administered by the United States Forest Service, U.S. Forest Service as part of th ...

, in

Fresno County, California Fresno County (), officially the County of Fresno, is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,008,654. The county seat is Fresno, the fifth-most popu ...

. It was believed to be the biggest tree in the world before it was felled in 1892 to become an

exhibition tree Exhibition trees are monarch specimens of ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' (giant sequoia) harvested from California's Sierra Nevada Mountains and displayed at international expositions, world's fairs, and botanical gardens during the late 19th centu ...

at the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...

in Chicago. It was the largest tree ever felled.

Description

Standing at an impressive height of with a ground circumference of , the General Noble Tree was a symbol of nature's grandeur. It was the second largest tree in the Converse Basin Grove, only surpassed by the Boole Tree, and was listed among the top 30 largest trees by volume worldwide prior to its felling.''See'' Flint, Wendell D., "To Find The Biggest Tree", Sequoia Natural History Association (1987). The tree, named after Secretary of the Interior

John Willock Noble John Willock Noble (October 26, 1831 – March 22, 1912) was a U.S. lawyer and brevet brigadier general in the Civil War. He served as the Secretary of the Interior between 1889 and 1893. Early life and education He was born in Lancaster, Ohi ...

, was situated just outside the borders of

Sequoia National Park Sequoia National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in the southern Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and toda ...

. Despite Noble's recommendation for the establishment of the national park, which resulted in the protection of many sequoias, his namesake tree fell outside federal protection, which led to its cutting.

Transportation

The process of cutting and moving the General Noble Tree was arduous and costly. The tree had to be hollowed out and segmented, which were then transported by teams of 16 mules pulling specialized wagons over a rough mountain road. The King's River Lumber Company executed this demanding task, dividing the tree into 46 smaller sections, some of which weighed over 4 tons each. These sections were then transported by train, requiring 11 railroad cars to complete the journey from California to Chicago. The total cost of cutting, shipping, and installing the tree amounted to $10,475.87.

C.C. Curtis Charles Clifford Curtis (1862–1956) was a pioneering American photographer who is best remembered for his documentary photography of the Logging in the Sierra Nevada, logging industry in the Sierra Nevada mountains in the late 19th century. Hi ...

photographed the felling of the tree, an act that helped establish the public's belief in the existence of the giant sequoias. General-Noble-a-giant-sequoia-tree-in-Converse-Basin-Grove-1892-firstcut.jpg, A scaffolding system allowed workers to make the first cut fifty feet from the ground. General-Noble-a-giant-sequoia-tree-in-Converse-Basin-Grove-felling-1892.jpg, The General Noble Tree falls. General-Noble-a-giant-sequoia-tree-in-Converse-Basin-Grove-falling-1892.jpg, Workers begin dismantling the tree into sections. General Noble Inside the Trunk.jpg, Jesse Pattee, a renowned logger, is the first man on the left. General-Noble-a-giant-sequoia-tree-in-Converse-Basin-Grove-smallbear-1892.jpg, Five men in the freshly cut trunk. General-Noble-a-giant-sequoia-tree-in-Converse-Basin-Grove-loadingthewagon.jpg, Loading the General Noble into a mule driven wagon. General-Noble-a-giant-sequoia-tree-in-Converse-Basin-Grove-muleteam.jpg, The painstaking journey down the mountain.

Display

The General Noble Tree was displayed at the

1893 World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ce ...

in Chicago, where it was met with skepticism, earning the nickname "California Hoax" by those who doubted the authenticity of its massive size. After the exposition, the tree was transported to Washington D.C., where it was transformed into a house-like structure and placed in front of the Main Building of the Department of Agriculture. It served as a popular tourist attraction for over 40 years until it eventually decayed.

Legacy: Chicago Stump

Today, the Chicago Stump, the remnants of the former General Noble Tree, stands as a 20-foot-high symbol in the Converse Basin Grove, testifying to the extensive logging of the late 19th century. The stump is readily accessible to the public through a flat, half-mile-long trail called the Chicago Stump Trail off Forest Road 13S03, about six miles north of Grant Grove Village. During the 2015

Rough Fire The Rough Fire was a major wildfire in Fresno County, California, and the largest of the 2015 California wildfire season. The fire was ignited by a lightning strike on July 31 and burned , largely in the Sierra National Forest and the Sequoia N ...

in the Converse Basin area, firefighters protected the Chicago Stump with fire-resistant shelters.

Dimensions

References

External links

{{authority control Individual giant sequoia trees Giant Sequoia National Monument Natural history of Fresno County, California World's Columbian Exposition 1890s individual tree deaths 1892 in California Destroyed individual trees