Timeline of the Sierra National Forest
The following is a timeline of the history of the Sierra National Forest in Central California, United States.
19th century[edit]
- 1858
- Galen Clark discovers Nelder Grove.
- 1870
- The Forest King is cut down in Nelder Grove.
- 1874
- The California Lumber Company established.[1]
- 1891
- The Fresno Flume and Irrigation Company established.
- 1893
- President Benjamin Harrison creates Sierra Forest Reserve.[2]
- 1897
- Sheepmen resist grazing control and reserves repeal.[2]: 167
- 1898
- Sierra reserves hire first 60 rangers. Gifford Pinchot named chief of United States Division of Forestry.[2]: 167
- 1899
20th century[edit]
- 1901
- Formation of Bass Lake.
- The Shaver Lake Railroad opens to haul timber from the woods.
- 1902
- Charles H. Shinn becomes head ranger of the Sierra Reserves. North Fork headquarters opens.
- 1903
- President Theodore Roosevelt visits Chiquito Basin and Globe Rock.
- 1907
- Forest Reserves became national forests; Pinchot toured Stevenson Creek timber sale.
- 1909
- Fire lookout established on Shuteye Peak.[5]
- 1910
- Big Creek Hydroelectric Project begins.[2]: 167
- Bass Lake enlarged to its current dimensions.[6]
- 1912
- The Yosemite Lumber Company constructed the steepest logging incline in history.
- 1913
- Huntington Lake completed.[2]: 167
- 1919
- Southern California Edison buys Shaver Lake, annexes it to the Big Creek Hydroelectric Project.[7]: 15
- 1922
- The Madera Sugar Pine Company ends labor contract with Chinese workers, sets fire to Chinatown.[8]
- Mammoth Pool Dam completed.
- 1927
- Shaver Lake completed.
- 1930
- Yosemite Lumber Company ceases operations.
- Bass Lake begins annual Independence Day fireworks display.[9]
- 1931
- The Madera Sugar Pine Company ceases operations.
- The movie Carnival Boat was filmed at the Sugar Pine Lumber Company in Bass Lake and Central Camp.[10]
- 1933
- The Sugar Pine Lumber Company declares bankruptcy.
- 1940
- Chinese Peak proposed as a ski area.: 168
- 1954
- Lake Thomas A Edison completed.
- 1961
- Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad begins running tourist trains.
- 1963
- The Hells Angels begin meeting in Bass Lake for their annual Memorial Day run.[11]
- 1964
- Wilderness Act passes.
- John Muir Wilderness established.
- Tehipite Valley transferred to Kings Canyon National Park.[2]: 167
- 1974
- Kaiser Wilderness established.
- 1984
- 1989
- Sierra Vista Scenic Byway named a national scenic byway.
21st Century[edit]
- 2018
- The Ferguson Fire seriously impacted the recreational areas of the Sierra National Forest.
- 2020
- The Creek Fire, burning primarily in the Sierra National Forest, became the fifth-largest wildfire in modern California history.
Bibliography[edit]
- Rose, Gene (1994). Sierra Centennial: 100 Years of Pioneering on the Sierra National Forest. Three Forests Interpretive Association. ISBN 0-944194-31-1.
- Ben Hurt. "A Sawmill History of the Sierra National Forest 1852-1940" (PDF). Sierra National Forest. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
References[edit]
- ^ "The California Lumber Co". Merced County Sun. March 1874. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
The object of the company is to supply the San Joaquin Valley with a superior article of lumber at reduced prices. To accomplish this they design sawing the lumber in the great sugar-pine forests of Fresno Flats and floating the lumber down, by means of a flume, to a convenient point upon the railroad for shipping
- ^ a b c d e f Rose, Gene (1994). Sierra Centennial: 100 Years of Pioneering on the Sierra National Forest. Three Forests Interpretive Association. ISBN 0-944194-31-1.
- ^ Godfrey, Anthony The Ever-Changing View-A History of the National Forests in California USDA Forest Service Publishers, 2005 p. 92
- ^ Fresno Flats Historical Village and Park (Museum display). Oakhurst, CA: Madera County Historical Society. 2022.
- ^ "Fire Station Proves Valuable". Santa Cruz Sentinel. Vol. 55, no. 240. 9 October 1909.
- ^ Ritzman, David; Makdisi, Faiz; de Larios, Joseph; Sun, Joseph; Ahlgren, Charles (May 2, 2013). "Seismic Retrofit of Crane Valley Dam". Missouri University of Science and Technology. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
- ^ Johnston, Hank (1997). The Whistles Blow No More. Stauffer Publishing. ISBN 0-87046-067-6.
- ^ "Sugar Pine's Chinatown had its revenge". The Madera Tribune. August 8, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
- ^ "Spectacular Display". Madera Tribune. Vol. 74, no. 37. 7 July 1965. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
- ^ "Life in a Lumber Camp". The New York Times. New York Times. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
- ^ Thompson, Hunter S. (1966). Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs.