El Palo Alto
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El Palo Alto (Spanish: 'the tall stick'<ref name="nyt">Template:Cite news</ref>) is a coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) located on the banks of San Francisquito Creek in Palo Alto, California, a city in the San Francisco Bay Area. The namesake of the city and a historical landmark, El Palo Alto is Template:Age years old and stands Template:Convert tall.
Before European arrival, the land around El Palo Alto was home to the Ohlone Native Americans. Local folklore holds that El Palo Alto was a rest stop for the first European expedition that discovered San Francisco Bay, led by Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portolá in 1769. The tree became widely known with the early-1850s establishment of a highway between San Francisco and San Jose, and as a landmark along the San Francisco–San Jose railroad, construction of which passed the tree in 1863. In 1876, Leland Stanford, co-founder of Stanford University along with his wife Jane Lathrop Stanford, purchased land near El Palo Alto.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Early images and accounts indicate that El Palo Alto once had two trunks. It lost one trunk before 1883—the exact date is unknown—perhaps due to heavy rainfall and erosion of the riverbank. Fearing the tree's total loss, Leland Stanford directed that the riverbank be reinforced with a wooden bulkhead, which was replaced with concrete abutments in 1904 and again in 1911. Coal soot from steam locomotives passing below the tree suffocated the leaves of the tree's upper limbs; nearby wells lowered the water table, and by the late 1920s the tree was declared moribund. Although it has decreased in stature by some Template:Cvt since the late 1800s, El Palo Alto was ultimately saved by the continuous preservation efforts of the city, local arborists, Stanford University, and Southern Pacific (the owner of the adjacent railroad); a 1997 appraisal concluded that the tree would "persevere and grow for centuries to come". El Palo Alto is featured prominently on the City of Palo Alto logo and the Stanford University seal, and is recognized by the National Arborist Association and International Society of Arboriculture as a tree of historical importance.
Name and background
El Palo Alto is a coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), a giant and long-lived tree species only found near the North American Pacific coast.<ref name=":1" /> The redwood has been California's official state tree since 1937.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The world's tallest trees are coast redwoods, with the record holder, Hyperion, reaching Template:Cvt.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> El Palo Alto is not so tall, at about Template:Cvt<ref name="copa" /> Template:As of, down from Template:Cvt in the 19th century.Template:Sfn At Template:Age years,<ref>Template:Harvnb The age was determined accurately in 1955 with an increment borer.</ref> nor is El Palo Alto particularly old; the longest-lived redwoods may approach 2,500 years in age.<ref name="nyt" /> Although today there are thousands of redwoods in the city of Palo Alto, El Palo Alto is one of only a few not planted by humans.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Redwoods generally require wet climates like those found close to the coast,<ref name="nyt" /> but El Palo Alto is much further inland, close to Palo Alto's northern border with Menlo Park.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref> The tree's location next to San Francisquito Creek provided it the necessary water to survive.<ref name="nyt" />
History
El Palo Alto germinated around AD 940, when the San Francisco Peninsula was populated by the Ohlone people, one of the indigenous peoples of California. The tree is thus contemporaneous with the Viking Age, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in China, or the Fatimid Caliphate in the Islamic world.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Prior to European contact, the Ramaytush speaking subgroup of the Ohlone people lived near to the tree, in the village of Puichon.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Portolá's expedition
Template:See also Template:Location map many
Before conquest by Spanish missionaries in the 18th century, the land around El Palo Alto was home to the Ohlone.<ref name="nyt" /> According to traditional history, El Palo Alto was the campsite of Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portolá's menTemplate:Sfn between November 6 and 11, 1769.<ref name=":5" /> Portolá was traveling north up the California coast from Mexico in search of Monterey Bay, but failed to identify it. Nourished by Ohlone natives, the expedition continued north and on November 1 were greeted with the expanse of the San Francisco Bay.<ref name="nps-heritage">Template:Cite web</ref> They traveled southwest and arrived at San Francisquito Creek on November 6, 1769, where they camped until November 11.<ref name=":5" />
