The morning call, San Francisco, April 07, 1893, Page 2.
Frank Kuykendall, A redwood tree 68 feet in circumference on Eel River, near Scotia, Humboldt County, Cal., from which a section was sent to the World’s Fair at Chicago in 1893, ca. 1893 –San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
A compilation of Historic and anecdotal reports of Eastern White Pine over 200 feet high, or containing large diameters and extraordinary lumber volumes, circa 18th to 20th century.
Old Growth White Pine Forests, c. 19th century.
Update: 1/15/2020, I will be adding more accounts in following weeks and months. All heights below are “as is”, as this is a project of ongoing investigation, early reports of fallen trees measured on the ground by tape line, chains, rods, and rule sticks by first person observers such as Foresters, mill men, and credible scientists & surveyors of the day, or which have been vetted by 2 or more credible witnesses, I find to be of potential high credibility. My preliminary findings suggest that some stands of Eastern White Pine were averaging over 200 feet in height in the Eastern & N. Eastern U.S. and Ontario, Canada before the year 1900, reaching impressive diameters often over 5 to 7 feet, and contained individual specimen which may have rivaled the highest recorded Western White Pines and its cousin, the Sugar Pine. Heights of 220 to 270+ ft potentially having been reached in the very tallest ones. In aggregating about 70 historic height reports, and 52 listed diameters from the reports below, the mean average of this Historical superlative series is approximately 218 ft tall over a 6.27 ft diameter at stump. Diameters ranged from 2 to 12 ft, and heights from 150 to 288 ft.
John Maude in the year 1800, visited Niagara, NY and Bath, Mud Creek, and Bartle’s mill. Trees were over 200 feet in length. Mr Bartle measured one, when a log, that was 202 ft long, white pine.
Dr Timothy Dwight, a former president of Yale College, recalls a Pine 247 feet long measured by Mr. Law of Meredith, Ny. c. 1804, and estimates standing timber 200 feet, near Unadilla, Ny.
Granby, Oswego Co. Ny, pine in 1829 on land of Charles Chapman, cut by Addison & James Saterlee and George Green, who aver to the dimensions: 4 ft above ground 7.5 ft diam, at 22 ft, 6 ft diam, 90 ft to first limb, and 220 feet to top branch. Another tree near this, wind fallen, not as great in diameter as the last tree, was measured by George Kellogg of Granby, who carefully measured the prostrate tree at 14 rods in length, or 231 feet.
Camillus, Onandaga Co, NY, 1860. On land owned by Wheeler Truesdell, A Pinus Strobus measured 230 feet long as it lay, another nearby gave 154 feet of saw logs.
A very detailed measurement by a scientific observer: Between Albany NY, and Killington, Shrewsbury mountains, Vermont in 1853. A prostrate Pine tree 235 feet long to a decayed top- which traced out even further than that. 17 ft 3 circumference at the base, 2 feet diameter 165 ft from base, it was measured by early Meteorologist and instrument maker, Joel W. Andrews.
A Pine, in Kiantone, Ny measured 22 ft circumference, and yet another Pine in French Creek, was 27 ft circumference, and nearly 200 ft tall. It was not Uncommon for single pines to scale 5,000 feet. Single acres of Pines would sometimes yield 100,000 feet.
At Kiantone Ny, 1854 Charles Spencer cut a pine which had 8 logs sixteen ft, and six logs 12 ft, besides top and stump. In 1860, another Pine was cut upon the same lot that was 7 ft diameter at stump, and 6 ft diameter 60 ft from trunk, it was sawed at Warner’s saw mill at Jamestown and produced 13,300 ft.
Chautauqua Co., Cassadega creek Ny, c. 1865. A Pine on the property of J.E. Almy was cut down and measured upwards of 200 feet in length upon the ground, it was described as 5.5 feet diameter, and the stump was nearly six feet in diameter, and Other stumps nearby were 4.5 feet diam. According to Dr Frederick Larkin, and Mr Bugbee, 800 annual rings could readily be counted on the stump, not including a large number obliterated by decay.
AN 18-LOG PINE [New Russia, NY]
A monster pine, a regular monarch of the forest, was recently cut by J. M. Barnet & Co., on their job in New Russia. From this stately tree, measuring fifty-four inches on the stump, no less than eighteen logs were cut. It is probably one of the largest, if not the largest, pine ever cut in the Adirondacks.
Ticonderoga Sentinel, September 20, 1917
Poland, Chautauqua Co., Ny . c. early 1800s. It is said that a surveyor, Mr. Cheney, stretched his chain on a fallen pine 268 feet in length, each time he travled between Kiantone to Kennedy, Ny. Many of the Pines measured 5 to 6 feet diameter, “Poland Quality” in Lumber, was the standard.
Chautauqua Co. Ny, c. early 1800s. A dense Pine forest 12 miles square (12 miles on each side) once covered the S.E. corner of this county, at the present towns of Carroll, Poland, Ellicott, Kiantone, Jamestown and Busti. Trees grew straight and towered 80 to 100 feet without a limb, 3 to 5 feet in diameter and often more, and grew to a height of 150 and even 200 feet.
Page 123
“Lumbering was the leading industry in the south-eastern part of the county. Thickly scattered over the hills, and more abundantly gathered along the streams’ and lowlands in this part of the county, grew that majestic and use- ful forest tree, the white or Weymouth Pine. These trees grew tall and straight eighty or one hundred feet without a limb, then sending out a few branches, they formed a tufted top ; they towered far above the surround- ing forest. At maturity they were three to five feet in diameter, often more. They grew to the height of one hundred and fifty and even two hundred feet. The lumber manufac- tured from the white pine was most beautiful in appearance and excellent in quality. These pine trees grew in all the towns south of the Ridge, but more abundantly in the southeastern ones. A dense pine forest twelve miles square, covered Carroll, Poland, Elli- cott and Kiantone, the site of James- town and part of Busti. These mon- archs of the woods have now nearly disappeared, and in a few years no ves- tige will remain. Soon there will be no one living who has seen this majes- tic forest of pines, which once stood.”
in 1902, Occasional white Pine in NY state are said to have been 255 ft, and 80″ in diam, and many NY lumbermen still living, recall giant White Pines that measured 7 ft across the stumps and over 220 in height. Another report that the 255′ tree was 125 to first branch, and felled in the Conewango swamp lands, according to records from Albany.
Dr. Franklin Benjamin Hough, first chief of the United States Forestry Division, wrote in the First Report on Forestry in 1878 that a White Pine in Jefferson County, near “Pine Plains” at the Black River, at the town of Rutland, Ny, once grew in the shelter of the hills, and measured 288-3/4 feet in height.
A large Pine tree 175 feet in length, 18 feet in circumference, and 65 feet to first limb, cut down in Greene Co. NY, in May 1902.
“A Noble Pine.– A large pine tree on the Pratt Stock Farm, Greene County, NY that many have heard about and numbers have traveled far to see, was recently cut says the Oak Hill Record. It was struck by lightning two years ago and last fall the top died. The lightning did not damage or shatter the main trunk. The entire length was about 175 feet; at the stump It was 18 feet around; three ordi nary persons could nicely reach around it. Sixty-five feet from the stump where the first limb was, the trunk was over three feet in diameter and nearly 10 feet in circumference. Counting the rings on the stump we found the tree to be about 285 years old. This country was but thinly settled when the tree made a start in the world, and now the monarch of the forest lies low. This tree will be cut into eight foot logs and quartered, then sawed into 16-Inch blocks and made into shaved shingles. This was undoubtedly the largest tree in this sec-tion of the country.”
Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire 1770-1780
Rev. Wheelock, Mcclure, Lord and others who founded Dartmouth college record 270 and 230 ft long pines. White Pines grew especially along the river and valley of Mink Brook. These were often of great size and height, a hundred feet or more to the first limb, and it was not unusual that four trees could be felled in such a way to fence an acre, one on each side of a tract.
First hand account by David Mcclure, friend of Rev. Wheelock from Dartmouth, who measured one of those pines which was 270 ft long from butt to top. The site was an unbroken forest of enormous pines one of which Rev David McClure DD says that he himself measured and found it 270 feet from the butt to the top. On the first cleared area of 6 acres it is said that the felled trees covered the ground 5 feet high and the standing trees shut off the sun till it was far up above the horizon.
Whitefield, New Hampshire, 1872 William Quimby had a pine tree 21 ft circumference, and 100 ft to first limb, which contained estimated 7,000 feet of sound lumber.
Coos County.- The New Hampshire Board of Agriculture at a session held at Whitefield in December 1873 visited a lumber camp in this county the report of which has facts of interest in forestry. Attention was called to a white pine over 4 feet in diameter and 200 feet or more high said to be worth over $1,000 on the stump. Many trees were worth from $100 to $500 each. The growth was principally hemlock pine and spruce and would yield in some instances 150,000 feet or more per acre. The average cost when purchased was $11. The company whose works they visited owned 30,000 acres mostly still covered with forest and had built some dozen miles of railroad into the heart of the woods using the ordinary T-rail. (Fourth Report NH Board of Agriculture, p. 54.)
In the vicinity of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, according to John Elwyn, Esq. a Pine tree was cut down some years ago which measured two hundred feet in height.
Camp Fox, Pennsylvania, 1880. Pine tree cut 19 logs, 16 feet long. tree had five forks, and was 6 feet diameter at the butt: [Note: multiple forks, could yield many more logs!]
Centre County, Penn. 1898, a Pine 176.5 feet tall, 5 ft 5 in. diameter, and 90 ft from butt to the forking of the branches was cut by Adam Zerbe, at Sober.
Cedar Run, Lycoming Co, Penn. Mammoth White Pine – c. 1889, 12 ft diameter, 200 ft tall. A white pine located on Robert Wolf’s job near the mouth of Cedar Run, Lycoming County, the finest white pine tree standing in Pennsylvania. Its diameter breast-high was 12 feet, and it was 200 feet in height, perfectly straight and sound, estimated to contain 6,500 feet below the branches. A log 105 feet long was cut from it, and sent to Philadelphia for a parade. Mr. Martz confirmed the stump was still present as of 1926.
Col. Shoemaker states that in 1908 he saw a White Pine of similar diameter standing close to Gotshall’s Run, Clinton County. However, storm had broken off its top 70 feet from the ground.
Thomas G. Simcox, an old timber cruiser, said it was second only to one other white pine in Clinton County, which was called the Grandfather Pine, and was 360 feet* high, and once stood at the mouth of Schwenk’s Gap, Sugar Valley, Clinton County.
*”The Grandfather Pine”, of Sugar Valley, according to local historian and folklorist Col. Henry W Shoemaker, was a well known pine to the settlers of Clinton County, Pennsylvania. This legendary mammoth tree, famous to the Indians and pioneers alike, was said to stand nearly twice as tall as the surrounding forest. It was cut around 1875 by Mike Courtney who was woodsman of Ario Pardee’s lumber interests. The tree was reportedly felled by Mike Courtney, Henry Mark, Jake Karstetter, and Henry Wren who cut the tree 9 feet off the ground with a large crosscut saw and axes. Shoemaker credits a more authentic height of 260 feet (269 ft with butt height added), from the butt to the top, as measured by Henry Wren, one of the cutters. The giant tree reportedly measured 12 feet in diameter, 9 feet up from the ground. Altoona Tribune Altoona, Pennsylvania 13 Jul 1931, Mon • Page 6
Another Giant Pine at Little Sugar Valley, not far from Sugar Valley, Clinton Co, Penn. was cut in 1887 by J.H. Maize and John Breon which scaled 5,945 feet, and three men could not reach around the trunk of the tree.
On Property of Mr Bell, at the waters of Mahoning, Brady Township, Penn. 1870. Pine tree, which was 21 ft 6 girth, and 11,000 board ft. 18 logs 16 ft, and three 12 ft logs. Totaling 324 log feet!
Cameron Co, Pennsylvania 1908, pine tree scaled 10,800 ft, 5 ft diam, and cut 31 logs from 8 to 16 ft long, the total saw logs amount to 394 feet; but the tree was not this tall, for it had 2 forks and 3 branches of immense size. Actual height of tree is not recorded.
History of Sheffield Township, Warren Co. Penn. 1830s, report from a sawmill of a Pine that was 23 ft circ. 8 ft from the ground, and another one which made seventeen sawlogs, each 16 ft long.
American Forestry, Volume 27 no. 325, Jan. 1921 pg 99
Pinegrove Township, Pennsylvania. Clapp Estate Sale, 1903. 2000 acres covered in the last tract of White Pines in Pennsylvania not touched by the woodsman’s axe. “There are White Pine trees in this particular tract that will measure seven feet across the stump and which tower 250 feet into the air.”
Au-Sable River, N. Michigan, in 1890 C.H. Carpenter and A.H. Gifford cut a pine at Vaughan’s camp, 5.5 ft diam at butt, which cut 12, 16 foot logs, the tree being over 200 feet in height and perfectly sound.
Clam Lake, Mich. 1876, 200 ft long Pines furnished spars 175 ft long, with 2 ft diameter butts.
“HIGH TREES. The exact height of our tallest trees in most cases is not known. They are to be found in some congenial spots where the ground is favorable for a thick growth in a slight sag in the ground. At Clam Lake an old lumberman informed me that he could furnish spars of pine 175 feet long and not over two feet through at the butt. He had cut them 200 feet long.”
The David Ward Estate, in Otsego, Crawford, Kalkaska, and Antrim counties, Michigan had Pine trees 170-185 ft tall, and 5 ft diameter, before c. 1909.
“Before lumbering operations 20,000 acres were covered with a magnificent stand of white pine, and many of the trees were five feet in diameter and 170 to 185 feet in height.”
“The tree rarely reaches a height of more than 160 feet and diameters of more than 40 inches more usually 30 inches. Occasionally these dimensions are exceeded ; trees of 200 feet in height and of 60 inches in diameter have been reported. The largest actually measured by the Division of Forestry was 48 inches in diameter breast high and 170 feet in height, with an age of about four hundred and sixty years, containing 738 cubic feet of wood, standing in a group of similarly old and large pines in Michigan. Another tree of this group, with 47 inches diameter and 162 feet in height, contained 855 cubic feet, being less tapered.”
Ontario, Canada. Many Weymouth Pine trees 210 feet long, 5 to 7 ft diameter, and 350 to 425 years old were measured as they lay, in Ontario by James Brown and George Brown, foresters in Ontario c. 1870s-1882. James Brown LL.D., was Forester from Arniston, Scotland, and later Inspector of Woods and Forests, Port Elgin, Canada. His son was George E. Brown, Forester, Cumloden, Newton- Stewart, N.B.
Pinus Strobus, or Weymouth Pine. “In its native habitats this pine grows to very large dimensions. We have measured many of them as they lay felled on the ground and taking a number of them we found the stems average 150 feet long by 2 feet 9 inches diameter at 5 feet up from the bottom. This may be taken as an average of the size of the trees as they stand in their native parts ; but we have found many of them that measured 210 feet long with stems from 5 to 7 feet in diameter at 4 feet up from the bottom and on counting the annular layers on the stumps from which they were cut we found them to range between 350 and 425 which may be taken as representing the years of their age.”
Ontario White pines, 200 ft were not uncommon, and some 220 ft tall, 120 to first branch and 7 ft diameter recorded 1860s. Near the shores of Lake Erie the larger pines were reported to often reach 60 metres in height and over 150 cm (5 feet) in diameter (Hurlbert, 1862).
Ontario, Canada c. 1820. Pine tree 180 ft long to burned top 47 inches in circumference at the break, may have been 100 feet higher originally.
“The largest timber, particularly pine, that I have ever seen is from Norwich to Burford. A Pine tree that lay alongside the path I mea-sured–its length 180 feet. Its head or top was burned, the circumference of it was 47 inches, and had the tree been perfect it wd. in all probability be 100 feet more & measure 300 ft. of solid timber.”
Some White Pines near Ottawa, Ontario c. 1860s were 16 ft circumference and 180 feet tall.
“…Gatineau lie within the pine growing zone and embrace by far the best pine growing forests in the province in extent and in the size and quality of the timber. In the township of Thorne 20, years ago I measured a pine tree 18 feet 4 inches in circumference at 5 feet from the ground, and within sight of the Parliament Hill, Ottawa, I measured some about 16 feet in circumference and 180 feet in height but trees of such girth are scarce.”
“Those pine trees in Ontario were of the white variety rather than of the yellow. Their trunks three to six feet in diameter, rose straight and bare for 100 feet or more, the branched top being about one third of the tree’s height. Many of them stood 160 feet, and the tallest reached 180 and 190. They were all solid wood. The soil on which they flourished so was a sandy loam.”
Ottawa, Ontario. A section of a White Pine 303 feet tall, and 8 ft 5 inches diameter, 664 rings old cut near Ottawa and displayed at the Canada Log House at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition, Philidelphia.
Forestry. A Journal of Forest and Estate,1878 pg. 214
Canada Log House Centennial Exhibition 1876
William Durkee Williamson, in 1839, lists White Pine at up to 240 feet in Maine, and up to 6 feet at the butt diameter.
Androscoggin and Royal’s River, Maine. Col Moses Little in 1768 measured a White Pine log that was 181 feet long, and 12 inches diameter at the small end.
Maine, 1904, record White pine 225 ft tall, 90″ diam. …”white pines attained extraordinary size. (The record tree in Maine, cut in 1904, was 90 inches in diameter and 225 feet tall.) When reports of these giants reached England in the early 1600s, their fate was sealed, and by 1670 thousands were feeding”…
George Emerson reports that around the year 1800, at Blandford, Mass. Some pines were measured after they were felled, more than 13 rods and a half long, or 223 feet in length.
Dayville, Mass. 1870. 18 sawlogs, none less than 8 feet.
In the Dayville area the passing of a large pine tree was all the news in late January. “A remarkably large pine tree was cut last week west of this village on land of S. & H. Sayles (owners of Dayville’s woolen mill). It was about 12 feet in circumference, and from it were cut by Mr. Alexander Blanchard, eighteen logs, none less than eight feet long, and all of which will saw into 2000 feet of boards.” (WCTr 2/3/1870).
Mr. D.E. Hawks of Charlemont, Mass. in 1849, reportedly cut a 300 ft tall Pine tree, containing 22 logs, average log being 12 ft.
“A Large Tree. – Mr. D. E. Hawks, of Charle-mont, cut a Pine tree a short time since, of the following dimensions. It was 7 feet through 10 feet from the stump, and was 5 feet through 50 feet from the stump. Twenty two logs were taken from the tree, the average length of which were 12 feet. Fourteen feet of the tree were spoiled in falling. The extreme length of the tree from the stump to the top twigs, was 300 feet! – Greenfield Gazette.”
Weekly Transcript, North Adams, Mass., Thursday, July 12, 1849
Charlemont, Massachusetts: Frontier Village and Hill Town – Page 126
Allan Healey · 1965
Others include:
247′ Meredith, NY History of the Lumber Industry in the State of New York
250′ Timothy Dwights’ Travels in New England and New York
240′ Dartmouth, NH A Natural History of Trees
260′ Lincoln, NH Forest Giants of the World Past and Present
262′ Forest Giants…
264′ NH. Forest Giants.
GREAT EASTERN TREES, PAST AND PRESENT by Colby B. Rucker, from the Bulletin of The Eastern native Tree Society, Volume 3, Issue 4 7 Fall 2008
New Hampshire: Eastern White Pine. A pine cut long ago on the site of Dartmouth College was said to have been 240′ tall. Although many doubt the species is capable of attaining such a height, the legend has persisted. Reference: Lane, Ferdinand C., 1953. The Story of Trees, pp. 67-68.
New York: Eastern White Pine, It is said that a fallen specimen at Meridith, New York measured 247 feet in length. Reference: American Forests, Spring 2000, p. 38. Comments: No other details are available. No authenticated records indicate that such heights were actually attained.
Pennsylvania: Eastern White Pine. Girth 37 feet, height 200 feet. “Felled near Cedar Run.” Reference: Lane, Ferdinand C., 1953. The Story of Trees, p.67. Comments: Lane gives no other details. The girth seems excessive, even at grade.
Wisconsin: Eastern white pine. A white pine felled near the Flambeau River, in northwest Wisconsin yielded 14 logs that scaled 22,620 board feet. Reference: Stevens Point Journal, 2/26/1898. (courtesy of Paul Jost, 2/16/2004).
Eastern white pine. A white pine near the Plover River, in the Hatley area of Marathon County, was reported to have a circumference of 19′ 6″, and a height of nearly 200 feet. Reference: S. A. Sherman, pioneer lumberman, 1884. (courtesy of Paul Yost, 2/16/2004).
Eastern white pine. A white pine to be cut on the land of Mr. Wadleigh, near Hatley, Marathon County, was said to be the largest in Wisconsin. It was 27 feet in circumference. Reference: Stevens Point Journal, 12/1/1883. (courtesy of Paul Yost, 2/16/2004).
Turn on Google Earth’s 3D Buildings Icon. Create a polygon filter and adjust at desired altitude to filter height and find tallest tree. Google 3D renderings are photo realistic, and tend to be better than 95% accurate on flat land.
Accurately measuring trees on slopes and steep terrain is much more difficult. In this instance, subtracting crown height from base Google DEM terrain (non 3D mode) elevation will give a good proxy of height, yet DEM data itself can be inaccurate by as much as 50 – 100 feet. 3D Mode has finer and more exact elevation data. It is also worthy to consult other elevation databases to ensure accurate elevation at the base of the tree.
To Measure trees in Google Street view first select the desired location of the tree’s trunk, or directly under where the tree’s highest point is. Add a placemark at this location, then turn on the Google Street View mode. While in Street view mode, adjust the height of the placemark until it aligns with the top of the tree’s crown. This method is even more accurate than the 3D mode, as the 3D polygons some times do not render the top 5 or 10 feet or more in slender trees, steeples, etc:
The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current, May 26, 1912, Image 13
The Sunday Oregonian. Portland, Ore. May 26, 1912, pg 13
The Antone Sechtem ranch was located in Happy Valley, sheltered between Mt Scott and Talbert Mountain, segmented by Sunnyside road, and was within a couple hundred yards of Mt. Scott Creek. A great sheltered valley for big trees. Very Large Cedar trees also once grew in this valley.
300 feet is about as tall as Portland’s newly built South Waterfront Apartments , and about twice the size of the tallest fir trees growing around most of inner Portland nowadays. Powell Butte & Forest Park do have some Doug firs over 200 feet (the tallest is 252 feet high in Macleay Park), and there are amazingly still some huge fir trees up to nearly 300 feet tall (280-290 ft) and 6 to 8.3 feet diameter at Oxbow Park, Gresham- 15 miles east of Portland- the tallest trees in the Metro. Lewis and Clark recorded in their journals a 318 feet tall fir tree, only 3.5 to 4 feet in diameter (pencil thin!) at the upper reaches of “Quicksand river” in 1806, around the present day Sandy River Delta Park, in Gresham.
Oxbow Park still has some Douglas fir approaching 300 feet tall! – [This one I estimated at over 270 ft. tall, and 7 ft diameter] – Photo by Darvel Lloyd, Nov. 2015
Huge Douglas fir, Oxbow Park – 8.3 ft diameter, 280 ft tall. Photo by Darvel Lloyd, Nov. 2015
The 1852 survey map of the Portland basin shows evidence of a once great forest of Douglas fir, Hemlock, and Maple trees. A series of fires between 1825 and 1845 burnt much of this vast forest so that Portland had great open meadows with burnt and fallen timber along most of the central basin and east side, with swamps and marshland extending from Powell blvd. southward down through Crystal springs, and Johnson creek.
However, large groves of old growth trees remained east of 82nd ave, near Rocky Butte, down to Mt Scott and Happy Valley.
The Honorable Andrew J. Dufur, (whose son later formed the town of Dufur, east of Mt. Hood) is quoted in an 1876 agriculture report that he had cut down a Douglas fir 321 feet in length and 6 feet 4 inches diameter, 30 feet from the ground. It can be assumed that this tree was removed by Mr. Dufur on his residence of East Portland, near the Columbia river, north-east of Rocky Butte, where he cleared his land of the tall timber, built his own cabin, and started farming along the Columbia slough between 1859 and 1872, in the present Parkrose neighborhood.
Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for the Year 1876 – pg 181.
Other big trees approaching 300 feet were eluded to by Portland pioneer Harvey Whitefield Scott, who wrote about the town’s remaining big trees, and how it looked in the early settlement period of the 1850’s and 60’s – in his book, “History of Portland” 1890 pg 93, Settlement and Early Times:
“How it looked at Portland then was about how it looks now at any one of the score of river villages in the woods to be seen on the lower Columbia. The forest was a little notched. Grand trees lay almost three hundred feet long on the ground, and so big and burly that the settler felt grimly after his day’s labor in chopping one down, that he had only made matters worse by getting it in the way…”
In April 23rd, 1858, Mr. A.A. Earle of the Orleans Independent Standard, from Irasburgh, Vermont, wrote a lengthy column on Oregon, and his travels there. He mentions in passing, the giant fir trees growing there, and how many of them have reached 300 feet tall. He recalls having personally measured a fallen fir tree 280 feet in length, within the city limits of early Portland.
Dr. James Robert Cardwell was Portland’s first dentist, and later became president of the Oregon Horticultural Society.
Dr. James Robert Cardwell, President of the Oregon Horticultural Society, and Portland’s first dentist, arrived in Oregon in 1852, living six years in Corvallis. In 1858 he moved to Portland, eventually acquiring some properties in the Portland area, and clearing the land for his gardens. Of the Douglas fir trees, he wrote:
“The trees of our forests, owing to the favorable influences referred to, are of rich, dark green foliage, rapid growth to enormous proportions, commonly from 3 to 6 feet in diameter, 350 feet high, sometimes more, and 185 feet to the first limb. This I state from actual measurements from trees prone on the ground.”
– Our Conifers Economically Considered. By Dr J.R. Cardwell – 5th Biennial Report of the Oregon Board of Horticulture, 1899 pg. 544-549.
Our Conifers Economically considered, Dr. J. R. Cardwell – 5th biennial report of the Oregon board of Horticulture, 1899 pg. 544-549
Dr. Cardwell continues, with a description of what the trees of Portland, Oregon looked like on his property:
Our Conifers Economically considered, Dr. J. R. Cardwell – 5th biennial report of the Oregon board of Horticulture, 1899 pg. 546
Another great Douglas fir 330 feet tall was removed by W. F. Tracy, on his property north of Portland, in Camas, Washington along the Lacamas headwaters.
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) May 06, 1880, pg 5
A 300 foot tall Douglas fir was also felled on the Ezra fisher land claim, east of present day Oregon City.
The Quarterly for the Oregon Historical Society, 1916. pg 297.
Other Fir trees between 250 to 300 feet high were measured at present day Oregon City by early pioneers. Col. James Clyman, then residing at Willamette Falls, Oregon wrote a letter to Mr. Hiram Ross on Oct. 27, 1844 telling of the trees,
“One tree that I measured a few days since, is six feet four inches in diameter and 268 feet long. The tree was felled with an axe last summer.”
Then there is this amusing report of a boy free climbing a 260 foot Douglas fir out in Beaverton, Oregon in 1894!
Hillsboro independent. September 14, 1894 Pg 3
Accounts of fir and Cedar trees 350 to 400 feet tall, and 18 to 20 feet in diameter were even reported in some early newspapers – trees along Kalama, Washington, and a grove of enormous fir and cedars estimated at over 350 feet high and 20 feet diameter near Latourell, Oregon and the Hood river, north of Mt. Hood.
The Corvallis gazette. July 04, 1890 Image 1
Sangamo Journal – Illinois State Journal, 20 May 1847 pg 1.
A report by L. Ferdinand Floss (A resident of Multnomah County, Oregon) of gigantic trees over 20 feet in diameter, and 350 to 400 feet high near Latourell, Oregon was printed in the Morning Oregonian, of Portland on June 14, 1900 page 10. A follow up article was printed in the Oregonian, the next day saying the find will no doubt be checked by an agent of the National Forestry Department. On November 29, 1912 the Oregonian printed a report from George T. Prather who confirmed that the big trees were still to be found standing, and that he had seen them.
The Cook County herald. (Grand Marais, Minn.) December 08, 1900, Image 1.
Portland too, may well have had some of these exceptional trees even higher than 300 – 350 feet, as occasional giants were encountered by pioneers settling the land around Seattle and Vancouver British Columbia over a century ago, sometimes 350 – 400 ft tall. (See my post on Tallest Douglas Fir, and claims of a 465-footer along the Nooksack river, Whatcom Wash. in 1896, and 415-footer north of Vancouver in 1902).
I have just recently tallied up all the heights, diameters, and estimated market board feet for 22 giant Douglas fir trees listed on page 11 of Dr. Al Carder’s excellent book, Forest Giants of the World, Past and Present. Of the 37 Doug-fir listed on pg 11, twenty two of them have a listed overall height, diameter at breast height, and volume of marketable board timber in cubic feet. These numbers I will illustrate below in bold text. With this data in hand, I decided to obtain my own rough estimate of the overall volume in cubic feet per tree listed, and compare this overall volume to Dr. Carder’s listed “Volume Marketable Timber” to find approximately what percentage of the tree’s overall cubic volume was marketable board feet . The formula I used was Volume of a cone, or V = 1/3 x Pi x Radius Squared X Height at cut, or 5 feet subtracted from each total tree height. Furthermore, I subtracted 6 inches of bark from each radius at breast height diameter for trees less than 9 feet in total breast height diameter, and 12 inches from trees 11 feet or greater in breast height diameter. Dr. Carder’s values are in bold text, my own values are to the right, and include my estimate of total cubic feet volume of each tree, and the percentage yield in market feet based on Carder’s numbers.
Mineral Tree 393′, 15.4′ dbh, 8,800 market cu ft. 18,237 total cu ft= 48% yield
Pe Ell Tree 340′, 13.4′ dbh. 5875 market cu ft. 11,399 total = 51% yield
Hoquiam Tree 318′ 13.5′ dbh. 5492 market cu ft. 10815 total = 50% yield
Darrington Tree 325′, 8.5′ dbh. 2617 market cu ft. 4690 total = 55% yield
Sauk River Tree 325′, 8.6′ dbh 2659 market cu ft. 4838 total = 54% yield
Littlerock Tree 330′, 5.9′ dbh1479 market cu ft. 2042 total = 72% yield
Ryderwood Tree 324′ 11.8′ dbh 4484 market cu ft. 8016 total = 56% yield
Queets fir 221′ [350′ my est. of orig. ht] 14.5′ dbh 7578 market cu ft. 14088 total = 54% yield
Daisy fir 298′ 11.9′ dbh 6600 market cu ft. 7516 total = 87% yield
Clatsop fir 200′ [300′ my est of orig. ht] 15.5′ dbh 6958 market cu ft. 14072 total = 49% yield
Finnegan fir 302′ 13.2′ dbh 4724 market cu ft. 9752 total = 48% yield
Brummet Creek tree 329′ 4.4 ‘ dbh 889 market cu ft. 1225 total = 73% yield
Brummet fir 329′ 11.7′ dbh 4362 market cu ft, 7980 total = 55% yield
Clover Valley tree 358′ 11.5′ dbh 5487 market cu ft. 8338 total = 66% yield
Lynn Valley tree 415′ 14.2′ dbh 8211 market cu ft. 15974 total = 51% yield
Lynn Valley tree No. 2 352′ 9.7′ dbh 3583 market cu ft. 6658 total = 54% yield
Cathedral Grove Tree 275′ 9.5′ dbh 2577 market cu ft. 4523 total = 57% yield
Koksilah tree 320′ 12.7′ dbh 5,000 market cu ft. 9432 total = 53% yield
Red Creek tree 242′ [My est ht of orig. ht 320′] 13.1′ dbh 5264 market cu ft. 10158 total = 52% yield
Alex Russel Tree 310′ 11.7′ dbh 3579 market cu ft. 7511 total = 48% yield
Stanley Park tree 325′ 9.8′ dbh 3313 market cu ft. 5769 total = 57% yield
Woss Lake Tree 305′ 7′ dbh 1767 market cu ft. 2827 total = 63% yield
The statistical mean of the above data (the sum of the values divided by the number of values) from these 22 extremely gigantic record Douglas-fir shows that the average example of an historic giant, was 329 ft tall, 11 ft 3 inches diameter with 57% of its cubic volume considered merchantable timber. Using my formula to extrapolate estimated total volume, I find that this 329 ft tall, 11 ft 3 inch diameter tree contains 7256 total cubic feet of wood, and there are 12 board feet in 1 cubic foot of wood. Therefore, 7256 x 12, = 87,072 total board feet, and if we apply a mean yield of 57%, we arrive at 49,631 market board feet, which matches very well with historically reported board feet for trees felled within the 300 – 350 foot height range in the pacific NW. (See 350 ft tall Mossyrock tree in my “Tallest Douglas fir in America” page). Using the above 22 data points (and my additional estimates of total volume) as a reference, I propose the “Nooksack Giant”, the alleged 465 ft tall, 10.8 ft diameter (33 ft 11 in circ.) Douglas fir felled in 1896 near Maple Falls, Washington on the Alfred B. Loop ranch, very likely greatly exceeded 300 feet, and quite possibly 400 feet or more in height if the reported market board feet of “96,345” is a genuine yield of this enormous tree. I reason, if 96,345 board feet represents approx. 57 % of the entire tree’s volume, the total volume may have been as high as 169,027 board feet, which is equivalent to 14,085 cubic feet.
From the Whatcom County Museum
The Morning Times, February 28, 1897.
Taking 10.8 feet diameter at the cut, if we subtract about 1 foot of bark from each radius of the breast height diameter, and subtract 5 feet of stump where the tree was hypothetically cut, how tall would the Douglas fir need to be to contain 14,085 total cubic feet of wood, and still 57% yield? A shocking 700 feet! Formula of a cone:
Volume = 1/3 x Pi x Radius squared x height at cut. (Note: Radius is = 10.8 feet / 2, or 5.4 feet. Then subtract 1 foot for bark = 4.4 ft, and Radius squared is 4.4 x 4.4 = 19.36 ft.) V = 1/3 x 3.1415 x 19.36 ft x 695 ft (Ht at cut) = 14,089 cubic ft
Obviously the tree was not 700 feet tall. However, for the sake of argument, suppose the tree yielded 100% of its entire volume (although very unlikely), and the 96,345 board feet (8,028 cu ft) represented the whole trunk. What is the absolute possible minimum height the Nooksack giant could have been if we still subtract a foot of bark from each breast height radius, using the volume of a of a cone? 400 feet!
V = 1/3 x 3.1415 x 19.36 ft x 395 ft(Ht at cut) = 8,007 cubic ft
If the tree were indeed 465 feet tall, and 460 feet at the cut we arrive at: Volume = 1/3 x 3.1415 x 19.36ft x 460 ft = 9324 cubic feet, or 111,888 total board feet of the tree.
This, however, would suggest the Nooksack Giant’s yield was 86% of the total tree’s volume, which is considerably higher than the statistical mean market yield of 57% for giant class Douglas fir of the same diameter. However, if the 33 feet 11 inches circumference of this tree was in fact the naked butt measurement, excluding bark, the 57% yield makes a lot more sense, and we need not subtract 1 foot of bark from the equation.
Radius is 10.8 / 2, or 5.4 feet. Radius squared is 5.4 x 5.4 = 29.16 ft. Volume = 1/3 x 3.1415 x 29.16 ft x 460 ft = 14044 cubic feet, or 168,528 total board feet.
And if we apply 57% yield, the market board feet becomes 96,060 which is remarkably close to the original 96,345 board feet recorded for the Nooksack Giant. However, perhaps the market board feet of the Nooksack tree was a much higher yield than generally cut from giant Douglas fir. Suppose it was indeed 86% yield (87% is the highest market yield I estimated out of Dr Carder’s list of 22 giants). This would then bring the total board feet of the tree down to over 111,000 feet, which would require a tree of at least 310 feet tall. V = 1/3 x 3.1415 x 29.16 ft x 305 ft (at cut) = 9312 cubic feet, or 111,744 total board feet, and at 86% yield, 96,099 market board feet. (very near the 96,345 feet).
My Conclusions: Based on the highest yield probable of 86% (only representing 5% of the 22 marketable trees I extrapolated from Dr. Carder’s book) , and the most likely yield of 57%, I contend that the Nooksack Giant was almost definitely somewhere between 310 feet and 465 feet tall, assuming the purported board feet of the tree, “96,345 feet” is a genuine number, and also assuming the reported circumference of 33 ft 11 was measured exclusive of bark from the butt diameter. An average figure between these two estimates might be somewhere in the 350 -400 ft rangeif we assume the tree’s 33 ft 11 inch girth was measured excluding bark, and accept a market yield in the higher end, 66% to 75% range, which represented 14% of the 22 trees. However, if the yield of this tree was in the more typical median range of 50 -60%, or if the measured circumference of 33 ft 11 inches actually included one foot of bark per each butt radius and we still apply a high yield, even an absolute yield, the tree, by sheer conical inference would have reached and exceeded 400 ft. In conclusion, I am 80% confident the tree was nearly 400 feet high, to over 400 feet high. Of the 22 sampled trees, & additional market yield figures I extrapolated from Dr Carder’s book, 78% of these giant trees had market yields which ranged from 48% to 57%. The precise and detailed measurements of the tree listed on the placard nailed to a cross section of the tree while it was on display in New Whatcom read verbatim:
“From Loop’s Ranch, Forks, Whatcom Co WASHINGTON. The Tree was 465 ft. high, 220 ft. to first limb 33 ft. 11 in. in circumference at the base. If sawed into lumber would make 96,345 ft. would build 8 cottages, 2 stories high, 7 rooms each. The Tree is about 480 years old according to the rings. If sawed into inch square strips, would fill 10 ordinary cars. The strips would reach from WHATCOM to CHINA.”
The purported volume, and details of the tree is consistent with a tree in the range of about 400 feet or more in height. A tree of only 480 years reaching or exceeding 400 feet may be hard to fathom, but there are records of trees such as the 347 foot Douglas fir felled near Astoria, Ore in 1915 which was only 300 years or so in age, and the Pe Ell Tree, 340 feet high, also of about the same age, or the 315 feet tall Douglas fir measured very precisely and listed in “The Washington Forest Reserve by Horace Beemer Ayres, Geological Survey (U.S.) 1899. pg 295” with 253 annual rings at 7 feet from the ground. The Nooksack tree was situated within yards of the North Fork of the Nooksack river, at about 585 feet above Sea Level, and approx. 48°55’34.04″N and 122° 2’52.25″W, in the middle of the Nooksack River Valley, surrounded by sloping hills on both North and South ends, which rise to 1,000 to 4,000 feet above Sea Level. Mt Baker looms to a prominence, some thirteen miles distant, as the crow flies. In some respects, this may have afforded better growing conditions than even Lynn valley, B.C. Certainly there was abundant water, and the valley in which it grew may have shared an equal low wind speed range as Lynn Valley. 67 kilometers per hour (41 mph) is the highest recorded wind speed for Maple Falls, WA. and 0 – 28 Miles per hour is the historic range, compared to 1 to 25 Miles per hour as the historic range for North Vancouver (Lynn Valley). If such a tree 465 feet tall, really existed, certainly it would have stood out like a sore thumb. Yet, we have to remember the only recorded heights we have for the Lynn Valley giant trees are two: the 415 footer felled in 1902 at Argyle Rd, and Mt. Highway, and the 352 footer felled in 1907 in the same Valley. 415 feet would have stuck out of the forest canopy, even next to a 352 feet tall tree. The difference in height is about 18%. Timber cruiser and News paper reports along the Deming Trail in Whatcom Co. gives heights of up to 360 feet for some old Douglas fir, and if some stands had trees reaching into the 380 – 390 foot range, a 465 foot tall tree would stand 18% higher — About the Difference in height between the two Lynn Valley trees I mentioned above. Unlikely, yes. Impossible? I think not.
***Update 7/16/15: New Estimates of Market board foot yields tend to corroborate height claim of 400+ feet for this tree.
Using the standard log scales of the day, the Doyle, Scribner, and Spaulding rules, which were standard to the lumbermen in Oregon, Washington, and British Colymbia, I have now found evidence that the yield of 96,345 feet compromised the section of prime logs cut from below the first branches, or 220 feet of the tree, the “merchantable lumber, all of the finest quality”: The New York Times, TOPICS OF THE TIMES – Mar. 7, 1897
Prime lumber, or number 1. Grade Douglas fir wood was the standard grade for flooring, and building, and was cut from the clean, branch-less trunk of the tree, being free of knots, it was generally the purest and strongest wood the tree contained. Most Douglas fir and conifer trees harvested for their wood were cut to the branch level, everything below this was as a rule the finest and highest quality lumber in the tree. The Nooksack tree was reported to have been 220 feet to the first limb, so this helps give us a clue as to how the board feet calculation may have been arrived at. The Scribner Log scale was the standard for lumbermen in the Puget sound area around 1900: The Practical Lumberman: Short Methods of Figuring Lumber, Octagon Spars …
Using the Scribner rule, we find that the tree contained 96,345 feet of lumber in the first 215 feet of the tree’s trunk: The tree being cut 5 feet above ground level, + 215 feet of logs = 220 ft to first branch; this would yield 6 logs each of 32 feet long, and 1 log of 23 feet. This also comes out the same with 12 logs of 16 feet each, and one 20 – 24 foot log were furnished from the 215 feet below the branches. Similarly, 5 logs of 40 feet each plus 1 log of 20 foot gives similar results, approx. 96,000 – 97,000 feet Scribner, assuming the measurements of 33 ft 11 inches are exclusive of bark. This 215 feet of logs would be 5 ft 9 inches diameter at the top, and 10 feet 10 inches at the bottom — indicating a rise over run, which would necessitate a tree in the 350 – 450 ft tall range, assuming a full and intact crown. If we use the Doyle rule, 215 feet cut into similar log lengths would equal 115,952 board feet.
Conclusion: I now believe the Scribner log scale, (the standard scale of lumbermen in Puget sound and WA. State) was used to calculate the 96,345 market board feet of this tree, and the butt measurement of 33 ft 11 inches was excluding the bark. Log scalers always subtracted the bark from the tree to arrive at the yield estimate.
***Update 1/26/2024: Other contemporary historic reports of fir trees up to 400 ft tall in Nooksack river valley may supplement the historical claim of the Nooksack Giant.
In about 2015 I had found some other reports of trees over 300 to about 400 feet tall reported in old newspaper reports from the 1880s to early 1900s in Whatcom county, and the greater Nooksack river valley. One of these was a report of multiple standing Douglas fir trees 350 to 400 ft tall, from 9 to 14 ft diameter on the south fork of the Nooksack river, near the railroad at Licking station [Hopewell Road, Everson] in Whatcom county, south of the village of Nooksack, and located on Indian land, about 16 miles S.W. of the Alfred Loop Homestead where the Nooksack giant was felled 5 years later. The tallest were judged to be from 350 to possibly 400 feet high, and over 200 feet to lowest branches, and 500,000 board feet to the acre. These trees were specially cruised by request of the World’s Fair Commission by local miner, lumberman and prospector Mr. John M. Saar (Saar creek) of Sumas, and Mr. S. H. Soule of Sumas. (Sidney Howard Soule was a Cornell graduate, journalist, real estate speculator, and surveyor for 2 years in Minnesota). – Aberdeen Herald – August 06, 1891, Pg 8., and The Seattle Post-intelligencer – Sunday, July 19th, 1891 – Page 16.
The height of these trees was likely calculated using the tangent method, or inclinometer and tape line which was a common early method for timber cruising. Even allowing for a theoretical 10% error in over-estimation in height, I believe it suggests trees perhaps exceeding 350 to 360 feet or more, if not quite 400 ft were residing in the Nooksack valley, possibly adding some independent historic plausibility to the Nooksack tree, or at least trees approximating 400 feet may have existed in that area and timeframe.
Further historic reports going as far back as 1858, recount fir trees 12-15 ft in diameter and over 300 feet long, which were laying around Bellingham Bay. “In the neighborhood of Bellingham Bay, the timber is very thick, and some distance inland Some very large trees have been discovered. Several are from twelve to fifteen feet in diameter, and one which had fallen down measured fifteen feet through, two hundred and thirty feet to the first limb, and over three hundred feet in extreme length. The age of this old monarch of the forest must be imagined — probably from six to eight hundred years.” – Daily Alta California, Volume 10, Number 174, 26 June 1858 pg 1.
Subsequent news reports of stands of fir trees estimated in 1883 by government surveyor, Mr. Iverson to average 325 feet high and 7 feet in diameter, in 4 townships in the North Eastern shore of the Puget sound; Townships, 36, 37, 38, 39 East in Whatcom county, (Present day areas of Bow, Chuckanut, Lake Samish, Bellingham Bay, up to Ferndale) held these trees, which stood so thickly wooded, they were deemed nearly impossible to remove, and other accounts of dense fir forests 300 feet high, and 10 feet diameter in the mountains. – Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, September 15, 1883, Image 1, & Omaha Daily Bee. October 12, 1883, Page 2.
In summary, I believe it is probable that many Douglas fir trees exceeding 300 feet high once resided in Whatcom County, and the Nooksack river valley at one time, and perhaps more historic data and photos will surface in the archives to substantiate the claims of the exceptional 350 to 400 foot plus trees in years to come. As it is, the Mineral tree at approx. 393 feet high, which grew near Mineral, Washington until 1930, remains the tallest historically reliable report (reliable by scientific standards, as measured by scientists or trained foresters in the field, McArdle 1924 and others, as opposed to simply lumbermen, trade journal or newspaper reports) which testifies to the near 400 foot range Douglas fir was able to once attain in optimal conditions (393 being 98.25 % of 400 ft), its height being accepted by scientists such as Dr Robert Van Pelt, Dr Stephen Sillett, Dr. Al Carder and others. Carder, however, believed Douglas fir also attained heights even as high as 415 feet, that of the Lynn Valley fir which was felled in 1902, British Columbia, which he found credible. The Nooksack tree, however, Dr. Carder considered the claimed height of 465 ft to be too incredible, (My correspondence with Arthur Jacobson 2014).
In my own research since I first uncovered the Nooksack tree in digital archives in 2009, I have come to believe the tree’s provenance is at least as credibly documented as that of the Lynn Valley fir, the only question being how reliable was the length of the tree as measured on the ground. Using a combination of different variables, and the fact that 1.) the market board feet was twice the tally as similar historic fir giants 300-350 ft tall of same diameter, 2.) that most of this was likely taken from the 220 ft of prime wood beneath the first branch, added to this the tree was described to be as straight as an arrow to the top, in addition to 3.) the photo of the tree slice with exact details as written on the placard nailed to it when it was exhibited, 4.) the name of the property owner and land claim I was able to verify, furthermore, 5.) the contemporary and independent historical accounts of standing firs appraised at up to 400 feet in the same river system 16 miles downstream, as well as 6.) at least one science paper (Domec et al, 2008) demonstrating a theoretical height limit of up to (~430-476 ft) for Douglas fir, all tend to convince me this tree was still an exceptional giant at approximately 400 feet tall, or taller, 7.) even allowing for 10% (or 50 ft) of possible height error, when the tree struck the ground and was measured laid out.
I encourage discussion, criticism, feedback, thoughts and suggestions on this tree, and if anyone else has unearthed any new and interesting details on historic Douglas fir in the Pacific NW. I continue to unearth historical accounts of 300 to 400 + foot Douglas fir trees in the archive, usually about 10 to 15 accounts per year in my free time which I add to my blog post, which now totals about 312 entries:
The humerus of the giant 14 foot Teratorn, found near Woodburn, Oregon in a 10,000 year old deposit.
Teratorns (from the Greek Τερατορνις Teratornis, ‘monster bird’) were very large birds of prey that lived in North and South America from Miocene to Pleistocene. They include some of the largest known flying birds. So far, at least four species have been identified:
Teratornis merriami (Miller, 1909). This is by far the best-known species. Over a hundred specimens have been found, mostly from La Brea Tar Pits. It stood about 75 cm (29.5 in) tall with estimated wingspan of perhaps 3.5 to 3.8 metres (11.5 to 12.5 ft), and weighed about 15 kg (33 lb); making it about a third bigger than extant condors. It became extinct at the end of Pleistocene, some 10 000 years ago.
Teratornis woodburnensis (Campbell & Stenger, 2002). The first species to be found north of the La Brea Tar Pits, this partial specimen was discovered at Legion Park, Woodburn, Oregon. It is known from a humerus, parts of the cranium, beak, sternum, and vertebrae which indicate an estimated wingspan of over 4 meters (14 ft). The find dates to the late Pleistocene, between 11,000 and 12,000 years ago in a strata which is filled with the bones of Mastodon, Sloth, Condors, and evidence of human habitation.
Aiolornis incredibilis (Howard, 1952), previously known as Teratornis incredibilis. This species is fairly poorly known; finds from Nevada and California include several wing bones and part of the beak. They show remarkable similarity with merriami but are uniformly about 40% larger: this would translate to a mass of up to 23 kg (50 lb) and a wingspan of about 5.5 metres (18.04 ft) for incredibilis. The finds are dated from the Pliocene to the late Pleistocene, which is considerable chronological spread, and thus it is uncertain whether they actually represent the same species.
Cathartornis gracilis (Miller, 1910). This species is known only from a couple of leg bones found from La Brea Ranch. Compared to T. merriami, remains are slightly shorter and clearly more slender, indicating more gracile build.
Argentavis magnificens (Campbell & Tonni, 1980). A partial skeleton of this enormous teratorn was found from La Pampa, Argentina. It is the largest flying bird known to have existed. It is the oldest known teratorn, dating to late Miocene, about 6 to 8 million years ago, and one of the very few teratorn finds in South America. Initial discovery included portions of the skull, incomplete humerus and several other wing bones. Even conservative estimates put its wingspan at 6 meters and up (some 20 ft), and it may have been as much as 8 metres (26 ft). The weight of the bird was estimated to have been around 80 kg (176 lb). The estimated weight and wing area rival those of the largest pterosaurs.
Another form, “Teratornis” olsoni, was described from the Pleistocene of Cuba, but its affinities are not completely resolved; it might not be a teratorn at all. There are also undescribed fossils from southwestern Ecuador, but apart from these forms, teratorns were restricted to North America (Campbell & Tonni, 1983).
Giant Condors from California to Peru with 10 to 12, even 14 to 16 feet wingspans were reported in old news paper reports from the 1930’s to mid 1800’s, stories of condors attacking men, boys, and cattle, and able to lift a fawn or small deer and carry it in its talons were even reported. Some of these are likely quite fanciful tales, but I think they did get as big as the fossil condors indicate, the Teratorns Merriami, Woodburnensis and Incredibilis had 12 t0 18 feet wingspans in N. America and in the Pleistocene mega fauna era… Not millions of years ago, but just a few thousand years ago. Condors once flew all over America just 150 years ago, From Alaska to Patagonia. Lewis and Clark recorded 9 and 10 foot condors they shot on the clumbia river up in Oregon and Washington territory in 1806 –Today there are no Condors in Oregon, and just a handful in California –like the Grizzly bear, and the Buffalo, Condors are basically extinct. Giant 14 – 16 ft winged fossil Teratorns have been found in Oregon, at Woodburn in 10,000 year old stratum contemporary with human occupation. The average condor today in California is about 9 to 10 feet wingspan in males, and those in South American Andean Condors 10 to 11 feet wings spread, but there are records of both species exceeding 11 and 12 feet, which would make them the size of the Teratorns Merriami from La Brea Tar pits. That there were larger examples of modern condors with 13, 14, 15 and 16 feet wings spread is not beyond the limit of physics, and is supported by eye witness testimony and old historical documents, and I believe these birds, perhaps relict forms of Teratorn Condor, are responsible for the ancient and recent Thunderbird legends and sightings.
Pelagornis sandersi is a species of extinct flying bird with a wingspan estimated to be between 6.1 and 7.4 m (20 and 24 ft).[1] If the larger estimated wingspan holds true, this makes it the largest flying bird yet discovered, and twice as large as the largest living flying bird, the wandering albatross.[2]
In this regard, it supplants the former largest known flying bird, Argentavis magnificens (which is also extinct). Its wingspan, without feathers, was about 4.0 m (13.1 ft), while that of P. sandersi was about 1.2 m (3.9 ft) longer.[3] Its fossil remains date from 25 million years ago, during the Chattian epoch of the Oligocene.[4] It had short, stumpy legs, and was probably only able to fly by hopping off cliff edges. It has been estimated that it was able to fly at up to 60 km/h (37 mph).[5]
Some scientists expressed surprise at the idea that this species could fly at all, given that, at between 22 and 40 kg (48 and 88 lb), it would be considered too heavy by the predominant theory of the mechanism by which birds fly.[6] Dan Ksepka of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in Durham, North Carolina, who discovered the new species, thinks it was able to fly in part because of its relatively small body and long wings.[7]
Discovery
The only known fossil of P. sandersi was first uncovered in 1983 at Charleston International Airport, South Carolina, when construction workers were building a new terminal there. The bird is named after Albert Sanders, the former curator of Charleston Museum, who led the excavation.[3] It currently sits at the Charleston Museum, where it was identified as a new species by Dan Ksepka in 2014.[4] “Though no feathers survived, Ksepka extrapolated the mass, wingspan and wing shape from the fossilised bones and fed them into a computer to estimate how the bird might fly. A conservative estimate put the wingspan of P. sandersi at around 6.4 metres.”[5]
Historically Reported Douglas-Fir Exceeding 300 and 400 Feet
Google Earth plot of 125 historic Douglas fir – Most of them were logged in the present I-5 corridor, between Vancouver B.C. and Portland, Oregon in addition to the Coast range.
The following is an incomplete list I started in 2006 or 2007, and I add new reports or references at a leisurely basis. All primary credit is owed to the late big tree expert Dr. Al Carder of Victoria, British Columbia.
Dr. Carder’s excellent books, “Forest Giants of the World: Past and Present”, 1995, and “Giant Trees of Western America and the World”2005 were an inspiration to me and a foundation to my amateur research project looking into old newspaper and book archives for record giant Douglas-fir. I recommend all visitors to this blog read his books, as they are the most authoritative on the subject of the tallest, largest, and “biggest” trees ever recorded! All heights listed below are “as is.” Stories of trees in excess of 400 feet require further verification in my view, but historic trees which were measured on the ground by credible persons after they were felled, or those measured as standing trees with laser range finder and clinometer, or climbed by professionals are of the highest credibility. Historical trees which have been studied, measured, and researched by Dr. Al Carder and are referenced in his books are also of a very high credibility.
*Update. April 19, 2014: In the last few months I have been in communication with the well known Seattle Arborist and author Arthur Lee Jacobson. He recently had the opportunity to visit Dr. Al Carder in late January. (Carder turns 104 years old tomorrow). Arthur was so kind to show Dr. Carder this blog post, and Carder was impressed, and even hand signed a copy of his delightful 2011 book “Reflections of a Big Tree Enthusiast” for me. This little book clarifies some of the best documented 300 -400 foot class Douglas fir he has researched, but also shares his personal experience with the timber industry and his fond memory of the big trees he grew up with. Thank you both Al Carder and Arthur Jacobson for your great work and kind support!
Al Carder and Arthur Lee Jacobson. Jan 25, 2014. Photo by Cindy Riskin.
Dr. Carder’s latest book, “Reflections of a Big Tree Enthusiast.”
Upper portion of Gatton Creek Goliath, 295 ft tall, 13 ft. in diam., low-res. This photo was taken by outdoorsman and big tree enthusiast Darvel Lloyd in Oct. 2013, and in my mind represents a fine example of the 300 foot giants which once composed dense forests across much of the Pacific Northwest a century ago.
300 ft + giants tower over Rain Forest Nature Trail as the morning fog burns off. low-res. Photograph taken by Darvel Lloyd October, 2013. Quinault forest, Washington.
Logging a 250 ft 8 ft diameter Fir 1926. Near Montesano, Wa. Common sized Timber in Giant Old Growth Douglas fir stands. Photo composite derived from 1926 Schafer Bros. Logging video: “A Story of West Coast Lumber”
300 ft “Most conspicuous among the productions of Oregon are the timber trees These are truly giants Near Astoria in the primeval forest there are fir trees over forty feet in circumference three hundred feet long and rising to the height of one hundred and fifty feet without giving off a single branch.” – Recent exploring expeditions to the Pacific and the South Seas… John Stilwell Jenkins – 1853 pg 430.
300 ft Oregon City, OR, in 1850 a fir tree 300 feet tall was felled on the Ezra Fisher Donation Land Claim on the eastern side of Oregon city. – Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society – pg. 207, 1916.
The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society – Oregon Historical Society, 1916 pg 297
300 ft South slope of Mt. Scott, near Portland, OR on the Antone Sechtem ranch. 8.5 feet diameter, 100 feet to first limb, estimated height nearly 300 feet. – The Sunday Oregonian. Portland, Ore. May 26, 1912, pg 13.
Giant fir tree from Mount Scott, Portland. 8.5 ft diameter, and nearly 300 ft tall. The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) May 26, 1912, pg 13.
~300 ft Oxbow Regional Park, Gresham, Oregon Nov. 2015. Large Douglas fir trees 5 to 8-1/2 feet diameter and from 250 to 300 feet in height, 500-600 years old with bark 8 to 10 inches deep. On wed. Nov 11, 2015 Darvel Lloyd and I measured some large ancient Douglas fir. I measured one that was at least 270 ft tall using inclinometer, and others in the vicinity I’d estimate at close to 300 feet. Another one 280 ft in height was 8.3 feet diameter. Later correspondence with the head Park Ranger indicates trees perhaps as high as 290-300 feet in this park! Also, 2014 LiDAR indicate some 280-290 ft trees. We will be sure to go back and verify the tallest ones, and I’ll update this post! These trees are likely the tallest & oldest remaining in the Portland Metro, within 15-20 miles of the city, and reflect on the sort of forest that once grew in this area 150 years ago. Lewis and Clark record a fallen fir tree 318 ft in length near the Sandy River in 1806, near this very park. They also report Condors with 9-1/2 foot wingspans which once glid about the Columbia river valley, so this ancient forest in Oxbow park brings back a timeless essence of what the ancient landscape of Portland was like 2 centuries ago. Portland used to have 300 foot tall Douglas fir!
3. Micah at lower base of huge Douglas fir. low-res. Photo by Darvel Lloyd 11-11-2015. [Tree is 280 ft tall and approx. 8 ft 4 inches diameter.]
Douglas fir over 270 ft tall, Oxbow Regional Park. Photo by Darvel Lloyd 11-11-2015.
300 ft Mr. A.L. Davidson, early explorer to Oregon cut down a 300 foot fir tree in Yamhill County, Oregon circa 1846. – Juliet signal., November 17, 1846 Pg 1.
Juliet signal. (Juliet [Joliet], Ill.) November 17, 1846, Pg 1.
300 ft A giant fir tree in Snohomish County, Wa was reportedly 66 feet in circumference at the butt, 128 ft to first branch and estimated at 300 feet high in 1913. – The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) August 12, 1913, Page 2.
The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) August 12, 1913, Page 2
Queanbeyan Age Dec 12, 1913 pg 3
Another account of a 66 ft circ. fir tree:
“In one of those coast counties stood a fir tree until 1881, which measured 66 1/2 feet in circumference above where the roots start to spread. It measured 11 feet in diameter 75 feet from its base. The tree was broken off 100 feet from the ground, long years ago and therefore its entire height is not known.” -Public land. Devoted to those interested in the public lands of the United States. (Vol. 2) 1901 pg 2 – Current Topics, Prof Henry Gannett, chief of the division of forestry, reporting on the State of Washington’s forests
300+ft Saddle Mountain region, Clatsop Co. forest, Oregon 1922. 9 ft diameter, and over 300 feet in height. – American Lumberman, Part 2, 1922 pg 50.
300-330 ft+ Onion Peak, Oregon. Saddle Mountain, in Clatsop county Oregon, and the coast mountains were renown for especially big Douglas-fir. In online communication with loggers, one gentleman [Name withheld] told me his father had cut out a tree “that had 4 64’s and a 32” near Onion Peak, also in the coast mountains of Clatsop county. This gentleman is in his 80’s, so his father was probably logging the area in the early to mid 20th century. 288 log feet of market lumber, plus the assumed discarded top, and height of stump, likely represented a tree easily in the 300 to 330 foot tall range, by my calculations.
300 ft On A.J. Megler’s farm, Clatsop County, Oregon in 1873, a Fir tree 300 feet in length and only 5 feet through at the butt, was measured. Other trees on the tract measured 15 feet through at the butt end. – Tri-Weekly Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) July 22, 1873, Image 1.
Tri-weekly Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1873-1874, July 22, 1873, Image 1
300 ft. + ? A gigantic fir tree felled at Blind Slough, along the Columbia river, Clatsop County, Oregon in 1904, was 200 feet to first branch, over 9 feet 2 inches at the butt, and contained 40,000 ft of lumber. – Illustrated World vol 2, 1904 pg 616 – [Note: While total height is not given in the account, a quick calculation of 40,000 board ft from 200 feet of prime lumber without a limb, suggests a tree easily in excess of 300 feet in height.]
Illustrated World vol 2, 1904 pg 616
300 ft “Methuselah” a giant fir 300 feet tall on the McKenzie river, Oregon, 6 feet diameter. Blown down in November windstorm of 1977 and bucked up by Elwood McClure. – McKenzie River Reflections, Vol. 1, Issue 6 Nov 10-25, 1978
The Monmouth herald. (Monmouth, Or.) 1908-1969, November 06, 1908, Image 5
300+ ft “In the neighborhood of Bellingham Bay, the timber is very thick, and some distance inland Some very large trees have been discovered. Several are from twelve to fifteen feet in diameter, and one which had fallen down measured fifteen feet through, two hundred and thirty feet to the first limb, and over three hundred feet in extreme length. The age of this old monarch of the forest must be imagined — probably from six to eight hundred years.” – Daily Alta California, Volume 10, Number 174, 26 June 1858 pg 1.
Daily Alta California, Volume 10, Number 174, 26 June 1858 pg 1.
300 ft + Near Matlock, Washington on the Beeville Timber tract owned by the Crowell brothers, one of the last old Douglas fir trees was felled, having been a single fir amidst a stand of Hemlock, the Simpson loggers in 1905 era left standing, as it wasn’t profitable to log back then. The big fir tree was finally cut in 1947 and felled into a trench they had dug with their Bulldozer …”When it was trimmed and bucked, they got 15 No. 1 peeler blocks, one No. 2 block and two saw logs from the 296-foot stick. Only the top and the stump were left unsold.” The tree alone was worth more than $1,200. One can reasonably infer then from the 18 logs cut from the 296 feet of merchantable length, that this tree was probably 300 feet or considerably taller, once we factor in the stump height and unsold top section added to the 296 feet of logs. – “Clean Up on Told Timber” – Shelton-Mason County Journal, Aug 7, 1947 pg 5.
296 Ft fir. Shelton-Mason County Journal, Aug 7, 1947 pg 5.
300 ft Snoqualmie river, Washington 1876. “LARGE TREE. – Elwell & Son, at their logging camp on the Snoqualmie, have just cut and put in the water some very large logs. The tree was 300 feet in height. The first log above the stump, twenty-two feet in length, measured seventy-six inches in diameter, and scaled seven thousand feet…” – The Northern Star, Volume 1, November 22, 10 June 1876.
305 ft Douglas fir up to 305 ft tall, and others 11 ft diameter measured in Snoqualmie valley, and Taylor River Valley, Washington in 2022: “…I have a hobby of finding big trees in the Middle Fork Snoqualmie valley. I know of a Doug Fir near Goldmyer Hot Springs that is 305 feet tall (measured by 2 different techniques) and another Doug Fir up the Taylor River valley that is almost 11 feet in diameter. There are probably other hidden giants that have yet to be discovered…” – POSTED BY: Maddy on Apr 10, 2022 07:22 PM O. O. Denny Park — Washington Trails Association
300 ft “Douglas fir trees were cut on the site of the city of Vancouver 300 feet in height and 11 feet in diameter.” The Encyclopedia Americana By Scientific American, inc 1903.
300 ft? A giant Douglas fir tree cut down in 1928 near Lake Cavanaugh, Washington. Tree was 15 ft in diameter at the stump, and 150 feet high to a broken top, still 6ft in diameter. Ring count showed the tree to be 1,200 years old. Section of tree housed at the Stanwood Area Historical Society. (Such a tree, before it lost its top to the wind might have approached or exceeded 300 feet in height by my estimates).
A 9-feet diameter slab of the Lake Cavanaugh giant fir in front of the Stanwood Historical Society – D.O. Pearson House Museum.
Photo of Lake Cavanaugh fir slab loaded on truck, 1928. – Stanwood Area Historical Society – D.O. Pearson House Museum.
300 ft? A giant Douglas fir tree cut near Arlington, Washington c. 1901. 15 feet 5 inches diameter at the stump, and 150 feet to the first limb, scaling 75,000 feet of lumber. The tree was sent to the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, NY. – The Plymouth Republican. August 01, 1901, Pg 2. (The height is not eluded to in the newspaper, but similar 15 ft diameter giants regularly exceeded 300 ft, before they lost their ancient crowns to the wind when the forests were opened up by logging). Tree was later credited as having been felled on the Marion Gooding farm west of Arlington near the Stillaguamish River: The Arlington Times June 22, 1983 pg 27.
Buffalo Fir Tree, Arlington – postcard c. 1910
The Plymouth Republican, Aug. 01, 1901 pg 2.
300 ft Puget Sound Big Fir, Caption: “Height 300 Ft, Diameter 10 Ft.” Florence, Washington 1910. Up the Stillaguamish river from Stanwood. Photograph hangs on wall at Stanwood QFC grocery store.
Puget Sound Big Fir, Florence Wa. 1910, Height 300 Ft. Diameter 10 Ft.
300 ft When Sewell Moody (1834-1875) arrived on Burrard Inlet, trees were still so plentiful that they could be felled directly into the water and floated to the mills. The waterway of Burrard Inlet, too, was an almost perfect natural harbour for sailing ships. Sometimes up to six or seven vessels loaded at once at the Moodyville docks. According to historian Derek Pethick, the captain of the British ship Jeddo wrote the following description to his company’s agent in about 1866: “This is, without exception, one of the finest harbours I ever saw. It is locked in all round with high lands, covered with trees 300 feet [91 m] high, so that no wind or sea can hurt ships, and very easy of access for the largest ships afloat, and good anchorage. It is, likewise, a good place for loading. The ships can moor head and stern about half a cable’s length (92 m) from the mills in six fathoms (11 m) of water.”
Moodyville Mill 1872
300 ft Fir tree forests towering 300 feet high, and 6 to 12 feet in diameter at the stump covered the townsite of Burnaby, British Columbia in the 1860s. Quoting the Reverend John Sheepshanks, early pioneer, the trees often reached 250 to 300 feet, and the rate of travel through this dense forest was about half a mile per hour. – History of Burnaby and vicinity, byGeorge Green, 1947 pages 24, 50, 85, 129, & 134.
10 ft Fir log, Burnaby, 1893. – Heritage Burnaby Collection.
300+ft Sitka Spruce recorded by Lewis and Clark, March 10, 1806 near Fort Clatsop. About 40 feet girth, at about 8 ft above ground, estimated200 feet to first limbs. Height was safely estimated at 300 ft. This tree was also identified and measured by Frederick V Holman in 1872, who had estimated it at nearly 400 ft tall and measured it at 43 ft girth, 5 ft above ground, according to his address to the Oregon Historical Society in 1926.
Other big 300 ft Spruce trees grew in the coastal region, such as across the Columbia river at Grays river, Washington and in Nehalem, Oregon where resided the Gods Valley spruce, a purported 24 ft diameter monster which had been estimated at 300 feet before it lost it’s top.
Monthly Bulletin, Vo. 1-2 . Loyal Legion of Loggers and Lumbermen, 1918 pg 5.
300 ft In 1894 F. I. Mead measured a fallen 300 foot fir in Chehalis County, WA and it was 175 ft to first limb. – Omaha daily bee, July 02, 1894, Page 5.
Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) July 02, 1894, Page 5.
300 ft A fir tree 150 years old and 300 feet tall was cut for a 165 ft spar, felled near Onalaska, Washington in 1916 on the Carlyle-Pennell holdings. – The Sunday Oregonian, April 30, 1916, pg 4.
300 ft Shelton, Wa. cut in 1895, 300 ft tall, and 11 ft 4 in. diameter scaled 30,000 board feet. – The Mason County journal. (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, January 11, 1895, Image 2
The Mason County journal. (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, January 11, 1895, Image 2
Madera Tribune, Volume LXV, Number 108, 12 March 1935
300?+ft Big Sicker Mountain, B.C. “Longtime Westholme resident Alan Gadsden remembers another giant, this one on a slope of Big Sicker Mountain and so tall that it could be used as a landmark by ships using the Inside Passage. Sometime about 1940 he accompanied pioneer Albert Holman up the mountain to see it first-hand. When he saw it again, years after, it was lying on the ground, abandoned by loggers who found that, even after bucking it into lengths, it was too large for their railway cars.” – Cowichan Chronicles, Volume 1 By Thomas William Paterson, 2001 pg 145.
302 ft. Finnegan’s Fir, Coos Bay, Oregon. Blown down 1975. Officially listed at 302 ft tall, 13.2 ft diameter. Tree was estimated to contain seventeen 16 foot logs, or 272 ft of marketable logs in 50,870 board feet. See 1975 article: Our public lands : Vol. 25, No. 3, Summer 1975 – Finnegan’s Fir
302 ft + “It is scarcely advisable to tell the truth concerning the size to which some of the giant firs and cedars grow in this country, lest I be accused of exaggeration; but, for proof of what I say, it will only be necessary to inquire of any resident of the Sound country. There are hundreds of fir and cedar trees in these woods twenty to twenty five feet in diameter, above the spur roots, and over three hundred feet high. A cube was cut from a fir tree, near Vancouver, and shipped to the Colonial Exhibition in London in 1886, that measured nine feet and eight inches in thickness each way. The bark of this tree was fourteen inches thick. Another tree was cut, trimmed to a length of three hundred and two feet, and sent to the same destination, but this one, I am told, was only six feet through at the butt. From one tree cut near Seattle six saw logs were taken, five of which were thirty feet long, each, and the other was twenty four feet in length. This tree was only five feet in diameter at the base, and the first limb grew at a height of two feet above where the last log was cut off, or over one hundred and seventy feet from the ground.” – Cruisings in the Cascades: A Narrative of Travel, Exploration, Amateur… By George O. Shields. Rand, McNally, 1889. pg 39.
David Douglas, the Scottish botanist.
Giant fir trees measured near Astoria, 1841
Cutting a 300 foot fir, Technical World Magazine 1907
300+ft “species grow to an immense size and one immediately behind the fort [Fort George, Astoria, Oregon] at the height of ten feet from the surface of the earth measured forty six feet in circumference! The trunk of this tree had about one hundred and fifty feet free from branches. Its top had been some time before blasted by lightning; and to judge by comparison its height when perfect must have exceeded three hundred feet! This was however an extraordinary tree in that country and was denominated by the Canadians Le Roi de Pins.* The general size however of the different species of fir far exceeds any thing on the east side of the Rocky Mountains and prime sound pine from two hundred to two hundred and eighty feet in height and from twenty to forty feet in circumference are by no means uncommon… A pine tree has been subsequently discovered in the Umpqua country to the southward of the Columbia the circumference of which is 57 feet its height 216 feet without branches !” – Adventures on the Columbia River: including the narrative of a residence of … Vol. 1, London, 1831 By Ross Cox pg. 113.
300+ft “The Cascade and Coast Mountains are vastly higher and more numerous than all the States east of the Mississippi can boast of and the peaks are always covered with snow and ice that makes a journey to their summit even in mid-summer, a hardship and dangerous. The forests of evergreen trees are the most stupendous in the world. Trees measuring far more than 300 feet in length and 6 to 15 feet in diameter and perfectly straight, and 200 feet from the ground to the first limb, are very common.” – Human Nature, Vol. VI, No. 1, 1896 pg 5.
St. Paul daily globe. (Saint Paul, Minn.) August 12, 1890, Page 4
300+ft “At the Pan-American Exposition there was on exhibition from Snohomish County a section of a fir tree which had been considerably over a hundred yards long and two hundred feet to the first limb. It was 920 years old and scaled 75,000 feet of lumber.” – Pearson’s magazine, 1905 pg. 113.
Washington fir 1911, Univ. of Washington photo
The Colfax gazette. (Colfax, Wash.) December 18, 1908, pg 4
300 ft + Trees logged by Hewitt-Lea-Funck Co. from Puget Sound: “The old-growth yellow fir trees from which Hewitt-Lea-Funck Co. lumber and millwork are made grow to be 300 feet high or even taller, and as much as 12 feet in diameter…” – The Ranch. (Seattle, Wash.) April 01, 1914, Page 11.
The Ranch, Seattle, Wa. April 01, 1914 pg 11.
300+ ft Elma, Washington, 1909.”The remarkable feat of erecting a fourteen room house from the lumber of a single yellow fir was recently accomplished at Elma. There was nearly 38,000 feet of lumber in the logs of the tree. Six logs twenty-eight feet in length, the largest seven feet in diameter at the smallest end were made from the fir. The measurement of the stump inside the bark was exactly nine feet The trunk was straight and for 100 feet not a limb appeared. The total length of the tree was more than 300 feet. The lumber was worth nearly $1,000. The corporation owning the land growing this tree has hundreds of such firs, many of them too big to be handled by the equipment now possessed by Washington saw mills. Not far from Snoqualmie Falls a giant tree was blown across a precipitous canyon a year ago. The trunk forms a footbridge ten feet wide. The log has been levelled and teams are often driven across it by venturesome drivers.” – The Conductor and Brakeman, Volume 26, 1909, pg 555 – 556.
300+ ft Near Elma, Washington, 1902. Pacific Monthly, Volumes 7-9, 1902 pg.137, (See below).
Pacific Monthly, Vol. 7-9, 1902 pg. 137
300+ft Elma, Wa. In 1918 a Douglas fir, 5 feet 2 inches in diameter was felled by Bert Critchfield, and Clifford Castle near McCleary, and was cut into seven logs each 40 feet long by bucker George Anderson. The tree was 221 years old according to ring count. (My estimate of height extrapolating from 280 feet of logs, and assuming at least 40-60 feet of broken top, 4 to 8 feet of stump, suggest a tree between 320 to 350 feet tall. ) – Monthly bulletin By Loyal Legion of Loggers and Lumbermen. 1918, pg. 21.
Monthly bulletin By Loyal Legion of Loggers and Lumbermen. 1918, pg. 21.
300 to 350 feet+ 8 miles north of Elma, Washington, 1886. A party of 3, including a correspondent of the Portland Oregonian newspaper, measured a fallen fir tree 6 ft diameter at the butt, and 300 feet in length to where the top was broken apart on logs. It was still 18 inches diameter at that point, and the broken top, was safely estimated to have been at least a further 50 feet, suggesting a tree over 350 feet in height. – Pacific Rural Press, Volume 31, Number 5, 30 January 1886. (Note: See above reports of similar 300 ft + tall slender firs felled at Elma, and report of a 385 foot Elma fir in 1896).
Pacific Rural Press, Volume 31, Number 5, 30 January 1886
The Seattle Republican. (Seattle, Wash.) April 20, 1900, pg 4
The Timberman, Volume 14, 1913
The Timberman, Volume 14, Oct. 1913
300 ft Satsop Valley, Washington 1936. 10 ft 10 in diameter, 300 feet tall. – Spokane Daily Chronicle – May 21, 1936 pg 2. Logged by Schafer Bros. Logging Company, Montesano, Washington and felled May 13, 1936 at Camp #1 by Pat Miller and Gus Quick, and bucked by Frank Halferty. Tree was 425 Years old, 300 feet high, 127 feet to first limb, Diameter 10 ft 10 in, and scaled 48,688 board feet.
Another Big fir, size not written down, was also felled around Grays Harbor, Washington. But looks a good 125 or 130 feet to first limb, if we compare the fallers on the ground to the height of the limbless trunk:
300 ftA Washington fir tree, near Montesano (Wynooche Timber Co.) yielded 264 feet of market logs, in 1922. This tree was probably around 300 feet tall, allowing for the top section and stump height: “Bert Critchfield and Bob White, fallers at Camp 1 of the Wynooche Timber Co., recently felled what is believed to have been one of the biggest firs ever found in Western Washington. From the tree Gust Stenberg, bucker, got five 40 foot logs one 36-foot log and one 28-foot log making the tree at least 264 feet high. It was eight feet in diameter at the butt.” – The Timberman, Volume 23, September 1922 pg 142.
Big Fir stump 14 ft 11 in. diameter, Montesano, WA. 1902
300+ft? A remarkable fir tree cut at Gillies’ camp at the North River (Washington) made nine saw logs, seven 24 ft long and two 28 feet long, or 224 feet of saw logs. The third log from the top was 60 inches in diameter at the small end. – Aberdeen Herald, July 11, 1901 page 7.
300 ft + Kent, Washington, 1936. Fir tree 10 feet diameter, and 271 feet tall to an 18 inch diameter broken top. Woodsmen estimated the tree was originally more than 300 ft in Height. Section sent to Texas Centennial Exposition. – Kent News Journal 1936-05-15. See image below:
300 +ft What E.S. had seen on his first trip to Ostrander [Washington State] would, within a few short years, make him a “square timber” expert, and the long logs became his ticket to freedom. “Prevailing timber is fir, in size up to 8 feet diameter and over 300 feet high in some specimens. Some would make saw logs over 225 feet long.” –E.S. Collins. In fact, these unparalleled Douglas firs became Ostrander’s signature logs. They were destined for keels and masts, Mississippi barges, the Panama Canal, and the Welland Canal in Canada. http://www.collinsco.com/history/In-Depth.php
300 ft HIGH CLIMBER FALLS 300 FEET TO DEATH CATHLAMET, Wash., Sept. 14. (m Jesse James, 31, a high climber, was instantly killed todav In the crown Willamette logging operations east of here when he went up a 300-foot fir despite warning of the skidder crew when wmcn no was working. A tall tail tree on the skidder crashed with James clinging to It, after he had removed a retaining cable at the top. – September 14, 1933 Medford Mail Tribune from Medford, Oregon · Page 3
300 ft A similar tragic plummet as above is reported from Marshfield, Oregon in 1923:
The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980, May 09, 1923, Page 3, Image 3
A Snohomish giant fir, 1890
Puget Sound Fir, 60 ft circumference
303 ft Near Ryderwood, Washington, 1936. “Near Ryderwood, reports the Guide field writer, the big-tree data shows there is a fir measuring 303 feet.” – Works Progress Administration, Seattle, Washington – Aug 18, 1936, PR 118
304 ft – “In Portland, Oregon, there is a radio mast 28 inches in diameter at the butt, 12 inches in diameter at the top and 304 feet high, turned from one stick of Douglas Fir!” -Sagas of the evergreens : the story and the economic, social and cultural contribution of the evergreen trees and forests of the world by Lamb, Frank H, 1938 pg. 226 [Note: 12 inches diameter at top, suggests this tree may have been taller than 304 ft, perhaps another 25 feet higher (320-330 ft) with top wood and stump height.]
304 ft Jedediah Smith Redwoods State park. 13.5 diameter.
305 ft “The trees grow to an immense size. But king of all trees is the Douglas fir. A section of one may be seen at Ottawa on the Parliament grounds 8 feet 4 inches in diameter. It is a section taken 20 feet from the ground out of a tree 305 feet high.” – Hand-book for the Dominion of Canada: Prepared for the Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, at Montreal, 1884. pg 334.
305 ft The “Davie River tree” near Woss Lake, Northern Vancouver Island, B.C. was 305 feet tall, and over 7 feet in diameter. It was the tallest in a 7 acre grove of very tall fir trees averaging 278 feet high and 5 ft 2 inches diameter carefully measured after they were felled by loggers. Survey conducted in 1947 by Tom Wright and Henry Hansen in the Nimpkish valley. – Tom Wright: Recollections of a Pioneer Forester and Tree Farmer, By John Parminter, 2000 pg. 37, & Cowichan Chronicles, Volume 1 By Thomas William Paterson, 2001 pg 146.
Giant fir, Tacoma Lumber Co. University of Washington Archives.
305 ft NW CA. 2007 (More details needed) Link to Humboldt University, 300 ft Douglas fir in California’s Redwood forests: http://www.humboldt.edu/redwoods/photos
300 ft. Estimated original height of Clatsop fir, Clatsop, Oregon. Tree was blown down October-Nov., 1962 after the Columbus Day storm. This tree was discovered by Oregon forester Les Lloyd in 1938, and thanks to him, was saved from the logger’s axe. The tree was 210 ft to a broken top, 108 ft to first limb, 15.5 feet in breast height diameter, estimated to be 1200 years old, and had an estimated volume of 105,650 board feet! It’s original height has been estimated at 300 feet before the top broke out. The Spokesman Review, April 16, 1941: http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19410416&id=5EwVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JOQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3589,174777 The Seaside Museum, Seaside Oregon, gives slightly different measurements after the tree fell in 1962: “Estimated 702 years of life”…”It was 15.8 feet in diameter at breast height and measured 200 feet, 6 inches to it’s four-foot broken top.” http://www.seasidemuseum.org/biggest_fir.cfm Special thanks to Darryl Lloyd for the following image:
The Clatsop fir. Photo from 1938 taken by Leo Isaac. Les Lloyd is pictured standing on the far right. He found the tree in 1938 and saved it from being logged. Sadly, loggers had clear cut around the tree, and the tree fell in 1962 after the Columbus Day storm. Thanks to Darryl Lloyd for sending me this photo!
(Another giant Clatsop fir) – Tallest Yellow fir in Clatsop County, 13 ft 6 in diameter – The Sunday Oregonian – August 09, 1908, SECTION FOUR, Page 40. [This tree was discovered by George H. Himes of the Oregon Historical Society].
Yet Another giant Clatsop fir 17 feet diameter! The daily morning Astorian. November 07, 1897 Pg 1
305 ft Park Creek, Coos County, Oregon. Felled in 1973, the tree was 423 years old, 114 inches diameter, 39,659 board feet, and 305 feet total height. On display at the Menasha Corporation Land & Timber Division in Coos Bay. Coast of trees and sea lions – Claudia M. Kuenkel Photography
306 ft West of Roseburg, OR. Esquire-The Wrestless man. 2004
306 ft “The tallest tree on the Andrews Forest, [Oregon] a Douglas Fir, was identified by LIDAR imaging. If you saw the previous version of this Fast Fact, you would have seen that the tallest tree on site was 299 feet, measured in 2008. The height of that tree was verified in 2009 with a measuring tape! This other, now taller tree, was measured by LIDAR in 2016. A cross-section of that LIDAR image is pictured here. As a point of comparison, the Statue of Liberty stands at 305 feet tall, including her base.” – https://andrewsforest.oregonstate.edu/about/fast-facts
306ft+ “The largest tree that I have had cut was one measuring 9 feet at the but including the bark and 306 feet from the but to the top.” – American agriculturist – Volume 22 – 1863, pg 272.
American Agriculturist, Volume 22 – 1863, Pg 272.
Giant Fir, Scappoose Ore. date unknown
307 ft – A fir tree 307 feet tall, 12 feet diameter cut near Seattle in 1891. – Watertown Times, Monday, March 23, 1891 Pg 2.
Watertown Times, Monday, March 23, 1891 Pg 2.
Fir Log, Bothell, Wash. Huron Lumber Co. circa 1890s. [This may be the same log as the news report above].
A Big Fir tree. Valley, Plain and Peak Scenes on the Line of the Great Northern Railway,1894 pg 92
315 ft + Giant fir tree cut near Bothell, Wa in 1890. Over 300 feet in length, and 36 feet in circumference. Further report has the tree 315 feet long, and 12-1/2 feet in diameter. – The Seattle post-intelligencer. (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, July 20, 1890, Page 4., & The Seattle post-intelligencer. (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, September 05, 1890, Page 11.
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, July 20, 1890, Page 4.
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, September 05, 1890, Page 11, Image 11
308ft “The low divide between the Columbia and Elokomon Rivers was covered at this time by a dense forest of the spruce and Douglas fir and so thick was the growth that the fir trees would go up for 100 feet without a limb and not a ray of the sun could reach the ground The trees grew very tall and one a short way outside the forest on the edge of a little prairie being measured with instruments was found to be about 308 feet in height.” – Cathlamet on the Columbia: recollections of the Indian people and short … By Thomas Nelson Strong, 1906, pg 107
309 ft Cut at New Westminster, British Columbia, ten sections of a “fir” which was 309 feet tall, and 185 feet to the first branch, were displayed at the International Exhibition of 1862. – The North-west Territories and British Columbia … By Aeneas McDonell Dawson –1881, pg 66., Gardeners Chronicle & New Horticulturist, Jan. 7, 1882 pg 12, & Harper’s Weekly, Volume 9, Aug. 12, 1865 pg. 498.
Washington logging train going down a mountain, on which are logs from a fir tree 12 feet in diameter. c1908. Darius Kinsey.
Largest log from a 12-foot fir tree which cut 43,462 feet of lumber [in the Cascade Mountains, near Seattle]. c1908. Darius Kinsey.
309 ft A fallen fir tree 309 feet in length, and 8-1/2 feet in diameter was measured by the son of Lord Pym, of England around Gales, and Dairy Creeks, and Nehalem river valley, Oregon coast mountains in 1879. – The Daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1876-1883, March 05, 1879, Image 2.
310 ft Siuslaw Timber Land, near Greenleaf, Oregon cruised in 1900 by Timber interests: “The trees are thickly set, and many are eight feet in diameter, 300 feet tall and 100 feet to the first limb. Some have been measured that were 10 feet through and 310 feet high.” – Morning Oregonian, Portland Ore. Feb. 26, 1900, page 3.
310 ft “We get our last coupon of rough road just beyond Claquato a few miles of which brings us to the second crossing of the Chehalis at its junction with the Skookum Chuck strong water another pretty spot where we dine. Not more than three miles from here is a fallen tree three feet in diameter at the butt and 290 in length. Another tree in an adjoining county measures eleven feet in diameter and 310 in length and we hear of two more being fourteen feet in thickness which is pretty well for firs and cedars” – All over Oregon and Washington: observations on the country, its scenery …By Frances Fuller Victor – 1872 – pg 233.
The Jasper weekly courier. (Jasper, Ind.) April 11, 1902, Pg 3.
310 ft Little Rock, Wa. – Miscellaneous publication, Issue 295- By United States. Dept. of Agriculture, United States. Science and Education Administration – 1938- pg. 97.
310 ft A tree cut at Orting, Wa. 1889. – Washington Standard, Volume XXVIII, Number 30, 21 June 1889.
Washington Standard, Volume XXVIII, Number 30, 21 June 1889
310 ft A yellow fir tree cut by J.W. Wilhoit, head faller for Grays Bay Logging Co., at Oneida, Washington in November, 1903, was the largest he had cut that season; 310 feet in length, tip to tip, and nine feet in diameter, inside the bark, which cut nine logs 30 feet long. Tree scaled 30,000 feet of first grade lumber. – Oregon City Courier, November 27, 1903, Page 8.
Oregon City Courier, November 27, 1903, Page 8.
310 ft “FIR TREE 700 YEARS OLD YIELDS 58,000 BOARD FEET. PORT ANGELES Wash-The Monarch of North Pacific fir was cut this week at Twin Camp. The giant’s age was -700 years and it scaled 58,000 board feet. Few firs have lived so long and still fewer have grown to the remarkable perfection of this tree. The stump Is slightly oval 12 feet the narrow way and 13 feet the widest distance. It stood 310 feet high without flaw. A-three foot section near the stump has been cut out for permanent exhibit in the museum of the State University at Seattle. – Daily Boston Globe – Nov 18, 1928 Page B 16.
Early 1900’s.
310 ft A “Cedar” tree felled near Port Moody, British Columbia had a reputed length of 310 feet. – Annual Report, By Ontario. Department of Agriculture 1892, pg 54.
Annual Report By Ontario. Department of Agriculture 1892, pg 54.
310 ft Felled on Feb 12, 1886, by Aleck, or Alex Russell a timber feller contracted by the CPR on Georgia St. Vancouver, BC – [Site of Present Vancouver Art Gallery.] This fir tree measured as much as 14 ft 4 inches in diameter at breast height at its widest, and 4 feet in diameter 200 feet from butt. Notes jotted down in his survey book by Lauchlan Hamilton who worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1886, record that he measured the tree and found an average diameter of 11 ft 8 in. at the butt, 8 ft 2 in. diameter 30 feet from the base, and 3 ft 10 in. diameter 210 feet from the base. Also known as the Alex Russell Tree, it was said to have been 310 feet in total height to a broken top. Lauchlan Hamilton -The History of Metropolitan Vancouver (See Forest Giants, Carder 1995 pg 1 -10, & Vancouver Historical Journal, 3rd edition, 1960 pg 17, and ‘Sunshine Coast News’ Oct. 7, 1985 pg. 3)
Vancouver Historical Journal, J.S. Matthews 3rd edition, 1960 pg 17.
13 Foot tree stump Georgia street Vancouver, 1886 (Alex Russell Tree). City of Vancouver Archives.
Giant fir Georgia street, Vancouver 1886 (Alex Russell Tree). City of Vancouver Archives.
Douglas fir Log motorhome, 1926. Built from 311 foot tree.
Interior of Douglas fir motorhome 1926.
Another Douglas fir 287 ft tall, 16 ft diameter was cut in Washington, was said to have been 2,100 years old and was turned into a “tree dwellers” mobile home. – San Pedro News Pilot, Volume 12, Number 153, 28 March 1925
11 ft diameter Fir Cherry Valley, Wa. 1898
296 ft of usable fir lumber from one tree! Total height probably exceeded 325 ft, factoring in stump height & unusable top. – The Daily Morning Astorian. Jan. 17, 1888 pg. 2
Foster, Oregon date unknown
310 ft Coquitlam River watershed at Meech Creek, BC. Now 309 feet (94.3 m) to a dead top, and 8.5 ft diameter.– Cowichan Chronicles, Volume 1 By Thomas William Paterson, 2001 pg 146, and Douglas Fir, The Canadian Encyclopedia: http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/douglas-fir
308.4Ft Near Sayward, B.C. The Tallest Douglas Fir Tree at WFP -April 30, 2019. LiDAR height measured. “What gets measured, gets managed. Standing at 94 meters and still growing, this Douglas fir tree is in a variable retention patch near Sayward, British Columbia on Vancouver Island.” Western Forest Products – Identifying and protecting big trees
315 ft Skagit River, Washington, alluvial bottom. Diameter 70 inches inside bark, 7 feet from the ground. Bark 4 inches thick. 253 annual rings. The total height of this tree was 315 feet. Two 52-foot logs were utilized from this tree, scaling 14,000 feet B. M., and 5,745 feet B. M. of log timber marketable at eastern mills were left in the top, making a total of 19,745 feet B. M. of log timber in the tree. The Washington Forest Reserve by Horace Beemer Ayres, Geological Survey (U.S.) 1899. pg 295.
312 ft+ A tree in Skagit county cut in 1884 reportedly measured 16 ft diameter, and 312 feet to the lowest limbs! – The daily morning Astorian, May 27, 1884, Pg 3. However, further comment on this story suggests two trees were actually cut, one tree was 312 feet long, another was 16 ft diameter in Skagit Co. The 312 ft one was apparently the length of the entire tree. “So awesome was the timber that a newspaper reported in May, 1884, that two trees were felled near Hamilton—one sixteen feet in diameter at the butt, the other 312 feet long and five feet in diameter at the stump” – Ghost camps & boom towns, by Roe, JoAnn 1995 pg 169.
The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, May 27, 1884, Image 3
315 ft Cathlamet, Washington. One fir tree reportedly was reaching 315 feet tall. – Works Progress Administration, Seattle, Washington – Aug 18, 1936, PR 118
Works Progress Administration, Seattle, Washington – Aug 18, 1936, PR 118
315 ft A fir tree 39 inches diameter and 315 feet tall, cut in Oregon, and sections of others even larger exhibited in 1875. – Oregon City enterprise. (Oregon City, Or.) January 22, 1875, Image 1.
Oregon City enterprise. (Oregon City, Or.) January 22, 1875, Image 1
316 ft A fir tree felled measured 316 feet to the top most branch. The Year-book of facts in science and art By John Timbs, 1860- Pg. 35
Washington Loggers
318 ft A fallen fir tree recorded by Lewis and Clark, Saturday, April 5th, 1806 not far from Fort Vancouver [near Gresham]. Only 3.5 feet diameter. “The Hunters & Serjt Pryor informed us that they had Measured a tree on the upper Side of quick Sand River 312 feet long and about 4 feet through at the Stump.” The Journal William Clark April 5, 1806. And, “we measured a fallen tree of fir No.1 which was 318 feet including the stump which was about 6 feet high, this tree was only about 3 1/2 feet in diameter.” The Journal of Meriwether Lewis, April 5, 1806.
318 ft Largest fir tree cut for the mills at Burrard Inlet, British Columbia was 9 feet in diameter inside the bark, 318 feet tall. – Forest and Stream, Volume 17, Dec 29, 1881 Pg 424.
Forest and Stream Vol. 17, 1881 pg. 424
318 ft “Other Douglas firs in Washington notable for great height include one near Hoquiam 318 feet high” – Miscellaneous publication, Issue 295- By United States. Dept. of Agriculture, United States. Science and Education Administration – 1938- pg. 97.
The herald and news. (Newberry S.C.) October 29, 1907, Page 7
Report of 18 ft diameter fir near Hoquiam, Wa. – Aberdeen herald, February 10, 1913, Page FIVE.
320 ft A giant fir standing 320 feet in height and 11 feet diameter was measured by William Shuman near Enumclaw, Washington in 1891. The Seattle post-intelligencer – Sunday, August 2nd, 1891 – Page 16:
320 ft Estimated original height of Red Creek Fir, Vancouver Island, BC. 239 ft to a broken top, diameter of broken top 2.95 ft . Diameter at breast ht 13.9 ft. Total current height 242 feet. The 320 foot original height before top blown off, was estimated by the late Randy Stoltmann, and Dr. Al Carder in the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, 1986 article “ Last of the Giants.”
A nearly 16 ft diameter Douglas fir tree 25 miles from Parksville, Vancouver Is. stood in 1946. – Victoria Daily Times (1946-10-23) pg 1
320 – 326 ft Koksilah Giant, British Columbia–blown down 1979 after clearcut. Standing portion, and blown top both measured by Dr. Al Carder in 1978, and confirmed to stand 320 feet tall and 12.7 feet in diameter. (Forest Giants, Carder pg 1-10). See also, “Forest History Society, Image ID: FHS4352 Date: 10/14/1977 Title: Koksilah Fir Caption: Koksilah Fir, Upper Koksilah River, Vancouver Island, B.C. Top blown off circa 1960, tree blown down February 1979. Height before losing top-326 feet, height after losing top-236 feet, diameter b.h.-12.7 feet, height to first branch- 110 feet, board feet-61,588, age (est.)- 750 years. “
Koksilah giant 320 ft. Photo comes from Western Canada Wilderness Committee, 1986 article ” Last of the Giants.”
Koksilah giant, fallen. Photo comes from Western Canada Wilderness Committee, 1986 article ” Last of the Giants.”
Downed fir near Darrington, Washington.
320 ft about 3 miles from Granville [Vancouver, B.C.], on Hastings road were fir trees 320 feet tall and 8 ft diameter felled by the hundreds in 1881:
‘A NEW LUMBER DISTRICT- A correspondent of the Toronto, Ont., Globe, who is writing for that paper from British’ Columbia, includes in a recent letter some interesting information in regard to the lumber…”As the trees in the woods through which we passed, on the Hastings road, were such monsters, I was curious to know how they could be cut down and hauled about. Miles upon miles of timber exists on the inlet of the Douglas fir species, as well as cedar. Un-less one saw these trees he would scarcely credit the fact that such did exist anywhere. In numerous instances they rise a perfectly limb-less trunk for 200 feet, and then over another 100 feet above that, with small limbs. About three miles from Granville I saw trees felled that were 320 feet in length, and eight feet in diameter. There were hundreds like these all round,…” ‘ – The Canada Lumberman Vol.1 No. 21, September 1, 1881 pg. 2
320 ft “Our principal timber is the Douglas pine. Many of the trees are 320 feet high, 6 feet diameter at the butt, and perhaps 210 feet from the ground before branches begin. The logs used for spars are 100 to 120 feet clear, and cannot be beaten in the world. These spars have been tested in the French shipyards by the most severe experiments, and found superior to the best Riga spars in flexibility, resistance, and density. A sample, in the shape of a flag pole 90 feet long, can be seen at Kew Gardens; also pieces cut out of a tree 5 1/2 feet diameter, and 210 feet before branches began—the tree, I think, was 320 feet high.” – British Columbia Gold Mines : A Paper Read Before the Liverpool Geological Association by Henry Holbrook, 1884 pg 26.
320 ft A tree cut in B.C. in 1900, yielded eight 32 foot logs, and a 24 foot log, or 280 feet of market log feet. Adding stump height, and top section, this tree was probably around 320 feet tall by my estimates.
“Charlie Todd returned last night from British Columbia, where he has been to look after his property. He has twenty acres of land there covered with the finest kind of timber. He says that on a place near his the owner cut down a tree which made eight 32 foot logs and one 24 feet long.” – Arkansas City Daily Traveler from Arkansas City, Kansas · Page 5. March 8, 1900.
320 ft James Irvine Fir — Prairie Creek State Park/ James Irvine Trail, Cal.
320 ft Quoting the Honorable Selucius Garfielde, Congressional Delegate from Washington Territory, speaking of the timber, “Trees often measure 320 feet in length, as I have several times demonstrated…” – The Northern Pacific Railroad – Its Route, Resources, Progress and Business …1871, pg. 41. (See Image below):
320 ft “I have measured one felled on the neighbouring mainland [Near San Juan Island] which measured 320 feet in height with a diameter of more than 5 feet.” Gardeners chronicle & new horticulturist, Volume 32 – Nov. 2, 1872 – pg 1,452.
1910 Big fir 12 ft – Postcard
320 ft ‘PUGET SOUND TIMBER. A correspondent of the Chicago Times writes as follows concerning the fir tree growths of Puget Sound, W. T. : — He says the trees average 200 feet in height, and asserts that some specimens have been cut down in his presence that were 320 feet in length by 12 feet in diameter at the base, having a straight and well proportioned log length of 90 feet to the first limb, and being 2 feet in diameter within 20 feet of the top. The cedar trees are in like proportion,…’ – The Canada Lumberman, Vol. 1 No. 10, March 15, 1881 pg 9
Between 1915 and 1920. — Photo by Darius Kinsey/Merrill & Ring
320 ft “The size of the fir trees and the number growing upon given acres in good timber districts is almost incredible to residents upon the Atlantic slope of the continent. Trees often measure 320 feet in length, more than two-thirds of which are free from limbs.” -Annual Report to the Commissioner of Agriculture for the year 1878 pg. 539 – by United States Dept. of Agriculture – 1879
12 ft 9 inch giant fir cross section 1946.
Lewiston Morning Tribune – Oct 30, 1946 pg 6.
The Woodville Republican – Jun 16, 1928 pg 2.
321 ft A [fir] tree cut by Mr A.J. Dufur was 6 feet 4 inches in diameter 30 feet from the base and 321 feet long. – Report of the Secretary of Agriculture By United States. Dept. of Agriculture – 1875 – pg. 181. Note: This tree was likely cut at present day NE Portland, where the Honorable A. J. Dufur resided from 1859 – 1872, clearing his land of timber, and farming: Portland used to have 300 foot tall Douglas fir!
Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for the Year 1876 – U.S. Government Printing Office, 1876 pg 181.
321 ft Humboldt Fir — Prairie Creek State Park, Cal.
Chehalis Timber 1909
321 ft Cathcart, Wa. — Photo from, The Washington Forest Reserve by Horace Beemer Ayres, Geological Survey (U.S.) 1899. pg. 300. See below:
Cathcart, Washington.” This Fir Tree Measured 321 Feet in Heighth ” reads the writing on the tree’s butt. The Washington Forest Reserve by Horace Beemer Ayres, Geological Survey (U.S.) 1899. pg. 300.
321 ft “Thus, of yellow-fir (Abies grandis) two sections were shown taken from the same tree, the first six feet ten and a half inches in diameter exclusive of bark, taken “one hundred and thirty feet from the ground;” the other five feet ten inches, taken “two hundred feet from the ground,” with the statement that the tree was three hundred twenty-one feet high, fifteen and three-quarters feet in diameter at the butt,…” International Exhibition, 1876 By United States Centennial Commission pg. 6, 1880.
322 ft + Oregon fir, 322 feet tall cut in 1916 for Panama-Pacific Exposition. 6 feet diameter at the butt, 22 inches diameter at the top. – Granite – Published … in the Interests of the Producer …, Volume 26, 1916, pg 52
Granite – Published … in the Interests of the Producer …, Volume 26, 1916, pg 52
322 ft ** Near Eugene Oregon, NE of Lowell. A 500 yr old grove of Douglas Fir averaging about 300 feet in height. The tallest measured at 322.—Moon Oregon, pg 202, by Elizabeth Morris, Mark Morris. 2007 –Agenda: see Dr. Robert Zybach‘s report. Tree was re-estimated at 290 feet tall by him. However, previously a US Forest Service Ranger district planner, John Cissel, had measured the tallest at up to 322 feet with clinometer in 1989. Note: Arborist M.D. Vaden recently investigated this site, and found that the area had trees in the 250 -280 ft range, and anything if it were over 300 ft was probably on the ground. Lots of fallen logs, and what was left of the Tall trees grove was in utter disrepair: http://www.ents-bbs.org/viewtopic.php?f=114&t=2906
The US Forest Service currently does recognize some Douglas fir over 300 feet on the Trail. “Willamette National Forest – Tall Trees Trail #4269 – Hiking this short 0.2 mile trail gives you the chance to see some of the Northwest’s tallest trees. The grove contains mature Douglas-firs measuring over 300 feet. There is also an abundance of tall snags in the stand. The center of the grove consists of approximately 50 acres of the tallest trees ranging from 270 to 310 feet tall.”
321.5 ft tall Douglas fir, 10 miles west of Mt. St. Helens, 1/4 mile north of the South Fork of the Toutle river. 9 feet in Diameter. Tree is dying. Found in May, 2017 by Michael Taylor using a LiDAR database, and visited and professionally measured by Dr. Steve Sillett and Ken Fisher in May or June, 2017. Washington’s Tallest Tree Confirmed
322.8 ft west of Roseburg, OR. 8.6 ft diam. June, 2011. Tallest known live top Douglas fir.
Tree discovered by M. Taylor, C. Atkins, MD Vaden and company June of 2011. Photo by MD Vaden.
322.8 feet tall to live top. Tree discovered by M. Taylor, C. Atkins, MD Vaden and company June of 2011. Photo by MD Vaden.
“Between the four of us, and a couple of other men who Michael explored the area with in 2011, here are some new tallest Douglas Fir discoveries”:
322.8 ft. / 8.0′ Coos County / BLM
317.6 ft. / 7.1′ Coos County / BLM Alder Creek
317.5 ft. / 10.1′ Coos County / BLM Tioga Creek
317.2 ft. / 6.7′ Coos County / BLM North Fork Cherry Creek
314.0 ft. / 9.9′ Coos County / BLM Tioga Creek
310.0 ft. / 8.1′ Coos County / BLM Susan Creek
309.3 ft. / 9.0′ Coos County / BLM Park Creek
307.0 ft. / 7.0′ Coos County / BLM Tioga Creek
306.0 ft. / 7.2′ Coos Counnty / BLM Park Creek
303.0 ft. / N/A Coos County / BLM Tioga Creek
302.0 ft. / N/A Coos County / BLM Park Creek
See link by professional Arborist and tree hunter M.D. Vaden: http://www.mdvaden.com/douglas_fir.shtml A More complete list of tallest living Douglas fir by big tree hunter Michael Taylor:
327.3 99.76 13.2 3.35 Brummett Fir...AKA Williams Fir. Once over 100m. Original high ground level burried by a retaining wall. Coos County, Oregon
322.8 98.34 8.6 2.62 Noname, SW Oregon. Careful tripod mounted Impulse 200LR measurement by Chris Atkins and Mike Hanuschik.
321.9 98.12 7.0 2.13 Black Thorn, SW Oregon. Vigorous Live Top.
319.5 97.39 8.5 2.59 Hunewell Honey. Discovered By Taylor. Atkins October 2011 measurement. Live Top.
319.1 97.25 8.1 2.57 Memnon 332, SW Oregon. Live Top.
317.6 96.79 7.0 2.13 Edge Fir, Coos County, SW Oregon. Site Altitude 900'. Tripod mounted Impulse 200LR measurement.
317.5 96.77 6.5 1.98 Noname. SW Oregon. Site Alititude 2300'. Preliminary.
317.2 96.68 10.1 3.07 Noname. SW Oregon. Two tops, the other 95.5m.
314.0 95.70 9.9 3.01 Noname. SW Oregon. Dbh measured on high side of ground level.
310.7 94.70 7.5 2.23 Noname. Redwood National Park. Measured with Impuluse 200LR by Chris Atkins & Steve Sillett
310.0 94.48 8.0 2.54 Noname. SW Oregon. Dbh measured on high side of ground level.
309.3 94.27 8.5 2.59 Coyote Gulch Tree, Park Creek Watershed, Coos County, Oregon. Preliminary handheld.
308.0 94.27 5.5 1.67 Noname. Prairie Creek State Park. Discovered by Atkins-Vaden.
308.0 93.80 8.0 2.54 Noname, SW Oregon. Dbh only an eye estimate.
307.0 93.60 5.5 1.67 Noname. Prairie Creek. Browns Creek junction with Prairie Creek. Discovered by Chris Atkins in 2010.
306.0 93.57 7.0 2.13 Broken Lip Fir. Trailhead 1 Mile South of Wagner Trailhead. Near junction with Prairie Creek Trail. Discovered by Hildebrant
306.0 93.57 3.5 1.07 Flagpole, Prairie Creek SP.
305.0 92.96 N/A N/A Noname. Brown's Creek Trailhead. Preliminary.
305.0 92.96 N/A N/A Noname. SW Oregon. Preliminary.
303.0 92.35 8.4 2.56 Noname, SW Oregon. Preliminary.
303.0 92.35 N/A N/A Noname, Prairie Creek Tributary. Termite infested, rotten trunk. Grows near Ravens Tower, tallest sitka spruce.
302.0 92.04 13.0 3.96 Rex Nemorensis. Quinalt Lake, Olympic National Park. Volume is 10,200 cubic feet, 4th largest known.
301.0 91.74 13.2 4.02 Ol' Jed, only recorded douglas fir over 10,000 ft³ in California. Now just a dead snag.
See Also, “Ascending the Giants” Oregon Field Guide episode, on Oregon Public Broadcasting, Oct. 12, 2017. Brian French and Will Koomjian have investigated LiDAR data, climbed and measured a number of 300-322 foot Douglas fir in Coos County, Oregon. Finding Oregon’s Tallest Trees Gets Help From Technology
324.1 and 326.4 ft Douglas fir trees, 7.8 and 10.4 ft diameter discovered in Oregon in the summer of 2021 by Michael Taylor and Steve Sillett. Also of note, 315.3, and 313.6 ft tall Douglas fir discovered in the Olympic peninsula of Washington in 2021, and in the same summer the surprising discovery of Sitka Spruce up to 328.6 ft tall in California. Michael Taylor & Steve Sillett Discover World’s 10 Tallest Douglas-firs
325.8 ft Another new discovery of a 325.8 ft Douglas fir, 5.5 ft diameter in the Redwoods as of March, 2022 made by Michael Taylor and Steve Sillett. The expedition included the discovery of several new specimen of Douglas fir and Sitka Spruce 313 ft high. JUST DISCOVERED: New #2 Tallest Douglas-fir in the World!
317 – 328 ft Douglas fir trees apparently cut by U.S. Timber Cutters, of North Bend, Washington, presumably in April, 2018. Location of trees unknown, more details needed.
US Timbercutters 317-328 ft firs presumably cut. April 2018.
324 ft Chehalis, Lewis Co. Wa. Oak Tribune 1934
324 ft 4 inches, Ryderwood, Washington. “The tree, a Douglas fir (yellow fir) is 324 feet, 4 inches in height. It measures 37 feet and 1 inch in circumference, or approximately 12 feet through. The Long- Bell company plans to preserve the tree. Another tree, nearby, stands 311 feet high.” – American Lumberman, Part 1, 1937. pg 47.
The Kennewick courier-reporter. (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, October 26, 1933, Page 3
Giant trees Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC. 1916. “Seven Sisters.” Vancouver Sun.
325 ft Stanley Park, BC 1916, 10 ft diameter. Felled for safety reasons. (See Forest Giants, Carder pgs 1 – 10).
Stanley Park, “Seven sisters.” 7 huge Douglas fir 250 to 300 ft tall once grew close together in the park, but the last of them were removed in the 1950’s for safety reasons.
325 ft Douglas Fir in Stanley Park, BC, Toppled in 1926, 800 years old, 10 ft diameter. “…Recently, in sea-girt Stanley Park at Vancouver, the writer [Dan McCowan] took opportunity to examine a Douglas Fir which had lived to a great age. For well over eight centuries this giant of the British Columbian woods swung gently to and fro in the salty winds which furrow the western ocean. Six hundred thousand tides had surged fiercely through the narrow gut of Burrard Inlet whilst this great tree was in growth. Felled by a recent gale, it now lay prone upon the earth and presently would be removed for conversion into lumber. The length of this fallen monarch was three hundred and twenty five feet, the girth close to the base, thirty one feet, and the diameter almost ten feet. Foresters who were busily engaged sawing the great trunk into cross sections, estimated its lumber content at twenty-five thousand feet, board measure. The Douglas Fir, although in all probability the longest lived tree in Canada, is yet a juvenile amongst the world’s oldest trees. The great Sequoias in California, the Locust trees of Brazil and some European yews are veritable Methu-salehs…” – ‘Giants and Dwarfs of Canada’s Forests’, By Dan McCowan – The Illustrated Canadian Forest and Outdoors, Volume 22, 1926 pg 639. (See Also: Hiking guide to the big trees of southwestern British Columbia, by Randy Stoltmann, Western Canada Wilderness Committee – 1987 pg 47, Stanley Park Nature and History Walk, Guide. 1990 pg 3, and Forest Giants, Carder pgs 1- 10.)
Stanley Park Nature and History Walk, Guide. 1990 pg 3.
325 ft “Fir trees two hundred and two hundred and fifty feet high, and six and seven feet in diameter, are seldom out of view in these forests; eight and ten feet in diameter and three hundred feet high are not at all uncommon. Trees of fourteen and fifteen feet in diameter are not difficult to find, and a fallen tree near Olympia measures three hundred and twenty-five feet in length, and another, at a distance of ninety feet from the root, measures seven feet in diameter.” – Annual Report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office to the Secretary of the Interior – Page 73 by United States General Land Office – Public lands – 1867
325+ ft 1.5 miles east of Edmonds, WA. in 1890 stood a fir tree in Snohomish County, 44 feet circumference, and over 325 feet high. – Pullman herald. (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) June 07, 1890, pg 7. See Image below:
Pullman herald. (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) June 07, 1890, pg 7
325 ft Near Darrington, Washington at the Sauk River. A Douglas fir 325 feet tall. – Miscellaneous publication, Issue 295- By United States. Dept. of Agriculture, United States. Science and Education Administration – 1938- pg. 97, & Works Progress Administration, Seattle, Washington – Aug 18, 1936, PR 118
Giant fir in Washington, date unknown.
325 ft News reports of stands of fir trees estimated in 1883 by government surveyor, Mr. Iverson to average 325 feet high and 7 feet in diameter, in 4 townships in the North Eastern shore of the Puget sound; Townships, 36, 37, 38, 39 East in Whatcom county, (Present day areas of Bow, Chuckanut, Lake Samish, Bellingham Bay, up to Ferndale) held these trees, which stood so thickly wooded, they were deemed nearly impossible to remove, and other accounts of dense fir forests 300 feet high, and 10 feet diameter in the mountains. – Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, September 15, 1883, Image 1, & Omaha Daily Bee. October 12, 1883, Page 2.
325+ft A report of a fir tree in Whatcom County, Wa. in 1907 that was 6 ft diameter at the stump, and made 5 cuts of 32 ft logs, two cuts of 40 ft logs, and one 48 ft log – or 288 feet of logs. Factoring stump height and 25 to 75+ feet of unusable discarded top wood, this tree must have been at least 325 ft tall by my estimations, and maybe more like 350 feet. Also reported was a Red Cedar 300 ft tall and 53 ft in circumference. – The Springdale news. [volume] (Springdale, Ark.) 1887-1990, March 15, 1907, Page 3, Image 3.
The Springdale news. [volume] (Springdale, Ark.) 1887-1990, March 15, 1907, Page 3, Image 3
325 ft Large numbers of fir trees 325 feet tall, and 31 feet in circumference were said to be standing in Beaver Valley, Columbia county, Oregon in 1875, according to Mr. Cromwell of Bridges & Cromwell sawmill. Some trees made 50,000 board feet of lumber. – The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891, September 01, 1875, Page 4.
The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891, September 01, 1875, Page 4
326 ft Queets Valley, Washington 1988. 6.7 feet diameter. – Olympic: A Visitor’s Companion, By George Wuerthner, Douglas W. Moore, 1999 pg. 102. See also Forest Giants, Carder pg 1-10.
327 ft In Autumn of 1862, the Honorable Malcolm Cameron and Colonel Richard Moody of the Royal Engineers, measured a fallen fir tree that was 327 feet long, 11 feet diameter, and 200 feet to the first limbs in the Fraser river valley, near New Westminster, B.C. Cameron recalls that it was not an uncommonly sized tree in that region. – The Quebec Mercury, Feb. 16, 1863 pg. 1
The Quebec Mercury, Feb. 16, 1863 pg. 1
Hon. Malcolm Cameron, delegate to British Columbia in 1862-63.
Col. Richard Clement Moody of the Royal Engineers.
328 ft Sedro Woolley, WA 1906. 17 ft diameter, 328 feet high. – “Sedro-Woolley, Key to Upper Skagit,” Bellingham Herald column, Sept. 30, 1906. In 1950, civil engineer Albert G. Mosier elaborated in a news interview about the giant trees that once stood in Sedro Woolley, “…Mosher and McDonald were logging an area about at the east city limits… It was a beautiful stand of timber, principally fir, which was the only wood considered fit to make lumber…Firs over 300 feet tall and 16-18 feet in diameter at the butt above the swell.” Some of the Cedars in the area even reached heights of 250 to 285 feet: “A cedar cut on Mortimer Cook’s place at Bug measured 285 feet in length, 6 feet in diameter; 25,000 shingles were made from half of it. — Skagit News, April 28, 1885. A big cedar on W.A. Dunlap’s place above Sterling is by actual measurement 48 feet in circumference five feet above ground. Its height is estimated at 250 feet. Some idea of the size of this can be got by taking a good-sized settler’s cabin, which would be 12×16 feet. — Skagit News, Oct. 14, 1884” – Mortimer Cook, Bug and Sedro: From Bug to Sedro, the early days; population about 10
The Lake McMurray fir, said to have measured 17 to 19 feet in diameter.
Another fir tree in Skagit County was reported to be 63 ft circumference, or 20 ft diameter, which may have surpassed the Lake McMurray tree above, and also the nearby Conway Snag, a Douglas fir 18 ft diameter 8 feet up. (For more info on the “Conway Snag” See Carder, Forest Giants, 1995, pg 14).
The Seattle Post-intelligencer, Volume 18, Number 123, 11 September 1890
329 ft Brummet Creek Tree, 4.4 ft diameter and blown down circa 1950. See: Forest Giants, Carder, pages 1 -10 & Trees To Know In Oregon, Extension Bulletin 697 Oregon State University & Oregon State Forestry Department, Revised January 1966 pg 89 (see below).
320-330+ ft An allusion is given to some very tall timber in Elliott State Forest, Coos & Douglas counties, Oregon in 1960, which could yield nine 32 foot logs. Such a height could suggest a tree over 300, and probably more like 320 to over 330 feet tall, because the rule was the top cut was usually 12 to 18 inches minimum, and Douglas fir regularly had a trunk to height ratio of 25 to 50 in mature and old growth stands:
“Stand on a mountain top and look over acres and acres of living, growing wealth spread out as far as you can see. Look up at a thick Douglas Fir giant that has been just guessed to yield an unbelievable nine 32-foot logs; or look through heavy stands of 70-year-old new growth timber that holds eternal promise for the economy of the county and the state. You’re in the Elliott State Forest.” – The News-Review from Roseburg, Oregon Pg. 7, October 18, 1960.
Giant Douglas fir 1931, Lane county, Oregon over 13-1/3 feet in diameter. – The Eugene Guard, April 9, 1931 pg 6.
330 ft A Douglas fir tree 330 feet tall was measured by a Weyerhaeuser Company Forester in Coos County, Oregon in 1946 and official correspondence of the US Bureau of Land Management mentioned Douglas firs cruised on Brummet Creek in Coos County, Oregon in 1956 which measured 9 logs, each 32 feet long. The total height of these trees probably exceeded 330 feet. – Trees To Know In Oregon, Extension Bulletin 697 Oregon State University & Oregon State Forestry Department, Revised January 1966 pg 89. [Note: The Weyerhaeuser Company Forester was probably Mr. Arthur V. Smyth, who conducted the Millicoma Tree Farm survey in 1946, and reported a 332 foot tree in the Pillsbury Tract, Coos County, Ore. See report by Dr. Bob Zybach: Oregon Coast Range Old_Growth: The 1945-1947 Weyerhaeuser Coos Bay Study. pg 6, Also see Dr Zybach’s excellent 2018 article on the giants of the Oregon coast: Oregon Coast Range Old-Growth: Part II. Size Matters.
Trees To Know In Oregon, Extension Bulletin 697, Oregon State University & Oregon State Forestry Department. Revised January 1966, pg 89.
Photo of 283 ft Centennial Douglas fir about to be felled at Brummett Creek, Coos Bay, Oregon. – The World, Coos Bay Oregon 28 Feb 1959 pg. 5
330+ ft A fir tree on the property of Mr. J.B. Wirt was reported to stand over 330 feet tall in the foothills, around Albany, Oregon in 1886. – The state rights democrat. (Albany, Or.) 1865-1900, December 17, 1886, Image 3.
The state rights democrat. (Albany, Or.) 1865-1900, December 17, 1886, Image 3
300 to 400 ft. Scio, Oregon 1932-1934. Fir trees at the W. J. Beran property near Scio, Oregon were said to have been 300 to 400 feet tall and up to 10 feet in diameter, with bark 13.5 inches thick. – Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980, October 20, 1934, Page 3, and Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980, May 19, 1932, Page 3.
Another gigantic fir tree, said to be 18 feet 8 inches in diameter also grew near Albany, Oregon in 1913. It was blown up in a 4th of July celebration, with 160 sticks of dynamite on the Hutchinson farm. – The Semi-weekly democrat. (Albany, Linn County, Or.) 1913-1926, July 08, 1913, Page 3.
260- 330 ft North Vancouver, B.C., at Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, Nov. 2019. The Tallest Christmas trees climbed by Marc-Luc Lalumiere, a high climber and designer at the park who strings the Christmas tree lights on the massive trees. “Lalumiere says the average height of the trees is somewhere between 260 and 300 feet, and the tallest checks in at around 330 feet.” – Meet the man who decorates the 300-foot Christmas trees at Capilano Suspension Bridge
330 ft – Whidbey and Camano Is. Washington -“The biggest trees in the county grew on southern Whidbey and on Camano Island, but virtually all the mature trees were immense…The fir was the largest of all, with a diameter of 5 to 7 feet and stood 245 to 33o feet (White 198o). By the end of the nineteenth century, most of the old growth Douglas fir had been cut…” – Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve, General Management Plan: Environmental Impact Statement, Volume 1, 2006 pg 74.
Camano Tall Timbers, c. 1920. Notice men at the base of tree. See more: Camano Island, pg 12.
“The great merit of the firs is their size and durability, with their habit of growing close together like canes in a brake, and to an immense height without knots or branches. It is not uncommon to find a tree having a diameter of four feet at a distance of ten feet from the ground, which has attained an altitude of 300 feet; nor is it unusual to find spar timbers 150 feet long with a diameter of eighteen inches, perfectly straight and sound. The mills on Puget Sound find no difficulty in furnishing squared timbers of these dimensions, and often cut plank from 60 to 90 feet in length.” – History Of Washington, Idaho, and Montana, 1845-1889. By Hubert Howe Bancroft, 1890 pg. 328
330 ft Lacamas headwaters, Washington 1880. 330 ft in length, 8 ft diameter. Felled by W. F. Tracy on his farm. – The Vancouver independent, May 06, 1880, pg 5. See article below:
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) May 06, 1880, pg 5
330 ft A yellow fir 8 feet in diameter and 330 feet long was felled in early March, 1888 at the townsite of Toledo, Washington:
“Toledo, W. T.. Mar. 17, 1888. Mr. and Mrs. Jas. Burton, Jamestown, Kansas. Kind Friends: As per agreement I’ll write you a “wee bit.” I arrived in Washington Territory on February 17″…”The forest is so dense that where not cleared it is difficult and in some places impossible to get through even on foot. The trees are not large nor are they small. A yellow fir cut down on the town site a few days ago measured 8 feet in diameter and 330 feet long. This Is considerably above the average but not the largest by any means. A section of land covered with such beautiful straight timber, in Kansas would be of untold value.” – April 7, 1888, The Kansan, Jamestown, Kansas · Page 8.
330 ft According to the United States Department of Agriculture, Technical Bulletin published in October, 1930, there is a standing Douglas Fir near Little Rock, Washington, which is 330 feet in height, with a diameter of approximately 6 feet.
331 ft A “Yellow fir” in the Nehalem Valley, Oregon reportedly stood 331 ft tall, and an apocryphal story is told of a fir 400 feet high. – The Morning Oregonian -Portland, OR. October 6, 1903 page 14:
Pacific Monthly, Volumes 12-13, 1904 pg. 91 [13 ft diameter fir near Anacortes, Washington]
300+ft “My Dad said he topped a tree at 240 feet up near Grisdale and he said that was much higher then normal. Measured with a new passrope that was known length not speculation.”… We yarded this one in 84. I remember it was 12 foot and it had 7 logs in it. The first three cuts were 40s. Some of the top cuts were shorter though. I’d guess to the tip top it was pushing 300 but not over.The one my Dad topped that I mentioned he said was about 30 inches where he topped it. He said they had to put extensions on all the guylines it was so high. Rarely he said they would go over 200 feet [topped].07-24-2012, 11:29 PM http://www.arboristsite.com/forestry-logging-forum/204269-3.htm Biggest & Tallest Doug fir and Sitka Spruce & redwoods
12 foot diam,300 foot giant fir Olympic forest, Wa. 1984. See story above.
300+ft (My Estimate for some spars over 200 ft) Based on the following: “In the early days of logging spars with the required 20 in. to 30 in. top at a height between 200 and 250 feet ceptional [sic] and those of 120 feet satisfactory.” – The Commonwealth forestry review: Volume 37 – 1958, pg 180.
330+ ft (My estimate of original height). A Spar tree 250 feet high – The Sibley journal of engineering: Volume 35 – Page 71 – Cornell University. Sibley College – 1921.
300+ft “There are other authentic measurements of Douglas firs with a total height of over 300 feet. One fir was topped for a spar tree at 256 feet above the ground”.. – American forests: Volume 68, American Forestry Association –1962 pg 66. 300+ft In any event, when the top falls the “stump”, sways and weaves with great violence and the climber must hold with tooth and spur, and this experience anywhere from 150 (46 metres) to 280 feet (85 metres) above ground is racking in the extreme. The tree that Hallgren scaled that day must have been about 300 feet (91 metres) high, for it is 240 feet (73 metres) from the ground to the point where he is shown cutting off the top. It was six feet (1,8 metres) in diameter 10 feet (3 metres) from the ground. This tree was unusually high one, for the top is usually out off these high lead trees at from 160 to 200 feet (49 to 61 metres) from the ground. http://hem.bredband.net/guha002/index.htm
332 ft “Four of the five tallest trees in the world grow along the West Coast of the United States. They are: red-wood 367 feet, Redwood Creek, California; Douglas fir 332 feet, Coos County, Oregon; Noble fir 325 feet, Harmony Falls, Oregon; and the Sitka Spruce 298 feet, Olympic National Park, Washington.” – The Southern lumberman: Volume 217 – 1968, pg 160.
Spar fir
330+ft (My estimate of original height of spar trees, before top 50-75 feet or more was cut off by high climbers). Spar fir trees cut at 250 & 275 feet high.– Chronicle Telegram, Feb. 14, 1921 pg. 2, & Schenectady Gazette Feb 2, 1921 Page 5. (See image of news clipping below).
Spar tree cut at 275 feet. Schenectady Gazette Feb 2, 1921 Page 5.
335+ ft (My conservative estimate of original tree height). A Spar fir cut at 285 ft tall. – The Ironwood Times, Mar. 9, 1923 pg. 1.
335 ft- “It may not be generally known that many specimens of fir found on the shores of Puget Sound equal in height the infamous giant Sequoia or “Big tree” of California, for firs have been cut down which were over 325 feet in length from topmost branch to the edge of the cut, not including eight or ten feet of the trunk left standing above the roots.” “Engineering In The Logging Industry In The American Pacific Northwest” – Cassier’s Magazine Vol. XXIX April, 1906 No. 6
Giant Log, Mineral Wa. July, 1936. 14,500 market board feet.
335 ft “The largest tree measured by the writer was thirteen feet in diameter and had an estimated height of nearly 300 feet. One observer states that he measured a tree in Washington 335 feet high and fifteen feet in diameter.” – The Forester, Volumes 5-6By American Forestry Association 1899 pg. 54.
338 ft Major Ambrose Newton Armstrong, a government surveyor contracted by the General Land Office in Oregon in 1854-55, reported measuring fallen fir trees in the Coast Mountain range up to 338 feet in length on the ground, and only 3 feet in diameter in his book on Oregon history published in 1857. – Oregon, Comprising a Brief History and Full Description… By A.N. Armstrong, 1857 pg. 33:
Ambrose Newton Armstrong, a Government surveyor in Oregon 1854-1855.
338 ft A Section from a 400 year old fir tree, 10 feet in diameter 3 ft from the ground, and 338 feet in length was exhibited at the Tacoma Exposition in Tacoma, Washington in October of 1891, according to Mr. J.M. Turney of Portland, Oregon, writing to “The Newton bee” on October 12, 1891. – “Where Rolls the Oregon”- The Newtown bee. (Newton, Connecticut). October 23, 1891, pg. 4:
An example of a Giant Fir, near Enumclaw. [Such a tree like this often reached 10 ft in diameter, and probably stood over 300 feet high – emphasis mine.] Image from: A Short History of Logging and Lumber in Enumclaw.
339 ft Toledo, Ore – spar tree 214 ft tall 34 inches at cut, severed section was 125 feet. (Forest Giants of the World Past and Present, Carder pg 1 -10). Parks & recreation, Volume 10. American Institute of Park Executives, 1927 pg 263, and American Lumberman, Part 3, 1926 pg 84.
American Lumberman, Part 3, 1926 pg 84.
Jess Phelps topping a tree 215 ft up, at Lake Bosworth Logging Company, Washington – Granite Falls Historical Society. (Note: Spar trees often had 50 to 100 feet of top chopped off).
327 – 339 ft “Williams Fir” also known as Doerner Fir [Brummitt Fir], Coos Co. OR. 13.2 ft diameter trunk. Estimated age 500-600 yrs old. Tallest Known Living Douglas fir as of 2013. Current height is 327 feet to a dead top at average ground level. Measured 329 feet tall in 1988. Further 10 feet of trunk slopes down hill, making entire height of tree at lowest end 339 feet in 1988. Read more here: http://blog.oregonlive.com/terryrichard/2010/03/doerner_fir_rises_327_feet_int.html
340 ft – A Monster Douglas fir 42 ft circumference, 13.4 ft diameter and over 79,218 board feet, stood 340 feet high and was felled by Lou Crosset and Frank Griffin in May of 1904 on the Mccormick Lumber Co. holdings in Lewis Co, near the town of Pe Ell, WA, and sections were sent to the St. Louis Exposition.–The Indian Forester – Page 320. Also, see Forest Giants, Carder pg 1-10, and Washington standard – Friday, May 27th, 1904 – Page 2. & American Lumberman, Part 1, May 28, 1904 18A.
Giant tree 42 feet around, and 340 feet tall, felled in 1904 near Pe El, Washington. Sent to St. Louis Exposition.
The Coast, Volumes 7-10, 1904 pg 29.
Washington Standard – May 27, 1904 pg 2.
The Timberman, Volume 14, October 1913 [Notice man standing behind tree on the right for scale].
Another massive Douglas fir that once may have reached 300 feet or more in height, before losing its top, stills grows near Pe Ell, Washington, and is 35 ft circumference, 11 ft diameter, and over 500 years old. – Perhaps the last of the Giant Douglas fir in S.W. Washington, the area was extensively logged by McCormick Lumber Co. between 1902-1927 (See above “Pe Ell tree, 1904) but was saved by loggers, and protected thanks to the work of Paul Hayes and John Markham. The tree stands on Weyerhaeuser land. See Jan 12, 2018 News story: Vader Octogenarian Wants Public to See Giant Fir in Pe Ell
Another fir near Pe Ell was cut in 1901, The McKinley Stump was cut for President William McKinley, who was unable to make the scheduled visit in 1901. The tree was displayed at Chehalis, Wa for over a hundred years. It was cut from a fir tree 12 ft 6 in diameter at the base, and 8 feet 4 in diameter 8 feet up. It was 300 feet in height, and 360 years old, and scaled 30,000 feet of lumber according to the placard nailed to its exhibit. The McKinley Stump in Chehalis is removed on October 23, 2007.
340 and 350 ft – Ten immense logs were taken from Port Blakely, Bainbridge Island, Washington and shipped by rail to Chicago from Tacoma for the Columbian Exposition. – The Corvallis gazette. (Corvallis, Or.) August 26, 1892, pg 2.
“On each of the two greatest foundation logs were brass plates with the following inscription: “This log, 3 feet by 3 1/2 feet, and 125 feet long, cut from a Washington yellow-fir tree 7 feet 8 inches in diameter and 350 feet long.” – A history of the World’s Columbian exposition held in Chicago in 1893, By Rossiter Johnson, 1897. pg 487, & Chicago: Its History and Its Builders–Josiah Seymour Currey, 1918 . pg 78.
Another foundation tree log was also described as, “A Washington yellow fir tree 7 feet 11 in diameter and 340 feet long” – The School Journal -1893 E.L. Kellogg & Co. pg. 85. It thus appears that at least two, and perhaps several trees, 340 to 350 feet long yielded 125 foot foundation logs for the massive Washington State Building, or Log Cabin at the Columbian Exposition in 1893. A 238 foot Douglas fir flag pole was also erected at the Exposition, cut from a tree near Everett that originally stood over 300 feet tall. – Iron Age, Volume 50. Dec 22, 1892 pg 1208.
An Illustrated History of the State of Washington – Containing Biographical …By Harvey Kimball Hines, 1893 pg 281
The School Journal, Volume 47 – E.L. Kellogg & Company, 1893 pg 85
The Salt Lake herald. (Salt Lake City, Utah) June 09, 1893, Page 4.
The Mason County Journal. Shelton, W.T. October 27, 1893 pg 2.
The Corvallis gazette. (Corvallis, Or.) August 26, 1892, Pg. 2
Iron Age, Volume 50. Dec 22, 1892 pg 1208
The giant Fir flag pole was cut from a Douglas fir over 300 feet in height near Everett, Washington and some more details of this tree are recorded which tend to substantiate such a stature above 300 feet:
“Another tree even more remarkable, though not so large, was cut by Mr. Angus M’Dougall of Tacoma for the Chicago Exhibition in 1893. This grew in Snohomish Co., Washington, and measured on the stump only 4 feet in diameter. In falling it broke off at a height of 238 feet, where it measured 17-1/2 inches in diameter, and was nearly free from branches to a height of 216 feet, which length was sent to Chicago.”
– The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland. Henry John Elwes, and Augustine Henry -1906, Page 163
340 ft “One tree cut on Graham Island, off the coast of British Columbia, is reported to have been 17 feet in diameter on the stump, and 340 feet tall. Mature trees vary from 400 to 8OO years in age.” – News and Views, Volumes 3-5. California Division of Beaches and Parks, 1945. pg 10. (Note: Graham Island is outside the range of Douglas fir, perhaps this was some specimen of giant Sitka Spruce).
News and Views, Volumes 3-5. California Division of Beaches and Parks 1945. pg 10.
340 ft “Under date of December 5th 1919 the West Coast Lumbermen’s Association kindly offered the Society a Douglas Fir flag pole to range from 150 to 340 feet delivered free to this city with the compliments of that association.” – New York Historical Society quarterly bulletin, Volume 3 – 1920 pg 130.
Dr. Al Carder, now 104 years old. The Eminent Author and researcher of Giant Trees. His excellent research into the largest historic Douglas fir trees was foundational for my own research project.
Dr. Al Carder’s finest work, “Forest Giants of the World, Past and Present” published 1995. This is the finest and most interesting research work on the true height and girths of the largest trees ever recorded by historical man.
346 ft A Douglas fir tree 346 ft tall was cut for a flagpole and was raised at Camp Lewis, Washington in 1918, but the pole fractured during the ceremony! – Spokane Daily Chronicle – Oct 11, 1918 pg 6. & ‘Donna Turnipseed, Directorate of Public Works Cultural Resources manager, and Dr. Duane Denfeld, architectural historian, shared the history of the flagpole.
In 1917, the then Camp Lewis gained distinction as having the largest American flag to fly to date. The Tacoma Daily Ledger newspaper had a fundraiser to acquire a flag bigger than the one flown on the 135-foot steel flagpole at Camp Jackson, S.C. The 60- by 90-foot flag raised at Camp Lewis weighed 257 pounds. The 314-foot tall first pole, made from a 346-foot-tall tree, and set into a 9-ton concrete base, snapped after the initial flag raising Oct. 12, 1918. “It was a small ceremony, and the flagpole ended up splitting in three places from the weight of the flag,” Turnipseed said.’- Construction crew unearths record-setting flagpole base
“The Daily Ledger campaign had one more step, and that was to locate a tall, straight fir tree for the flagpole. Prominent lumberman Lynn H. Miller (1877-1936) of the International Spar Company, based on Harbor Island in Seattle, sent loggers out into western Washington forests to find the tree. International Spar had experience with long trees since it provided masts and booms to shipyards in the United States and England. It took some time to find the right tree. The 346-foot tree was taken to the company’s plant and shaped into a flagpole that would be 314 feet tall. The pole was cut and strengthened with two splices. It was anchored in a 9-ton concrete block.” – World’s tallest flagpole cracks into pieces when world’s largest flag is unfurled from it at Camp Lewis flag-raising ceremony on October 12, 1918. HistoryLink.org Essay 11077
Spokane Daily Chronicle – Oct 11, 1918 pg 6
347 ft Astoria, Oregon Douglas Fir cut for flagpole 251 feet tall, Panama-Pacific Exposition.– Pamphlets on Wood Preservation, 1900-1915, University of California. pg 4 & Friends’ Intelligencer – Volume 72 – 1915, Page 316. Also See: Bell Telephone News, Volume 5, 1915. pg 20. http://books.google.com/books?id=FJnmAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA20&lpg=RA2-PA20#v=onepage&q&f=false
Friends’ Intelligencer, Volume 72, 1915 pg 316.
Malheur Enterprise, Sat. Aug 7, 1915 pg 3
1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. Still from “Mabel and Fatty Viewing the World’s Fair (1915) “
1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. “Mabel and Fatty Viewing the World’s Fair (1915)” (Photo is composite of video stills I stitched together to show scale of pole). Watch full video here at 2:44 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4yZ9PGimz8)
347 ft Tacoma, Washington, Sept. 1889. A fir tree 340 feet long from butt to top, plus stump height, scaled 81,500 board feet, from seventeen cuts of 16 ft logs:
An average fir tree was selected from an acre of forest near Tacoma, Washington Territory in Sept. 1889, and cut down by Mr. J.J. Parker, a coast lumberman, and his axe men in the presence of Mr. Ketchum, an Oshkosh millman, and Mr. Lyman Barnes, of New London, Wisconsin. The cutters placed their spring boards 2-3 feet above ground, and chopped the tree down. After it fell, Mr. Ketchum and Barnes took their measuring lines, and laid off seventeen, 16 foot logs, which total 81,500 board feet. They then measured the entire tree from the butt to top, and found it was 340 feet long. – Appleton Post, Appleton, Wisconsin. Thursday, September 12, 1889 pg 8.
Appleton Post, Appleton, Wisconsin. Thursday, September 12, 1889 pg 8.
348 ft “Forest Service records a Douglas Fir with a measured height of 380 feet, and I, personally, have seen many over 300, one 348.” By Joseph T. Hazard, Pacific Crest Trails from Alaska to Cape Horn–1948, pg. 64
Oregon’s Largest Fir Tree RP Postcard – Cross & Dimmitt.
350 ft– “PSEUDOTSUGA DOUGLASII,… – Often one of the tallest trees known (in favorable loclities, in Oregon, even 300-350 feet high), with very thick, much cracked, brown bark….” – The botanical works of the late George Engelmann, collected for …, Volume 1, 1887 pg 347.
The botanical works of the late George Engelmann, collected for …, Volume 1, 1887 pg 347.
350 ft “Fir trees are often found from 300 to 350 feet high. In connection with this it is observed that the upper portion of the tree shows larger annual growths in the center than are found near the butt.” – OREGON The Land Of Opportunity Compiled by M.D. Wisdom, 1909 Oregon Commission of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition: Forest Wealth Of Oregon 1909 By Edmund P. Sheldon, Secretary Oregon State Board of Forestry. A Place Called Oregon – 1909
Forest Wealth Of Oregon 1909
Sangamo Journal – Illinois State Journal, 20 May 1847 pg 1.
350 feet Siletz Indian Reservation, Oregon c. 1907. Fir trees reported up to 350 feet tall. Morning Oregonian. November 19, 1907 Page 11 & Morning Oregonian. August 10, 1908 Page 9. Some large Fir trees up to 11 feet diameter remain today at the “Valley of the Giants”, North fork of Siletz River, west of Valsetz, Oregon: The Valley of the Giants – Dianne Roth
350 ft Columbia County, Oregon. Whole sections of Fir trees were cruised at an average height of 275 ft tall, and 6 ft diameter yielding 10 to 15 cuts of 12 foot logs from below the first branches, free from knots. Some sections running as high as 350 feet tall! – The Oregon mist. (St. Helens, Columbia County, Or.) April 21, 1893, Pg. 1
The Oregon mist. (St. Helens, Columbia County, Or.) April 21, 1893, Pg. 1
Asahel Curtis photo. Neg. no. 47006. The tree on the right 19 feet on the stump, one of the largest fir trees I have ever found in the state of Washington. Estimates age 750 years. – on accompanying notes.
350 ft Mossyrock, Wa. 1939 A fir tree 350 feet tall, and 11 feet in diameter was felled and sent to Olympia. It scaled 40,000 Board feet – Centralia Daily Chronicle, July 19, 1939, pg. 1. & St. Petersburg Times – Aug 9, 1939 pg 8.
350 ft “Recently a log from one these fallen firs was taken to Washington, where it was on exhibition, It was part of a six hundred-year-old tree which had attained a height of 350 feet. The log weighed 60 tons and will furnish 16,690 feet of timber.” Ireton Ledger, Sep. 5, 1935 pg. 3
Snohomish Fir Tree, 50 feet circumference, 91,260 board feet.
350 ft “Largest Tree in State,” 350 feet tall, 16 feet diameter. – Sedro Woolley, Wa. May 8, 1902. Photograph taken by Darius Kinsey. Kinsey photo collection – Kinsey photographer, 1978 —pg. 152-153. #160 – Fir Tree Undercut by Darius Kinsey. “
Caption:”Undercut in Fir Tree 16 feet in diameter, 350 feet high.”
350 ft “Many trees, each over 280 feet tall, have been measured about Blaine [Wa]. Others in that vicinity and elsewhere reach to a height of 350 feet. There are without doubt large numbers of trees in Washington over 300 feet high.” – Forest Leaves – pg. 162 by Pennsylvania Forestry Association, American Forestry Association, 1890.
Puget Sound Timber 1908.
350 ft – “In Skagit County is a forest of Douglas pine and white cedar in which there are many trees reaching 325 feet high, and some of them are fully 350 feet high.” Forest Leaves – Page 162 by Pennsylvania Forestry Association, 1922.
1935 Tacoma camp, 5 logs 109 car train. 700 year old fir, 300 ft tall
350 ft Mr. Charles C Woodhouse, M.E. wrote about the giant fir and cedar trees in Puget sound, in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper in 1891, and mentions he had “measured one of these prostrate monsters 350 feet in length,” and describes Cedar stumps 18 feet in diameter. – The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, January 01, 1891, Page 23, Image 23
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, January 01, 1891, Page 23, Image 23
350 ft “The river is deep and the banks are straight, so every rancher has a landing and delivers his produce on the bank of the river and the river steamer carries it to its destination. I thought I had seen big timbers in Michigan, but it is small in comparison to that in northwestern Washington Territory. It is nothing to see trees six and eight feet in diameter and three hundred and fifty feet high. The largest tree I saw was twelve feet in diameter, that was a cedar. The land along the Skaget is very rich and productive, that is, for crops that will grow there.” – Firemen’s Magazine, Volume 8, 1884 pg 420.
350 ft “Douglas fir trees often grow seven feet to twelve feet in diameter at the ground and up to one hundred and fifty feet in height without a branch. One tree was measured fourteen feet in diameter at a point six feet above the ground and it was approximately three hundred and fifty feet high. A Douglas fir tree twelve feet in diameter at the butt was cut in Coos County, Oregon, in January, 1920, yielding 43,320 board feet of sawed lumber, valued at $1,500.” – American Lumberman, May 8, 1920. pg 62
350 ft “On the shores of Puget Sound the bulk of the forests of trees stand 250 feet high, while firs have been cut measuring almost 350 feet in height.” – The sun. (New York [N.Y.]) April 22, 1906, Third Section, Page 5.
The sun. (New York [N.Y.]) April 22, 1906, Third Section, Page 5.
350 ft Yellow fir in Washington were sometimes reported to rise to the immense height of 200 feet without a limb, and to a height of often 350 feet from the butt, including tops. And six to twelve feet in diameter. – Will L. Visscher, The National Magazine – A Monthly Journal of American History, 1890. pg 81
The National Magazine – A Monthly Journal of American History, 1890. pg 81
350 ft A “Cedar” tree on the property of J. M. Hockett near Kalama, Washington was reportedly 350 feet tall and 18 feet in diameter. Whole townships in that section were reportedly covered in fir trees 250 to 350 feet high. -The Corvallis gazette. July 04, 1890 Image 1.
The Corvallis gazette. July 04, 1890 Image 1
250-350 ft Logs from Fir trees 5 to 11 feet in diameter and 250 to 350 feet tall were small enough to handle at lumber mills at Seattle and Port Gamble, while larger trees baffled the skill of lumbermen in handling. The new Northwest. (Portland, Or.) December 22, 1881, Page 5:
Giant fir 9 ft diam 125 ft to first branch. Pacific Monthly vol. 7-9, 1902
350+ft Quoting from Dr J. R. Cardwell, President of the Oregon Board of Horticulture, “The trees of our forests, owing to the favorable influences referred to, are of rich, dark green foliage, rapid growth to enormous proportions, commonly from 3 to 6 feet in diameter, 350 feet high, sometimes more, and 185 feet to the first limb. This I state from actual measurements from trees prone on the ground.” – Our Conifers Economically Considered. By Dr J.R. Cardwell – 5th Biennial Report of the Oregon Board of Horticulture, 1899 pg. 544-549. Note: It is likely that Dr Cardwell measured these fallen trees while clearing his land for his gardens. He owned several properties in the Portland area, as he was one of the early pioneers to Oregon in 1852, becoming Portland’s first dentist.
Dr. James Robert Cardwell (1830 – 1916) personally measured fallen Douglas fir over 350 feet tall. A Pioneer to Oregon in 1852, and well regarded Portland Dentist, he later became president of the Oregon Board of Horticulture.
Our Conifers Economically Considered. Dr. J.R. Cardwell – 5th Biennial Report of the Oregon Board of Horticulture, 1899.pg 545- 546.
John Cress photo fir
350 ft – Sutherland, Oregon in 1915 on the property of O.A. Vogel, a Douglas fir estimated at 350 feet tall, 26 feet in circumference and 20,000 board feet, was reported by Chas.Vogel in the The Springfield Herald. (Springfield, Baca County, Colo.) October 22, 1915.
The Springfield herald. (Springfield, Baca County, Colo.) 1887-1919, October 22, 1915, Image 1
350 ft Trees from 250 to 350 feet high are common sights. A fir tree recently cut near Clallam Bay was 13 feet in diameter at the butt, and a 100-foot log cut therefrom, which was seven feet in diameter at the top, scaled 84,100 feet of lumber. Report by Washington (State). Bureau of Statistics, Agriculture and Immigration – 1896, pg 112.
14 foot fir diameter fir trees logged in Washington
350 ft Estimated Height of the big Fir at Westholme, Vancouver Is. BC. Blown down 1913, Estimated to be 1500 years old, 17-feet diameter. 180 ft to blown top, and 150 ft to first branch. (See Forest Giants, Carder pgs 1 – 10) http://twpaterson.com/second-largest-douglas-fir-recalls-westholme-giant/
Westholme tree, blown over 1913
Westholme Tree 17 ft diameter
Westholme Tree 1912
Westholme tree late 1800’s.
Westholme Tree
350+ft Estimated original Height of Queets Fir, Queets River, WA. Currently it is 202 ft to a broken top 6.7 ft diameter, and the Breast height diameter is 15.9 ft. Age is calculated at over 1,000 years old! The original height of this tree may have once easily exceeded 350 feet as estimated by the late Randy Stoltmann, and Dr Al Carder of B.C. (See Graphic from Western Canada Wilderness Committee, 1986 article ” Last of the Giants.”) The break at 200 feet is still over 6 feet thick, and as Dr. Carder notes in his book, Forest Giants, page 13, that for every foot of thickness in the trunk of these old growth Douglas fir, it is no exaggeration to conclude 25 to 30 linear feet of height. Taking that into account, this tree might even have been approaching 400 feet at one time in its thousand year life.
Queets Fir, front side. Photo protected by copyright taken by professional photographer Darryl Lloyd in October, 2013. http://www.longshadowphoto.com/
Queets fir. Photo protected by copyright taken by professional photographer, and outdoorsman Darryl Lloyd, October, 2013. http://www.longshadowphoto.com/
From the trail, our first look at the Queets Fir, 200 ft tall, which used to be at least 300 ft. low-res. Photo taken by Darvel Lloyd October, 2013.
350+ ft The Mt. Pilchuck giant. Snohomish County, Washington. Felled On October 22, 1952, one and a half miles from Verlot at the foot of Mt Pilchuck. Over 350 feet in height, 11 feet 6 inches by 10 ft 3 inches in diameter at the cut, and 700 years old yielding 30,000 board feet from a 100 ft log. – The Arlington Times – Oct 30, 2002 pg 9. See Images below:
The Arlington Times – Oct 30, 2002 pg 9.
The Arlington Times, Arlington, Wa. Aug 13, 1953 pg 1.
350 ft A tree 350 feet long and 14 ft in diameter reportedly struck a pier at bridge 16, on the Everett & Monte Cristo Railway near the town of Robe, Washington in the great “Washout” of November, 1897, along the Stillaguamish river not far from the town of Verlot and Mt. Pilchuck – The Seattle Post-intelligencer, Volume 33, Number 6, 20 November 1897.
The Seattle Post-intelligencer, Volume 33, Number 6, 20 November 1897
300 ft + Kapowsin, Washington, Dec., 1921. 9 feet diameter, over 300 feet high, 7 logs 32 ft long each (totalling 224 ft high) were cut below its branches scaling 45,000 to 50,000 BF. American Lumberman 1921-12-31. Issue 2433, and The Miami News – Aug 14, 1922 pg 58. Also, see above article of another fir tree cut at Kapowsin in 1937, 9 feet in diameter at the butt and scaling 70,000 feet of lumber. Such a market volume for a tree of that diameter must have also required a height well above 300 feet. Camp Kapowsin, and the St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co, would often cut firs that would yield five 40 foot logs, clear and straight below main branches. See American Lumberman 1921-05-21. Issue 2401.
American Lumberman 1921-12-31. Iss 2433
Old Growth Fir near camp Kapowsin, St Paul and Tacoma Lumber company. – American Lumberman 1921-05-21. Iss 2401
Camp Kapowsin fir forest, St paul and Tacoma Lumber co 1921.
Downed Old Growth Fir, Kapowsin. St Paul and Tacoma Lumber co. 1921. Trees could yield five cuts of 40 foot logs, clean stock.
350 ft+ (My Estimate of original Height, extrapolating from log length, taper, and board footage). A Fir cut down in King Co. Wa measured 9 ft in diameter at the butt, and 4 ft 8 in at the top, 186 ft long, and scaled 64,000 feet of lumber. – Report By Washington (State). Bureau of Statistics, Agriculture and Immigration, 1896. pg. 33
Eugene Register-Guard – Jul 26, 1936 pg 18
Aberdeen herald. (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) January 08, 1891, pg 8
350 ft? At Bellingham, Washington a log 12 feet in diameter at the butt, 278 feet long, scaled 105,000 board feet, Scribner rule. – The Yield of Douglas Fir in the Pacific Northwest, By Richard Edwin McArdle U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1930 pg 7. [Note: Often 50 to 100 feet of the top section, 2 or 3 feet in diameter was discarded from the tree as non-merchantable and knotty, suggesting a log of 278 feet with that high of a yield, necessitated a tree perhaps 350 or more feet in original height by my estimates using the Scribner rule and estimates of log taper ratio, and assuming a full crown]. At the bottom of page 7 of McArdle’s report, he lists several examples of Douglas fir recorded over the years by the US Forestry service at 300 to 380 feet tall, and other examples of large volume, including the Mineral Tree.
The Yield of Douglas Fir in the Pacific Northwest – Richard E. McArdle, 1930 pg 7.
The Timberman – Volume 26, Issues 1-6 – Page 162 April 1925
350 ft – A tree 350 feet tall and 8 ft diameter was reportedly felled by T. F. Strain of Tacoma, Washington in 1879 while clearing his property. – American Bee Journal, Volume 53, 1913 pg 100.
American Bee Journal, Volume 53, 1913 pg 100.
350 ft “The yellow fir is the soundest and best timber in the United States. Easy of handling, it can be cut down as cheaply as white pine, though it rise to the immense height of two hundred feet (sometimes) without a limb, and to a height of often three hundred and fifty feet from the but, including tops. At the base it frequently measures six, seven, eight, nine, ten and even twelve feet in diameter at but where cut off for manufacture.” -Magazine of Western History, Volume 12, 1890 pg 81 “Tacoma, Washington” by Will L. Visscher.
350 -400 ft RE: Douglas Firs up to 465 Feet tall. – Trees Forum – Garden Web. Posted by j50wells none (My Page) on Wed, Jan 4, 12 at 12:33 Good post Jimmy. My granpa was a logger for fifty years down on the south coast near Brookings. In the 1930’s and 1940’s they did alot of logging in that area. He told me there was alot of Redwood, but not as tall as the one’s in California. He did mention that occassionally they would find a Douglas fir that was well over 300′ tall. I don’t doubt that some of them pushed close to 400′. My grandpa was a very honest man and would tell some great stories about logging. Sometimes he would mix facts up but he would always back up and say , “oops, that’s not the way it was, here’s what really happened.” He was not a liar or the type that would exaggerate, so I believe that he did fall some trees in the 350 to 400 foot range.
350 ft Grays Harbor, Washington 1910, 10 ft Diameter. From the Bothell Sentinel and Citizen, June 4, 1910 pg 6: “Programme for state convention of Bankers”…”A Joint Committee of the bankers of the cities of Hoquiam and Aberdeen are preparing a very elaborate pro-gramme of entertainment, which will include a visit to the great manufac-turing plants of Grays Harbor, a trip on the harbor and a visit to one of the great lumber camps, where the visit-ers will witness the felling ofa for-est giant ten feet in thickness and 350 feet high.”
350 ft Grays Harbor, Washington in 1894. News report quoting a story from Mr. Wm. Miner of a tree on his timber claim which was 350 feet long, which had a side strip split off that was only 18 inches thick at the butt, but wide enough for a wagon to drive over, which fell across a gulch. – Aberdeen Herald, Volume 8, Number 16, 25 January 1894.
Aberdeen Herald, Volume 8, Number 16, 25 January 1894
350 – 400 ft Near Latourell, Oregon. An immense grove of giant firs situated in a protected flat surrounded by high bluffs, between Bull creek and the Hood river. Trees estimated at 350 to 400 feet high with circumference estimated over 60 feet at 3 feet above ground. Portsmouth Herald, July 18, 1900 pg. 5
The Cook County herald. (Grand Marais, Minn.) December 08, 1900, Pg 1.
320 ft – 350 ft Trees measured by Colonel Richard Clement Moody of the Royal Engineers, at or around New Westminster, B.C. about 1863. (I estimate these trees may have been closer to 350 ft before they hit the ground, as Colonel Moody told the Royal Geographical Society in 1863-64, that in a couple of instances the fallen tree trunks were still as thick as his waist where he left off measuring at 320 feet in length, where the top splintered off in the falling. These trees were measured by Colonel Richard Clement Moody of the Royal Engineers and related to the Royal Geographical Society in response to a paper on Vancouver Island, and British Columbia written by Dr. Charles Forbes).
The Royal Geographical Society quotes and summarizes several points made by Colonel Moody:
Giant felled fir, North shore B.C. – North Vancouver Museum & Archives.
350 ft “On the site of what is now Vancouver city–the present terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway–and in the neighborhood of that town, on Burrard Inlet, was a renowned group of these trees, and “many still standing around the city, are from 250 to 350 feet high and 12 feet in diameter at the base, or about 36 feet in girth,” growing so close together that the trees almost seem to touch each other…” – The Wilderness and Its Tenants – By John madden 1897, pg. 168.
Felling fir, Capilano Timber Co. 1920 – BC Archives.
350 ft “Some of these sylvan giants are of almost incredible dimensions, twenty four to thirty feet in circumference, eight to ten feet in diameter, at the base, running up straight as arrows perhaps 350 feet, more than 200 feet of which is without a knot or limb, and at that height from three to five feet in diameter. Of course, these are extraordinary trees; Some of them contain 25,000 feet of lumber. But if any “doubting Thomas” will come out to Puget Sound with the desire to satisfy himself upon this point, we can furnish the standing arguments needful to convince his mind that the extraordinary facts are true. I can even tell him of one fir tree sixteen feet in diameter measured with the surveyor’s chain. But lest some honest reader might be misled by the above extraordinary figures, I will say that the trees of a good timber claim will average from 180 to 300 feet in height and from three to six feet in diameter, with from one to two hundred feet of clear straight trunk, consisting of the very best spar and ship timber produced by the forests of the world.” – The pictorial cabinet of marvels, By Pictorial cabinet, Harrison Weir, 1878, pg 387.
12 foot diameter fir 1894 near Arlington, Wa.
350 ft “There the trees, crowded close together, rise to a height of 300 feet; indeed, lumbermen report trees 350 feet high, with trunks 11 feet in diameter, free of branches for 200 feet, and with hardly any perceptible taper up to that height.” – The Humeston New Era, July 26, 1916 pg. 4
A forest of Giant Douglas fir Near Port Angeles, Wa. Late 1880’s.
350 ft “Firstly, it may be said that previous to the year 1885, the place now occupied by this city [Vancouver] was a wilderness of gigantic trees, some of them being fully twelve feet diameter a few feet above the ground, and from 300 to 350 feet in height, all of which had to be cut down and rooted out before a house could be built.” – 3800 Miles Across Canada – By John Wilton Cuninghame Haldane 1908, pg 224.
Vancouver’s West End, 1902. City of Vancouver Archives. ( Notice the super tall trees on the west bay of Stanley Park that rise above all the trees on the skyline across from Dead Man’s island to the far right. They are likely 250 to 300 feet tall). The 300 foot firs of the past have now been replaced by 300+ foot Skyscrapers. A short history of Gastown: The birth of Vancouver, Canada
Vancouver Historical Journal, J.S. Matthews 3rd edition, 1960 pg 15.
Logging giant tree vancouver 1900s – City of Vancouver Archives.
Fraser Valley Logging
350 ft “Under favourable conditions the Douglas fir averages 180 ft. in height and 3 to 4 ft. in diameter, but it sometimes reaches a height of 350 ft. and a diameter of 10 ft.” – Native Trees of Canada, By B.R. Morton. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, CANADA – FORESTRY BRANCH BULLETIN No. 61, 1921. pg 38
351 ft A Douglas fir felled in the coastal mountains near Astoria, Oregon, circa 1903. “The fir is both red and yellow. It grows five to 14 feet in diameter, and 150 to 300 feet tall (351 feet is said to have been measured on one fallen tree in the coast mountains.) …” – The Morning Astorian. Astoria, Or. January 01, 1903, Page 7. See also The Morning Astorian April 07, 1905, Page 6, & Rand-McNally guide to the Great Northwest – 1903 pg 35-36.
The Morning Astorian, Jan. 01, 1903 pg. 7.
The Morning Astorian, Jan. 01, 1903 pg. 7
352 ft Lynn Valley, N Vancouver BC, Felled in 1907, 9 ft 8 in diameter. 220 feet to lowest branch. This tree contained 16 logs of wood, 16 feet per log. Top 92 feet discarded. Height 352 feet including 4 ft stump. Details are recounted by historian Walter Mackay Draycott of Lynn Valley, BC from old lumberman William Mitchell of Lynn Valley. “Early Days in Lynn Valley” pg. 29. Also, see Forest Giants, Carder pg 1 -10.
Lynn Valley log 1907. 9 ft 8 inch diameter, part of a 352 ft tree. – North Vancouver Museum & Archives.
Lynn Valley fir log, 1907. Part of a 352 ft tree. – North Vancouver Museum & Archives.
Lynn Valley fir 1912 – North Vancouver Museum & Archives.
A fir being felled in Lynn valley 1905. North Vancouver Museum & Archives.
354 ft A Douglas fir tree 9-1/2 feet in diameter 3 feet above ground and 354 feet tall was said to have been felled in August, 1857 by the young George H. Himes, (who later became curator and assistant secretary of the Oregon Historical Society) then a boy of 13 or 14 years old, with assistance of another man. (Note: This tree was probably felled some four or five miles east of Olympia, Washington on the Tyrus Himes or David Chambers property where the young George Himes worked into his early adulthood clearing land, logging, and farming). – American Lumberman – No. 2412 August 6, 1921 pg 64.
American Lumberman – No. 2412 August 6, 1921 pg 64.
355 ft “The tallest tree on record in Canada today is a Douglas fir in Strathcona Park on Vancouver Island. It is over 108 m tall.” — Countdown Canada: A conceptual Geography study, By Alderdice, Roy, Vass, Ben, Sled, George, Published 1977 Macmillan of Canada pg 7 -10. Note: Further reference to this tree eludes me, perhaps it was forgotten, blew down, or was one of the very tall fir trees reported around Puntledge Ridge, Strathcona Park in the 1960s to 1980s. In 1987, Randy Stoltmann of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee mentioned tall Douglas fir at Puntledge River, Strathcona Park reaching heights of up to 305 feet (93 meters).
63,790 board feet cut from four logs, all Logs on railway flatbeds were cut from a single Douglas fir, 1930s. UBC BC479 – University of British Columbia Archives. [Note: I think this tree likely exceeded 300 ft, 6 visible logs- if approx. 32 – 40 ft long each, would yield approx. 200+ feet of clean stock of lumber beneath the branches.]
358 ft Cloverdale, Surrey, BC. Tallest Fir measured by a BC forester. Discovered in 1881 by William Shannon, while constructing Hall’s Prairie Rd. Measured after being Felled, 1,100 yr old. 11.5 ft diameter and 358 feet tall.(Forest Giants, Carder pg 1 -10). William Shannon – Cloverdale
William Shannon, early Forester of British Columbia.
The Green Timbers, Surrey B.C., Pacific Highway 1920s. This square mile of forest was cut in 1930 – Among the last stand of primeval 200 to 300 ft giants. Not far from here, 340 and 358 ft fir trees were felled, according to the late Dr. Al Carder.
Charles L. Bolsinger worked as a researcher with the US Forestry Service for many years, so his statements on the size of the trees, and the forest conditions of the past I believe carry much credibility. I recently found a report written by Dr. Bob Zybach on the Millicoma Tree Farm and Pillsbury Tract entitled: “Oregon Coast Range Old-Growth: The 1945-1947 Weyerhaeuser Coos Bay Study Dr. Bob Zybach” (Links to DOCX file) He highlights some of the Weyerhaeuser Forestry Department 1945-1946 Timber Cruise report findings, quote:
“A high average net volume of 73,900 board feet per acre was found for the 180-year old stands on site I in the [Millicoma] area.”
“Stands of the [Pillsbury] area are less uniform and more defective.”
“Several trees were over 300 feet tall and one 332-footer may be a record for Douglas fir.”
So it appears that the Millicoma tree farm & Pillsbury tract (which extended to the south forks of Coos and Coquille rivers) did in fact have at least a few Douglas-fir measured in the 300 to 332 foot high range, according to Timber Cruise records of Weyerhaeuser in the forties conducted by Arthur V. Smyth & others. This section of Coos County, Oregon is particularly rich in the tallest living giant Douglas fir today, in the 300 to 330 foot high range, with dozens of very tall trees discovered in the past 30 years, and new discoveries being made with assistance of LiDAR data (See DOGAMI & Ascending the Giants in OPB special on tallest trees in Oregon Nov. 2017, As well as 2011 expedition of Taylor, Vaden & Atkins in Coos County). The Brummett or Doerner fir reached 329 feet in 1988, and other trees 320 to 330 feet or more have been measured in the same creek in the 1950s. Added to this the many old newspaper stories of trees 300 to 360 feet tall in this part of Coos and Douglas counties, the old Pillsbury tract and Weyerhaeuser Millicoma Tree farm probably contained many giant trees, perhaps some of the world’s tallest before major logging began.
360+ ft A fir tree standing over 360 feet high, 15 feet in diameter, and over 100 feet to first limb near Loon Lake, Douglas County, Oregon was photographed and reported to the Coos Bay Times newspaper in 1914 by Jack McDonald, Sawmill owner, and co-founder of McDonald-Vaughan Logging Company. – The Coos Bay times. (Marshfield, Or.) June 09, 1914, EVENING EDITION, Page 1:
The Coos Bay times. (Marshfield, Or.) June 09, 1914, EVENING EDITION, Page 1
360 ft Vernonia, Oregon, Nehalem river valley. In an 1876 letter to his brother, Israel Spencer, whose homestead was on what became known as O-A Hill, wrote:
“I have got me a ranch in the above valley, the Garden of Eden and the Picture of Hell, with timber 360 feet high and no gaps. Have a house 12 by 16, two acres cleared, 12 acres chopped. The timber is vine maple, white, red and yellow fir, and alder, ash, cedar, hemlock or spruce. The alder is big trees, some of them 2½ feet through and 50 or 60 feet tall, perhaps more. The timber, without exception, is the largest I ever saw.” He went on in the letter to state that only five families were living here at present but 32 claims had been taken in. He wrote of the rich black sand and clay loam that was good for growing oats and wheat along with garden produce including potatoes and rutabagas, and he commented on the abundance of game: deer, elk, bear, beaver, and otter. The big timber was the challenge to cultivating farm crops.
“We have to burn down the trees here – some of them are six and eight feet through – then burn them in two, bore with an auger, start the fire and let them rip.”- The Good Ol’ Days: One Century Ago, February 1923 By Tobie Finzel. Vernonia’s Voice & Vernonia Eagle., January 13, 1955, pg. 1 (Note: See also, 405 ft Nehalem river tree 1886, & 350 ft Columbia County trees cruised in 1893).
360 ft “Till recently it was by no means rare to meet in the pine groves of Washington and Oregon specimens of the yellow pine 260 and even 360 feet high.” – The Earth and Its Inhabitants …: The United States – Page 419, Elisée Reclus, Ernest George Ravenstein, Augustus Henry Keane – 1893
Giant fir, Burrard Inlet
360 ft A Douglas Fir 360 feet tall was felled at Ryderwood, Washington c. 1930s, 13 ft diameter. – Lewis County Historical Museum. – Note: Also see report of 324 ft and 311 ft tall Fir trees from Ryderwood in 1937.
350 ft+ Fir trees over 350 feet high estimated along the Deming trail, Middle Fork of Nooksack river valley in 1909. “The timber began to get larger and by the time we had traversed three miles upon the trail we viewed countless numbers of gigantic fir trees growing not less than fifty feet apart and towering at least 350 feet into the air.” Deming Trail, Whatcom Co. Wa. Bellingham Herald – July 10, 1909.
Bellingham Herald, July 10, 1909.
Giant trees, Mt Baker Highway 1910’s
Mt Baker Highway 1927
375 ft Vancouver Island, BC. – Mason City Globe-Gazette, Nov. 4, 1961 pg. 20.
Star News – Jul 15, 1962 Pg 10.
375 ft Quoting Governor William A. Newell of Washington Territory who was interviewed by the Camden, N.J. Courier in June 3, 1882: “…Trees attain an almost incredible size, a full grown fir averaging four feet in diameter, running up a straight shaft, almost without a limb, to an average height of two hundred and twent-five feet. Many are of a much larger dimension, ranging from seven to fourteen feet in diameter, and reaching a height of three hundred and sevent-five feet.” – Seattle daily post-intelligencer. (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.) 1881-1888, June 28, 1882, pg. 3
300-400 ft “Sir Edward Belcher and many others describe the pine trees in the Oregon territory to be from two hundred and fifty to three hundred feet in height and from twenty to forty feet in circumference while Sir George Simpson speaks of having seen trees near the Columbia River from three to four hundred feet high. The latter must be about the largest trees in the world.”- Transactions of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, Volume 4 – 1843, pg 286.
An Overland Journey Round the World – During the Years 1841 and 1842. By Sir George Simpson, 1847 pg. 109
Logging 12 foot fir near Portland, Oregon c. 1900
1870 report of giant fir trees in Oregon. One story of a 62 ft circumference tree. – The evening telegraph. (Philadelphia [Pa.]) August 18, 1870, FIFTH EDITION, Page 7.
300-400 ft The gigantic fir trees of Washington are often between 300 and 400 feet high, a single one sometimes furnishing 100,000 feet of lumber. To eastern eyes the stumps left standing look very strange. They are from five to fifteen feet high. –Newark Daily Advocate Sep. 27, 1889.
400 ft. [Fort George /Astoria, Oregon c. 1846] “There was a monstrous fir pine that had been blown up by the roots, and it looked as if it had been down for many years. Some of the boys measured it and reported that it was twelve feet in diameter at the butt and three hundred and thirty feet in length to where it had been sawed off to make a roadway. It was eighteen inches in diameter where it had been sawed off ; so the boys concluded that it must have been about four hundred feet high.” — Burr Osborn, Survivor of Howison Expedition to Oregon, 1846 — Oregon Historical Quarterly – Page 361 by Oregon Historical Society – Oregon – 1913.
Letters by Burr Osborn – by George H. Himes, Dec. 1, 1913
Letters by Burr Osborn – by George H. Himes, Dec. 1, 1913 pg 361
Several other giant Douglas fir were mentioned in historic reports at the time, residing around Fort George, Astoria, Oregon – these being 300 and 350 feet high and 12 to 15 feet in diameter! – Scenes in the Rocky Mountains – And in Oregon, California, … – Page 216, Rufus B. Sage · 1846
Scenes in the Rocky Mountains – And in Oregon, California, … – Page 216, Rufus B. Sage · 1846
Nisqually Washington Giant fir, 10 to 12 feet diameter 1925
380 ft* Nisqually River, Wa. 1899 or 1900, measured as a fallen tree near Ashford, Wa. at 380 feet in length, with a small portion of top missing. Measured with steel tape by USFS ranger Edward Tyson Allen, one of the early technically trained foresters who was stationed in Portland, Oregon. – Forest Giants, Carder pg 2, E.T. Allen. Red Fir in the Northwest, unpublished typescript in library of Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Portland, Oregon, 1899 or 1900, p. 5. See also letter from E.T. Allen to R.H. McKee, Seattle, Apr. 3, 1924; Richard E. McArdle, Some Notes on Maximum Sizes, Ages, and Yield of Forest Trees, U.S. Department of Agriculture (hereafter USDA) Forest Service Pamphlet, Nov. 22, 1926, p. 7; and E.L. Kolbe, Big Tree Statistics for the North Pacific Region, Data Sheet, June 7, 1933, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Portland, Oregon. http://books.google.com/books?id=UFQyAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA67#v=onepage&q&f=false
Forest Service Bulletin, Volume 15, United States. Forest Service, 1931 pg 55.
“ET Allen” — Edward Tyson Allen, 1905.
Red Fir in the Northwest, ET Allen 1899 or 1900 from the Library of the PNW Range and Experiment Station, Portland, Oregon. I received this in the mail last year.
Red Fir in the Northwest. ET Allen 1899 or 1900 pg 4.
Red Fir in the Northwest, 1899 or 1900 pg 5. He describes the 380 foot tree he measured as the maximum height for red fir. (Douglas fir)
385 ft Near Elma, Washington in 1896. Quoting from the “West Coast Lumberman,” a fir tree was cut down and measured 385 feet in length. Nearby was another fallen fir, which was 6 feet diameter at the stump, and at 225 feet had broken in two. At the break it was still 3 feet diameter. [Note: this second tree also likely greatly exceeded 350 ft, if we extrapolate from log taper]. – Omaha Daily Bee, February 03, 1896, Page 5., & Tillamook Headlight. (Tillamook, Or.) January 23, 1896, Image 4.
Omaha Daily Bee, Feb. 3, 1896 pg. 5
393 ft Mineral, Washington. Blown down in 1929 or 1930, 1,020 years old. 15.4 ft. diameter at breast height, and 6 ft. in diameter at 225 ft to broken top. Height measured by USFS Chief Richard McArdle in 1924 with steel tape and Abney level at 225. 168 ft of blown top measured on the ground and recorded in 1905 by Joe Westover, land engineer from Northern Pacific Railway. The tree and blown top was measured again in 1930 by Jesse Hurd, superintendent of Pacific National Lumber Company’s operations in Mineral, and again in the 1930 -1931 by University of Washington forestry students (See Photo below). A section of this tree still resides at the Wind River Arboretum, Wa. For more details about this tree see Forest Giants, Carder 1995 pg 3, Forest Giants of the Pacific Coast, Robert Van Pelt, Global Forest Society, 2001 pgs. 16, 22, & 44, Genetics of Douglas Fir, Roy R. Silen, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Research Paper WO-35, 1978 pg 5, Isaac and Dimock 1965, and McArdle, Richard E. (1930). The Yield of Douglas Fir in the Pacific Northwest. United States Department of Agriculture. Technical Bulletin No. 201. pg 7, and plate 5. Development and dominance of Douglas-fir in North American rainforests, Stephen C. Sillett, Robert Van Pelt, et al – Forest Ecology and Management 429 (2018) 93-114, page 2.
Mineral Fir, 15.4 feet in diameter. Photo from the Corlene Iverson family Mineral, Washington.
The Mineral Fir attracted much tourism.
Mineral Big fir and local men. Photo from the Ollie Calvin family from Mineral, Washington.
Famous Tree Near Mineral – a True Giant. Women and dog photographed with large tree near Mineral, Wash. Photo courtesy of Rich and Ruthie Williams. Eatonville to Rainier: http://eatonvilletorainier.com/?p=4748
Mineral Fir Mar 27, 1927
8×10 Original 1927 LARGEST DOUGLAS FIR Giant TREE Photo 15ft Width Mineral, WA
8×10 Original 1927 LARGEST DOUGLAS FIR Giant TREE Photo 15ft Width Mineral, WA
“Fir tree 350 feet high, 14 ft in diameter” – The Lumber Manufacturer and Dealer, Volume 63, Kriechbaum Publishing Company, 1919 pg 21. Photo by Darius Kinsey, 1913. “Tree near Mineral Washington, 350 ft high, 14 feet in diameter six feet above ground.” [Note: This photo may have been taken before the top 160+ ft had blown off in the 1890’s or early 1900’s, and hence the 350 ft height estimate].
Mineral tree in 1929 or 1930, shortly before it fell in a windstorm that winter.
Fallen Mineral fir measured by University of Washington Students. Photo taken by William A. Eastman Jr. in April 1930 or 1931.
Regarding above photograph of fallen Mineral tree: “The Archie Memorial “Remember When” Photo Steve Archie, ’66, former editor of the Washington Forester enjoyed collecting and selecting old photos for the “Remember When” photo which appeared in many past issues of our newsletter. His files will permit us to continue the tradition for a while longer. This photograph taken by William A. Eastman, Jr.,’ 33 shows some members of his sophomore class at the site of the fallen Big Tree of Mineral, WA. Professor Alexander’s class at Pack Forest, having just finished constructing Biltmore-Hypsometer sticks, traveled to Mineral where they visited this giant Douglas-fir which had fallen during a 1929-1930 winter storm. The class took various measurements of the tree. It was estimated that the tree was 1,020 years old when it fell, 15.4 feet dbh and 385 feet tall. The height has been the subject of some speculation as the top had blown off many years before the tree fell and no written record of the length of the fallen top has been found. But it is believed that Leo Isaac measured the fallen top to arrive at a total height of 385 feet. This photo also appeared in the American Forests magazine of June 1981. It appears that Bill took the photo in April 1931 although 1930 is also listed as the date. Can anybody shed any light on the correct date and the length of the blown out top? ” – See Link:http://www.cfr.washington.edu/aboutTheSchool/printNewsletter/99-Summer/wafor.html
Dr. Richard Edwin McArdle, Colorado State Univ. 1936. Served as Chief of the United States Forest Service from July 1952 to March 1962.
Mineral Fir cross section housed at Wind River Arboretum, Washington State in 1947.
A Section of the Mineral Fir was still housed at Wind River Arboretum in 1992. – A Pioneer Exotic Tree Search for the Douglas-Fir … – US Forest Service 1992.
In January, 1950, another great Douglas fir, 54 feet in circumference (17 ft in diameter) was toppled, and fell on the property of Charles Lutken of Elbe, just 5 miles north of Mineral, Wa. – The Dispatch, Volume 57, Number 2, 12 January 1950 pg 1.
The Dispatch, Volume 57, Number 2, 12 January 1950 pg 1.
350-400 ft “It is, however, the fact that the trees cut in the Oregon region are generally young and of small size, while those cut in Washington, especially by the mills along the South Bend branch of the Northern Pacific Railway are giants, many of them being from 350 to 400 feet in height, and from five to fourteen feet in diameter.” –Telephony: Volume 61 – Page 183. Harry B. McMeal – 1911
The South Bend branch of the Northern Pacific Railway from South Bend, through the Willapa Hills, towns of McCormick, Pe Ell, to Chehalis, had a number of giant trees reported. (See the report of the 340 ft Pe Ell tree, 300 ft McKinley tree cut near Pe Ell etc.). One tree cut at South Bend, Washington in 1918 was reported to contain 7 logs, totaling 192 feet in length, 8 ft diameter at the top of the butt log, and still 5.5 feet diam. at the last top log, thus retaining very little taper. Total height was not given, but such a tree too must have substantially exceeded 300 feet high by my estimations, assuming considerably more than 100 feet of top wood was discarded above the 5.5 ft diameter top cut:
American Lumberman 1918-05-11. Iss 2243 pg 45
350 – 400 ft AReport from North western Washington of multiple Douglas fir trees 300 to 400 ft tall, from 9 to 14 ft diameter on the south fork of the Nooksack river, near the railroad at Licking station [Hopewell Road, Everson] in Whatcom county, south of the village of Nooksack, and located on Indian land. The tallest were judged to be from 350 to possibly 400 feet high, and over 200 feet to lowest branches, and 500,000 board feet to the acre. These trees were specially cruised by request of the World’s Fair Commission by local miner, lumberman and prospector Mr. John M. Saar (Saar creek) of Sumas, and Mr. S. H. Soule of Sumas. (Sidney Howard Soule was a Cornell graduate, journalist, real estate speculator, and surveyor for 2 years in Minnesota). – Aberdeen Herald – August 06, 1891, Pg 8., and The Seattle Post-intelligencer – Sunday, July 19th, 1891 – Page 16.
Aberdeen Herald. Aberdeen, Chehalis County, WA. August 06, 1891, Pg 8.
The Seattle post-intelligencer. July 19, 1891 pg 16
Giant fir trees – The Pacific Monthly, Volume 9, 1902. Photo by P.L. Hegg, Whatcom, Wash.
400 ft “I have not been able to obtain any reliable information concerning the maximum height of the Douglas Spruce. Lumbermen on Puget Sound habitually speak of trees from three hundred to three hundred and fifty feet tall, but their statements, unsupported by actual measurements, must be accepted cautiously. It is not impossible, however, that this tree may grow to even a greater height than three hundred and fifty feet, as large specimens in some of the sheltered valleys at the base of the Olympic Mountains of northwestern Washington tower far above the surrounding forest, which undoubtedly has an average height of nearly three hundred feet. In this region and on the western slopes of Mt. Rainier in Washington, trunks from ten to eleven feet in diameter five feet above the surface of the ground and free of branches for two hundred or two hundred and fifty feet are not rare, two or three such trees sometimes standing on an acre of ground. Individuals twelve feet in diameter may occasionally be seen, although they are very rare, and lumbermen and prospectors tell of trees with trunks sixteen feet in diameter.”- The silva of North America: a description of the trees which grow …, Volume 12 By Charles Sprague Sargent – 1898. pg. 88
Giant fir, 1899. Wa.
400 ft “Papa and my brother-in-law cut down a fir tree that was four hundred feet high and ten feet through at the base of the tree.” – Myra G. Monsey, age 12. Snohomish Co. Washington, 1898 – Farm, Field, and Fireside, 19 March 1898 pg 375. Note: 12 year old Myra G. Monsey was the daughter of Captain John Monsey, and Mabel Hutchins Monsey, pioneers of Hartford, north of Lake Stevens, Snohomish County, Washington who had moved from Ohio with their six children in 1888. Their 40 acre land claim had immense trees with dense forest surrounding it, “to see the sun one must look straight up,” and fallen 8 feet diameter logs surrounded their cabin when they arrived in 1890…”Eventually the Monsey’s achieved their dream of building a new frame house using timber from their property, milled locally. As the trees came down, Lake Stevens came into view, a daily joy.” – Mabel Monsey: Chronicles of a Farm Wife, 1891-1903 . The Snohomish County Women’s Legacy Project
Farm, Field, and Fireside, 19 March 1898 pg 375
12 ft diameter Fir, Pan Am Exposition – An Illustrated History of Skagit and Snohomish Counties… pg. 175
350-400 ft A fir tree cut at Stephen’s Camp, north of Monroe, Snohomish County, Washington in 1900 was reportedly 9 feet diameter at the butt, and still 3 feet across, 300 feet up. Such a taper suggests a tree well in excess of 300 feet, and perhaps 400 feet high with a full intact crown by my estimates. – Monroe Monitor, December 27, 1900 pg 4.