Visiting the bay in 1774, Father Francisco Palóu came upon a large tree on the creek, considered its location suitable for a new mission, and erected a wooden cross near it. His diary entry indicated the location of Portolá's camp as nearby and is the tree's first appearance in writing.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite book Font's map reproduced therein is also reproduced at [1] Template:Webarchive</ref> In 1776,<ref name="font-diary" /> Juan Bautista de Anza and Father Pedro Font visited the tree and concluded the creek's flow was too unreliable, instead founding the Mission Santa Clara de Asís—modern day Santa Clara—Template:Cvt to the southeast.Template:Sfn Font measured the tree with a graphometer: fifty varas (137 feet; 42 m) high and 5.5 varas (15 feet; 3 m) around at the base, noting that soldiers had told him there were larger ones in the mountains.<ref name="font-diary">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn A 1777 map of the bay by Font indicated a large tree on San Francisquito Creek.<ref name=":5" />
![[1]](https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=File:P-7-Father-Pedro-Fonts-map-of-1777-full-brk00012360_24a.jpg){kind=link}
Most evidence in the past suggested that El Palo Alto was not the actual tree in Font's map or referenced by early Spanish diarists, who recorded their travels in detail but made no mention of a tree with twin trunks.Template:Sfn Local historian Steve Staiger said that Portolá's camp may have been under a tree further downstream, later felled by a Spanish military engineer to make a bridge.<ref name="nyt" /> Two candidates for the landmark tree, elsewhere along the creek, fell in 1852Template:Sfn and 1911.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":10">Template:Cite news</ref>
Early landmark
In July 1850, a highway from San Francisco in the north to San Jose to the south was ordered to be built. Previous travelers took narrow trails on horseback or slightly wider tracks on oxcart; it was joked that the road between the two cities was "three miles wide".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The highway passed close to El Palo Alto and likely brought it to prominence.Template:Sfn The tree was nearly cut down in 1850, but was saved by a timely shipment of lumber.<ref name="1900-live-oak">Template:Cite news "In 1849 it quickened the pulse and brought a sparkle to the eyes to stand at Porto Suelo and look from ocean to bay; or on Rincon hill on a clear day, when the Palos Colorados, the red trees of the valley, could be seen thirty-three miles off on the road to San Jose ... Several times the lumber men were about to cut down the Palos Colorados, the lone redwood trees from which the famous Palo Alto ranch has derived its name, but one thing and another hindered. The trees, however, would surely have been cut to save hauling had not the argonaut fleet arrived from New England early in the 1850 with lumber brought around the Horn ... In the winter of 1879 the sister tree, as if nature was conscious that its day of usefulness as a landmark had passed, was prostrated by a freshet."</ref>
Template:Multiple image El Palo Alto was first known as the Palos Colorados,<ref name="1900-live-oak" /> roughly meaning 'red trees'.<ref name="nyt" /> The earliest known reference to the name "Palo Alto" dates to 1853,Template:Sfn and an 1856 official land survey labeled it the "Palo Alto Redwoods";<ref>Template:Cite map</ref> the name "Rancho of Palo Alto" was used as a disambiguation in 1857.<ref name=":10" /> Construction of a railroad by the San Francisco & San Jose Railroad Company, connecting San Francisco to San Jose, passed the tree in 1863,Template:Sfn making it an obvious landmark for travelers. The section from San Francisco to "Big Tree Station" at the creekTemplate:Sfn was inaugurated on October 7 that year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Southern Pacific Transportation Company purchased the company in March 1868;<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> the tree was featured in Southern Pacific advertising.<ref name="palo-alto-1917">Template:Cite news</ref> Edward Vischer's Pictorial of California (1870) contains a drawing of the tree with two trunks, noting it to be "one of the very few instances of that mountain monarch [the redwood] being found in the open level country", and suggests that the tree originally had three trunks, describing it as "[t]wins, once a trio".<ref name="vischer-1870">Template:Cite book Drawing itself is on page 185 Template:Webarchive (archived), titled "Evening passenger train on the San Francisco–San Jose railroad, crossing south San Francisquito Creek", dated 1864 to 1867.</ref>
Land transfers and the Stanfords
The land beneath and nearby the tree passed through various owners before becoming part of the city of Palo Alto, which did not yet exist. Some references state that the tree lay at the northwest corner of a Mexican land grant called Rancho Rinconada del Arroyo de San Francisquito,Template:SfnTemplate:Efn which spanned Template:Cvt of oak trees and brush. This corner abutted Rancho San Francisquito to the west and Rancho de las Pulgas to the north.Template:Sfn In 1835, the Rinconada grant was first given to Don Rafael Soto, whose father had settled in the de Anza expedition of 1775–76.Template:Sfn Soto's widow inherited the grant in 1841.Template:Sfn She entered a dispute with the US government—which acquired California as a state in 1850, after the Mexican–American War<ref name="loc">Template:Cite web</ref>—over whether her claim was valid. Soto's heirs were finally declared the rightful owners in 1872, and gave the contractors who had represented them about Template:Cvt of land as compensation;Template:Sfn the heirs kept the other, northern part.Template:Sfn
In 1876, parts of Rancho San Francisquito was purchased by Leland StanfordTemplate:Sfn—who later founded Stanford University with his wife Jane Stanford—for his Palo Alto Stock Farm, a place for breeding and training horses. It would eventually grow to about Template:Cvt.Template:Sfn Following the death of their son in 1884, the Stanfords established a university in his honor on their land.Template:Sfn In 1887, Soto's heirs sold their land to a good friend of Leland Stanford, Timothy Hopkins, who used it to develop the nearby town of University Park (see 1894 view).<ref name=":9">Template:Cite book</ref> In particular, Hopkins acquired land near El Palo Alto, adjacent to Southern Pacific–owned land, that eventually became the city-owned El Palo Alto Park.<ref name="park-ordinance" /> Stanford University opened on October 1, 1891, with 440 students in attendance, and prompted the rapid growth of University Park.Template:Sfn In 1894 it incorporated as the city of Palo Alto,Template:Sfn a new name for which Stanford had a "great fondness".<ref name=":9" /> The first university seal, adopted in 1908, featured El Palo Alto prominently (although its artist Arthur Bridgman Clark drew a more "vigorous"<ref name="stanford-seal" /> tree, how El Palo Alto might have looked centuries earlier<ref name=":3">Template:Cite news</ref>), adorned with Template:Sc to its left and Template:Sc to its right as a motto.<ref name="stanford-seal">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Efn Yet, even as the tree became so enmeshed with the university's branding, its position east of the railroad right of way confirms that there never was a time when El Palo Alto was on land owned by Leland Stanford.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
One trunk falls
El Palo Alto had two trunks until some time between 1875<ref name="miller-investigates" /> and 1882,<ref name=":8">Template:Cite news</ref> when the north, more-curved trunk fell.<ref name=":3" />Template:Sfn The stump's rings were counted and gave an age of 967 years.<ref name=":8" />
The exact date and cause of the trunk's falling is unknown.Template:Sfn A 1900 article in Palo Alto Live Oak dates the falling to the winter of 1879, blaming a freshet.<ref name="1900-live-oak" /> A December 1882 article in The Sacramento Bee states: "Some years ago it had a companion tree, but the latter was undermined by a subterranean stream and fell to the ground."<ref name=":8" /> Local historian Guy Miller studied the matter for over two decades and estimated a date of 1885. Miller suggested that railroad records likely to contain definitive information were destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and subsequent fire.<ref name="miller-investigates">Template:Cite journal Letter is on page 345 of the compilation.</ref>
The San Francisquito Creek's eroding banks further threatened El Palo Alto. Fearing its loss, after the first trunk fell, Leland Stanford directed a wooden bulkhead to be built reinforcing the tree's side of the creek.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1904 Jane Stanford ordered the building of a cement wall,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which was further reinforced around 1909 by Southern Pacific.<ref name="palo-alto-1917" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn
Early Stanford students had a tradition of climbing the tree and placing a flag as high as possible. The day before admissions day of 1909, a Stanford student (or possibly an employee<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>) was marooned and had to be rescued by other students at night time, marking the last known climb.<ref name="nyt" />Template:Sfn
Declining health
Smog and disruption of roots from the railroad placed El Palo Alto under existential threat; the adjacent railroad was doubled to two tracks in 1902 and by the 1920s the tree was passed by some 70 trains per day.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Nearby wells and water being taken from San Francisquito Creek lowered the water table, depriving the tree of needed water.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite web</ref> Stanford botany professor George James Peirce already found in 1901 that the tree's crown was seriously injured, that the railway had caused changes in the nearby soil's drainage, and that a "thicket of suckers" was present around the tree, akin to those seen "around the stump of a felled or fallen redwood of advanced age."<ref>Template:Cite journal Reprinted Template:Webarchive (April 4, 1901) in Contributions to Biology from the Hopkins Seaside Laboratory of the Leland Stanford Jr. University. 23: 87. Retrieved September 21, 2022.</ref> In 1915 Peirce planted seven redwoods on university grounds so that one of them could succeed El Palo Alto following its death.<ref name="1917-lawnmower">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> Six remain<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>—one was crushed as a sapling by a lawnmower.<ref name="1917-lawnmower" /><ref name="tribune-1961-hazards">Template:Cite news</ref>
The Native Sons of the Golden West, an organization dedicated to the preservation of California landmarks, took stewardship of the tree in 1920.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Southern Pacific leased the tree to the Native Sons in 1922<ref name="lease">Template:Cite news</ref> and in 1925 the surrounding land was converted into a park, now El Palo Alto Park.<ref name=":6">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":7" /> The park spans Template:Cvt and has a pedestrian-bike pathway connecting Palo Alto to Menlo Park.<ref name="copa">Template:Cite web</ref> University tree surgeons filled decayed cavities with cement and the tree's base was irrigated using six-inch pipes, sunk eight feet into the earth at regular intervals.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7">Template:Cite news</ref> Southern Pacific hooked up guy wires to stabilize the tree.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Fearing the tree's death, the Native Sons placed a plaqueTemplate:Efn set in a granite boulder under the tree in 1926, in a ceremony attended by more than a thousand people and featuring speeches from the mayor, a Stanford professor, a Southern Pacific representative, and several Native Sons.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn Despite continuous preservation efforts, by the late 1920s newspapers declared the tree moribund.Template:Sfn<ref name="sf-news-1929">Template:Cite news "The death of the tree within a few years is declared inevitable. A few feet to one side of the old patriarch modern trains roar past every few minutes, and smoke and fumes from the locomotives are killing the foliage."</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The top of the tree continued to die and measurements in 1950 found a height of Template:Cvt, compared to Template:Cvt in 1930.Template:Sfn
Recovery
A watering system—dubbed the "Fool the Redwood Plan" by a caretaker<ref name="nyt" />—was installed in 1955 to simulate the moisture that redwoods get in their typical habitat, and to wash soot off the foliage; dead branches were removed during installation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A Jeep-mounted pump was used twice a month to pump water for two hours up the line, which reached Template:Cvt above the tree. It soon became clogged and bent out of shape by high winds, but was fixed in 1958 in a collaboration with the city fire department.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="popular-mechanics">Template:Cite magazine Article contains images of the pump and watering system.</ref> In 1961 six local arborists together deemed the tree to be in fair condition, but suffering from smog, insufficient water, termites, and a deteriorating root system.<ref name="tribune-1961-hazards" /><ref name="1961-checkup">Template:Cite news</ref> Smaller, "nurse" trees were planted to protect El Palo Alto's root system from compacted soil.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Dead wood and termite infestations were progressively removed, mulch was added at the tree's base,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the tree's top was cut off as it died.<ref name=":4" />
El Palo Alto Park was officially named and made a city park in June 1971.<ref name="park-ordinance">Template:Cite web</ref> With their disbandment in 1974, the Native Sons' lease of the land immediately around the tree from Southern Pacific expired. The city of Palo Alto, who had long cared for the tree, had incorrectly assumed they were part of the lease.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The city sent Southern Pacific a new lease in 1978.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The switching of nearby cities to the Hetch Hetchy water system incidentally let the water table return. Together with watering and fertilization efforts the tree was finally adorned with new growth.<ref name=":4" /> A 1999 appraisal concluded that "notwithstanding a catastrophic event ... it is expected that the El Palo Alto redwood will persevere and grow for centuries to come."Template:Sfn
Legacy
Once a lone tall tree visible for miles,Template:Efn the tree's decline and the growth of nearby planted trees, such as eucalyptus, have made El Palo Alto much less visible from afar.Template:Sfn El Palo Alto stands at about Template:Cvt in height,<ref name="copa" /> with a Template:Cvt diameter and crown spread of Template:Cvt,Template:Sfn and enjoys much greater health than it did a century ago.Template:Sfn Preservation efforts continue, including with ground-penetrating radar, "air-spade excavation",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> drone monitoring of the tree's crown, and a prism attached to its top to track movement.<ref name="nyt" /> Caltrain plans to make the railroad electric by 2024, which would eliminate the impact of smoke, and will replace the 1902 trestle.<ref name="nyt" /><ref name=":2" />
The tree remains prominent on the City of Palo Alto seal, in the Stanford University seal, and as a mascot in the university's marching band.Template:Sfn The State of California designated the nearby "Portolá Journey's End" as the second California Historical Landmark in 1932;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> in 1974 the tree itself was registered with the state as a Point of Historical Interest.Template:Sfn In 1987 the National Arborist Association and the International Society of Arboriculture recognized the tree for its historical importance.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2004, seedlings from El Palo Alto were planted in the American Forests Historic Tree Nursery in Jacksonville, Florida.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
References
Notes
Sources
Citations
External links
- Pages with broken file links
- Individual coast redwood trees
- Palo Alto, California
- History of Santa Clara County, California
- History of the San Francisco Bay Area
- Native American history of California
- Natural history of the California Coast Ranges
- Geography of Santa Clara County, California
- Tourist attractions in Santa Clara County, California