Monroe Monitor, December 27, 1900 pg 4.
400 ft “There are 23,588,512 acres of timber land in Washington. In height, fir trees average from 200 to 400, and 100 to the first limb in many instances. In Tillamook county, Oregon there are fir trees from 15 to 30 feet in diameter. Cedar trees that are from 12 to 20 feet in diameter and from 150 to 350 feet high, with the first limb 90 or 100 feet from the ground, are called “large” and “fine.” At present rates of consumption the Pacific coast could supply the world for 70 years. Washington’s supply would be exhausted by the world in half that time.” – Mining and Scientific Press, Volume 66, Feb 4, 1893 pg 69.
400 ft Trees 200 to 400 feet in length were reportedly blown down near Hood River, Oregon in 1906 on the property of Mrs. Curry – East Oregonian, April 20, 1906 pg. 7
East Oregonian, E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, April 20, 1906, DAILY EVENING EDITION, Page PAGE SEVEN, Image 7
400 ft A fir tree in Clallam County, Washington was reported to have been 400 feet tall, and 30 feet in diameter (perhaps circumference?) in 1905, and a 100 foot log was to be taken to the Portland fair. Other fir trees in Clallam, and Chehalis counties were reported in 1909 to be 43 ft in circumference, or about 14 ft in diameter, and 150 feet to first branch. – Washington Standard, Volume XLV, Number 20, 31 March 1905, & Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, April 12, 1909, Image 1.
Washington Standard, Volume XLV, Number 20, 31 March 1905
Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, April 12, 1909, Image 1
“Taft fir” Clallam Bay Wa. 14 ft Diameter 10 feet up. 1909
400 ft “…the writer knows personally of whole townships in that county [Chehalis]that will cruise from 6,000,000 to 12,000,000 feet to the quarter section. On one occasion he stood and counted within a radius of about two hundred feet no less than sixty-four trees, not one of which was less than four feet in diameter, and from two hundred to four hundred feet in height, besides as many more smaller ones that might be termed ‘merchantable timber.” -Scientific American – Page 44. July 20, 1895
400 ft “In the typical fir forests, the trees, crowded close together, become very tall, two hundred fifty to four hundred feet high, and sometimes eight to twelve feet in diameter.”The Pacific Monthly by William Bittle Wells – 1903 pg. 345
Giant fir near Bellingham, Wa. date unknown
400 ft “Pine trees growing in Island county, in Puget Sound, are often found to have attained a height of four hundred feet.” – Transactions of the Illinois State Horticultural Society, Volume 12 By Illinois State Horticultural Society pg. 239. 1879
Bismarck weekly tribune. (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) June 09, 1893, Pg 7.
Apparently it was a given fact that Washington had 400 ft Fir trees in the 1890’s. Scissors. Daily Telegraph , Issue 6074, 14 February 1891, Page 4.
Two unidentified loggers stand beside typical virgin fir log felled in Washington woods with crosscut saw in 1910-1940’s. – Lewis Co. Museum
400 ft “Its forests of fir, Pine, and Cedar extend from the Cascade Range to the Pacific Ocean… Many of these trees have an altitude of four hundred feet and a diameter of twelve feet…”
“It often grows to an altitude of four hundred feet, is very straight, and devoid of branches for from fifty to one hundred feet from the ground.”
“Many of the trees are between three and four hundred feet high, and from eight to sixteen feet in diameter.” – Puget Sound Business Directory and Guide to Washington Territory, 1872. Pg 21, 28, & 53.
400 ft “The maximum height known is nearly 400 feet; the greatest diameter of the stem is 14 feet. Can be grown very closely, when the stems will attain, according to Drs. Kellogg and Newberry, a height of over 200 feet without a branch.” – Select Extra-Tropical Plants Readily Eligable For Industrial Culture Or Naturalization, With Indications Of Their Native Countries And Some Of Their Uses. – Baron Ferd. Von Mueller, 1884 pg. 268
Giant Douglas fir Mr Ranier National Park 1896
The Philadelphia Record – Jan 11, 1891 pg 3.
400 ft “From the Cascade range to the Pacific, compromising about one-half of Washington Territory, the surface is densely covered with the finest forest growth in the world. Some of the trees, straight as an arrow, are four hundred feet in height, and fourteen feet in diameter near the ground.” – Lumber in Washington Territory, a report by Mr. Joseph Cushman, receiver of public moneys at Olympia. Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for the Year 1868 – Page 448, By United States. Dept. of Agriculture · 1869. See also, Resources of the Pacific Slope: A Statistical and Descriptive Summary… By John Ross Browne 1869, pg 574.
A 14 foot diameter fir near Lake Crescent, Wa. A Darius Kinsey photo.
400 ft “Here, too, it reaches its greatest dimensions, it being claimed that about the base of Mt. Rainier there are trees [Douglas Fir] over 400 feet in height.” The American Naturalist 1899 by American Society of Naturalists, pg. 391
“Yellow Fir 12 1/2 feet in diameter” -The Mount Rainier Forest Reserve, by Fred G Plummer, 1900 pg 131.
Logging 14 ft diameter fir tree, Wa. State. Book cover: Green Gold Harvest
Another 14 ft fir. Puget Sound Mail 4-30-1881 Page 3 Column 1
400 ft “These Ranier fir crossarms, which have become noted for their strength and extreme durability, are made from the old yellow fir trees, giants of the forest, which grow on the Cascade Mountains in Washington. Some of the trees run from 14 to 16 feet in diameter and 400 feet in height, 200 to 250 feet without a branch.” – Electrical Review, Volume 61, 1912. pg 997.
Electrical Review, Volume 61, 1912. pg 997
400 ft “In its native habitats, the Douglas fir varies considerably in dimensions. In the forests of Washington State it often reaches a height of 250 feet, with a girth of 36 feet. There, trees so high as 300 feet have been seen. These trees are therefore more than twice the height of Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square and would even over-shadow the Boston stump. Trees even much loftier than this have been seen, some of them almost reaching the height of the Spire of Salisbury Cathedral which is a little over 400 feet. Specimens have been known to be more than 750 years old.” Trees in Britain, By Lionel John Farnham Brimble, Macmillan, 1946 – pg 98.
400 ft “These forest giants are only surpassed in size by the California red-wood trees, of which we have heard so much. Some of them grow four hundred feet high and fifteen feet through, single trees yielding eighty thousand feet of sawed lumber.” – Our native land By George Titus Ferris, 1882, pg. 130.
400 ft+ “The species of fir found in the valleys of Oregon and Washington on the western side of the mountains are believed to be the largest of their kind in the world, and really rival the red-woods in girth and height.”…”The ordinary portable sawmills so Commonly used in the Southern States, Maine and Canada are not large enough to utilize in the larger growths of Oregon firs, as they are frequently found of a diameter ranging from 12 to 15 feet near the ground, and with trunks which are available for cutting into logs to an extent of 350 to 375 feet. The measurements taken of some of the largest specimens show that they actually grow to a height of over 400 feet, including the topmost branches. This is over two-thirds of the height of the famous Washington Monument.”…”The larger ones are sometimes felled in such a direction as to strike against a smaller tree of no value, which will break the force of the fall and allow the trunk to be lowered slowly to the ground. In cutting a tree 300 feet in length, calculations must be made of its great weight and its length.” – “Logging in the Northwest” – Scientific American, Dec. 29, 1900, pg 409.
400 ft+ “…In the first place the timber is so much larger that different methods must be employed in handling. I have measured fir timber that was nine feet in diameter, ten feet above the base of the tree, and have been told by reliable persons, of fir trees twelve feet in diameter and over four hundred feet in length. Bark three to six inches thick is not rare on the yellow fir. The cedar here grows to a diameter of twenty feet…” – Green Bay Press-Gazette, from Green Bay, Wisconsin · November 12, 1888 Page 2.
400 ft Fir tree 400 feet tall. – Chronicle Telegram, Feb. 14, 1921 pg. 2. and Current Opinion, Volume 70, Jan-June1921. Page 851.
300-400 ft. The Tallest Trees of Ravenna Park, Seattle Wa. were touted as standing over 300 to nearly 400 feet tall, and 30-60 feet in circumference, at the ground level. Various Newspapers, brochures, and photo captions give heights of different trees in the grove, that were from 250, 270, 300 and up to about 400 feet high when they were still standing in the 1910s where visitors would pay 25 cents to view the trees. The Roosevelt, Robert E. Lee, Paderewski, McDowell, and other trees named in the grove were reported to stand at these heights, among other trees of great size in the park before the City of Seattle acquired the property, with all the big trees eventually being logged by the 1920s. See Article by Historian Peter Blecha, Ravenna Park (Seattle) 1/23/2011. Also See Artist Holly Glaspey’s neat installation of the Ravenna Park trees.
Ravenna Park
A brochure advertising Ravenna Park gives the height of over 300 feet for the trees, with some rather fantastic age estimates of over 2,000 years!
270 ft* – The Roosevelt tree, Ravenna Park, Seattle Washington, 1908. Described as 60 feet in circumference at the base and 370 feet – The Lynden tribune. (Lynden, Wash.) November 26, 1908, pg 6 Note: Later reports have it that the tree was “over 200 feet” before it was cut down, variously described as 270 to 280 feet. This may have been due to the fact the tree was reported to have been dying, and perhaps was decaying, or lost the top section. Or perhaps different people measured it, and hence different heights were recorded.
The Roosevelt Tree, 44 ft circumference, 275 feet tall. Tree was also described as 370 feet tall!
The Lynden tribune. (Lynden, Wash.) November 26, 1908, pg 6
“Over 60 FT in Circ. At foot, and 300 Ft. in Height” – Caption.
Ravenna Park fir
400 ft 1908, “Paderewski” and “Robert E. Lee” tallest trees of Ravenna Park, Seattle, Wa. Paderweski was listed as “about 400 feet tall & 30 ft circumference” (9.5 ft diameter) while the Roosevelt and Robert E Lee were reputed to be 270 feet tall as stated on old post cards with photos by Frank H. Nowell See link: Ravenna Park (Seattle) HistoryLink.org Essay 9559
Robert E. Lee 1916 – “about 270 feet tall.”
The Paderewski, “about 400 feet tall” reads the postcard caption. By F. H. Nowell, 1909.
The Caldwell tribune. (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, July 03, 1909, Image 5. [Note, the Ravenna park fir trees had alread lost some of their tops, one limb said to be 100 feet long on the ground, and their height ranging from 250 to 400 feet.]
1910’s, Seattle WA Postcard, A group of big trees in Ravenna Park.
400+ft ‘The height of many of the trees as they grow in the woods is very great. “I have been told,” writes Mr. Sproat in his notes, “that there was a tree lying on the ground, in some part of Puget Sound, which measured over 400 feet as it lay; but I am inclined to think the feet must have been short in this case. I can speak of what I have myself seen. The highest flag-pole in Europe is the Douglas fir one in Kew Gardens, near London, which measures 165 feet. This tree was sent home by a friend of mine from the North-West coast, and presented to the Gardens.”‘ – The countries of the world, by Robert Brown, 1876 pg 263.
10 foot Fir, Kinsey Photo
400 ft Kerrisdale District, South Vancouver, BC. Felled in 1896. Julius Martin Fromme superintendent of Hastings Mill, says it was the largest Fir ever received by the Mill at almost 400 ft long. Bark up to 16″ thick. 13′ 8″ butt diameter. (Forest Giants, Carder. pg 1-10)
Julius M. Fromme 1912 – North Vancouver Museum & Archives.
Hastings Mill – North Vancouver Museum & Archives
A forest of giant fir, New Westminster BC, 1884 engraving of a drawing by the Marquis of Lorne.
400 ft George Hills, first Bishop of Columbia Mission, recounted the gigantic fir trees around New Westminster, British Columbia in March of 1860 that were 180 to 300 feet tall, and as great as 13 ft in diameter, and he “heard of others 400 feet” tall. – “Visit to the Main Land – New Westminster.” – Victoria, March 9th, 1860. – An Occasional Paper on the Columbia Mission, with Letters From the Bishop. June 1860 to Nov. 1861. pg 11.
Columbia Mission. Occasional Paper. June 1860, Nov. 1861. pg. 11
400 ft Allegedly logged by MacMillan Export Company, Copper Canyon, Vancouver Island, BC. date unknown: “Incidentally, I believe there were other fir trees in B.C. that reached heights in excess of 400 feet. It is a matter of record that one was taken out of Copper Canyon by MacMillan Export Co. in fairly recent years.” – Ernie Dalskog, Fanny Bay, B.C. – Support for Dr. Carder from Ernie Dalskog, Fanny Bay, B.C, Raincoast Chronicles Six/Ten, No. 8, 1983:166 [Note, as of Nov. 2022, I have not been able to confirm this story, but did recently hear an account in a Logging group on Social media, from one gentleman who said his father some years back had felled 2 Douglas fir trees in the Copper Canyon area, one was 13 ft diameter and 320 ft tall, 50,000 Board feet, the other 11 ft diameter and 310 ft tall, 46,000 feet. They were said to be over 1,000 years old.]
400 ft – In 1948 a fir tree in West Vancouver, B.C. across Burrard Inlet reportedly measured 14 feet in diameter and 180 feet tall to a broken top, said to be the largest fir in the Northwest. It was estimated that at its full height it would have been about 400 feet high. – The Timberman, Volume 50, Part 2 M. Freeman Publications, 1948 – Pg 224.
The Timberman, Volume 50, Part 2 M. Freeman Publications, 1948 Pg 224.
400 ft 1893, a “Red fir” in Chehalis County, Wa. 400 feet high, and nearly 54 feet in circumference 6 feet from the ground. – Gettysburg Compiler, Mar. 4,1893. pg. 4.
14 ft diameter fir, Washington
400+ ft From “Chehalis county,” [sic] the ‘Lumberman’ was appraised of a fir “53 feet 8 inches in circumference 6 feet from the ground, and over 400 feet high, “. . .and this is doubtless the largest fir in the State.” – More deadly than war!: Pacific Coast logging, 1827-1981, Andrew Mason Prouty – 1985 pg 66. – “If there is any larger tree in the state than the one we have in Chehalis County, a tree that can be vouched for and pointed out, let us hear of its location. Our giant is vouched for by H.F. Coles of this county, who knows exactly where the tree can be found on the southwest quarter of section 10, township 16 north, range 8 west. The tree is a red fir and is 53 feet and 8 inches in circumference at a distance of six feet from the ground and has not a churn butt. Both Mr. Coles and the witness who was with him agree in believing that the tree is over 400 feet high — Oakville Globe.” – Montesano Vidette – Friday, Feb. 10, 1893 & Scientific American, Volume 67 pg. 421, Dec. 31, 1892.
The Yakima herald. (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) March 23, 1893, pg 1
Aberdeen herald. (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) October 20, 1892, Pg 3
The Worthington advance. (Worthington, Minn.) November 11, 1886, pg 1.
Douglas Fir Commercially “Oregon Pine.” Height, 400 feet ; diameter, 9 to 10 feet – The World’s Work – Volume 10, 1905
400+ft 1909, a Giant fir tree over 400 feet tall East of Seattle, Wa. Located on western slope of Cascade Mountains, 17.8 ft diam, 18 inches above ground. – The Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, Nov. 29, 1909 pg. 10. & “Coast and Mountain News.” Western Lumberman, Jan. 1910. pg. 16.
The Randall County news. (Canyon City, Tex.) December 10, 1909, Pg 7
400 ft 16 miles from Tacoma, near Camp Lewis, Wa. According to George Crowl, who was stationed there with the Two Hundred Thirteenth field signal corps, “The camp which quartered 60,000 men, was situated in the heart of the tall fir timberland, beside American Lake. Mount Ranier, although 80 miles away, loomed up as if it were but a short distance from camp”…. “Some of the trees were 400 feet high.” – Waterloo Evening Courier, 1928-08-10 pg. 1.
400 ft In 1918 a “Spruce” tree 20 feet in diameter and near 400 feet tall was reported near Lake Pleasant Sawmill in Washington. – Monthly Bulletin, Volumes 1-2 By Loyal Legion of Loggers and Lumbermen, 1918 Pg 17.
Monthly Bulletin, Volumes 1-2 By Loyal Legion of Loggers and Lumbermen, 1918 Pg 17.
Spruce Tree, 60 Feet in Circumference, Near Lake Pleasant, Wash. 1918
400 ft In 1890, Cyrus A. Mosier a field agent for the Dept. of the Interior, was quoted in several newspapers as finding groves of fir trees near Mt. Tacoma (Mt. Rainier) in Pierce County, Washington that were similar to the giant redwoods, and up to 400 feet high and 13 feet in diameter. “Special Agent Mosier writes to the general land office from Tacoma, Wash., that a grove of giant redwood trees, like those in the Yosemite National Park, Cal had been discovered in Pierce county, Wash. The secretary of the interior has ordered on investigation of the subject through the agricultural division of the census bureau, and congress may be asked to set aside the land on which the trees are standing as a national park. Mr. Mosier says that the people of Tacoma will probably have a flag pole made of one of the tallest trees to be sent to the world’s fair. Some of the trees are 400 feet high and 13 feet in diameter.” – The Princeton Union – Nov. 27, 1890 pg 6
Evening Capital Journal. Salem, Ore. Nov. 21, 1890 Pg 3. More on Cyrus Mosier.
400 ft An unconfirmed report of a 400 feet high fir tree in Oregon only 3 feet in diameter [36 inches] was under investigation by the World’s Fair commission in 1903 – The Hood River glacier., August 20, 1903, Page 5. (See Below):
400 ft Yoncalla, Douglas County, Oregon c. 1850s-60. Elisha Lindsay Applegate, one of the pioneers of the Oregon trail, mill operator, and Surveyor General for the State of Oregon (1865 to 1871) was interviewed in 1895, and said to have known of a fir tree near the Yoncalla mill, presumably in about the 1850s-1860, which was cut down that was four hundred feet high and he counted 480 rings on the tree. Another fir tree he said, was trimmed into a flagpole 208 feet long, and hung a flag that was 50 x 20 feet, at the town of Waldo, Oregon about the same time period.
“In relation to the height of trees I will say that length of stick is needed in order to yield the quantity sometimes recorded. One Yoncalla mill fir tree was four hundred feet high, and we counted four hundred and eighty rings!” – Interviews with Elisha L. Applegate, Pacific Trail Camp-Fires…by Reese P. Kendall, M.D. 1901, CHAPTER XI pg 286.
405 ft A tree felled in February, 1886 in upper Nehalem, Oregon on the property of Mr. Wick, measured 405 feet long from the butt to the uppermost bough, and retained a diameter of 14 feet at 100 feet above ground. – Upper Nehalem Notes. – The Daily Morning Astorian, Feburary 7th, 1886 pg. 3.
The daily morning Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1883-1899, February 07, 1886, Image 3
The daily morning Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1883-1899, February 21, 1886, Image 3
407 ft A “Cedar” tree cut near Ocosta, Washington was reportedly 407 feet tall, 70 feet in circumference (23 ft diameter), 150 feet to first limb, and contained 159,875 feet of lumber. A section of the tree was exhibited at the Tacoma Fair in 1894. – The Mason County Journal, (Shelton, W.T.) Sept. 14, 1894 pg 3. Also see, Ocosta-by-the-Sea: A Boomtown in Three Narratives, Katherine L. Arntzen, University of Denver, 8-01-2009.
The Wood-Worker, Volume 13, Nov. 1894 pg. 27
Giant Cedar 286 feet high 14 ft 8 in diameter, 1000 years old, Washington State. 1906
412 ft Felled near Tacoma, Wa. and measured 412 feet in length. “A 1970 article in the MacMillan Bloedel News reported a Douglas-fir felled near Tacoma in early-day logging that measured 412 feet long, plus a stump 5 feet tall, for a total height of 417 feet.” – Douglas Fir The Story of the West’s Most Remarkable Tree, by Stephen Arno and Carl Fiedler, “Which Is the Biggest of Them All?” MacMillan Bloedel News, Vancouver, B.C., Nov. 1970, pg. 6. Also see, Forest Giants, Carder pg 1 -10.
415 ft Lynn Valley, N. Vancouver B.C. Felled in 1902 by the “Tremblay Brothers” at Argyle Rd off Mountain Highway (Centre Rd) on the property of Alfred John Nye who measured the felled fir tree at 410 feet long, and 5 feet tall at the stump where the diameter was 14 feet 3 inches, and bark 13.5 in thick. The height of this growing tree was 415 ft. Details are recounted in a 1912 hand written note between historian Walter Mackay Draycott, and Mr. Alfred John Nye, both of who lived in Lynn valley, B.C. (See Walter Draycott fonds) Also, Dr. Al C. Carder remembers seeing a photograph of this same tree when he was a boy of 10 years old, his father and he were visiting the old Vancouver Museum at Main and Hastings St. in 1920. The caption on the photo read “410 feet.” – Walter M. Draycott, “Early Days in Lynn Valley”, 1978 pg. 29. & A.C. Carder, “Forest Giants of the World, Past and Present,” 1995. pg. 8. See PDF link, “British Columbia Forest History Newsletter, January 1996”: http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/Library/Forest_History_Newsletter/45.pdf Also see PDF article, “A Fir Tree of the Mind,” and Dr. Carder’s compelling rebuttal to the article: www.spirasolaris.ca/DouglasFir.pdf
Early Days in Lynn Valley. Written by Walter Draycott in the 1970’s. Draycott was one of the early settlers to Lynn Valley in 1911. It was he who collected all the old reports and measurements of the Giant trees in that district. I purchased this book in 2009, it was over $ 100! Old rare books are expensive.
Alfred John Nye and a large Douglas fir
Alfred and Olive Nye, wedding 1911.
“Shake Town.” Lynn Valley in 1871
Alfred John Nye, first settler of Lynn Valley. On his property in 1902, a 415 feet tall Douglas fir was felled. – North Vancouver Museum & Archives.
Alfred John Nye was granted 160 acres in Lynn Valley, North Vancouver in 1901, as part of the war land grant for serving in the Boer War when he was in his early twenties. Image From “Early Days in Lynn Valley” pg 5.
Walter Draycott
The Young Walter Draycott 1901 – North Vancouver Museum & Archives.
Lynn Valley Road, 1909. North Vancouver Museum & Archives.
Lynn Valley Road, 1909 – North Vancouver Museum & Archives.
Page 29, of “Early Days in Lynn Valley” mentions the 415 foot and 352 foot tall Douglas fir in Lynn Valley in the early 1900’s.
A 1910’s postcard showing a 13 feet thick Douglas fir from Lynn Valley. Such trees grew in the valley, although most were from 4 to 6 feet diameter and 150 -250 feet high, according to Walter M. Draycott in his book. This tree was felled in 1909 and ring counts showed it to be 1280 years old! See Carder, Forest Giants pg 1 – 20. – North Vancouver Museum & Archives.
A 12 foot diameter log on Wellington Drive, Lynn Valley, 1911. – North Vancouver Museum & Archives.
A History of the City and District of North Vancouver – 1943, pg. 80
Garden and Forest, Volume 10 edited by Charles Sprague Sargent, Garden and Forest Publishing Company, 1897 pg. 292.
The Vancouver Independent, Volume 7, Number 6, 29 September 1881
430 ft A fir tree said to be growing near Portland’s Lewis and Clark Exposition Grounds was reportedly 430 feet tall in 1903. [Note: This needs further investigation]. – The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972, August 15, 1903, Page 2.
465 ft 1896, A fir-tree cut down at Loop’s Ranch Forks, Whatcom county, Washington, on the property of Alfred Bruce Loop at the North Fork of the Nooksack River was reportedly 465 feet high, 220 feet to the first limb, and 33 ft 11 inches in circumference at the base and scaled 96,345 feet of lumber. Ring count showed this tree to be 480 years old. A cross section of the tree was displayed on the corner of Railroad Avenue and Holly Street, New Whatcom, (Bellingham) from 1896 to 1897 with a placard listing the above dimensions. – Mining and Scientific Press, Mar 7, 1896 pg 185. , The New York Times, Topics of the Times, March 7, 1897, The Overland Monthly, 1900, pg. 329, The Columbia River Empire by Patrick Donan, Oregon-Washington Railroad and Navigation Company, 1899, pg. 68, & Meehans’ Monthly: A Magazine of Horticulture, Botany and Kindred Subjects Published by Thomas Meehan & Sons, 1897. [Note: I unearthed this report of the Whatcom fir in Feb of 2009 while perusing old book and newspaper archives online, and Ron Judd consulted me on this report in July of 2011, and published his story in the Seattle Times in September 2011 after he had contacted the current property owner of the old Loop homestead, and retrieved a photograph of the tree from the Whatcom County museum. Read full news story here: http://seattletimes.com/html/restlessnative/2016112972_restless05m.html]
Alfred Bruce Loop, 1841 – 1913 Early pioneer of Whatcom, County, Washington. Established Loop’s Ranch (Loop’s Inn) in 1888 – 1889 near present day Maple Falls, WA.
Alfred Bruce Loop proved up on his land claim, and was granted his 150 acre Homestead in Whatcom County, Washington on March 21st, 1896 – about the same time the Mining and Scientific Press first carried the news report of his giant fir tree, which had just been put on display at New Whatcom (Bellingham) and was subsequently carried by different news papers for the full year of 1897.
Mining and Scientific Press, Mar 7, 1896 pg 185. The first report of the “Nooksack giant” was sent by Henry W. Brown to this paper in Feb. 24 of 1896. Later papers, and bulletins carried the story of the giant fir for a few more years.
*AGENDA, per Oct. 23, 2013: I have recently been in communication with well known Seattle Arborist, plant expert, and author Mr. Arthur Lee Jacobson, and he forwarded this Seattle Times news story to the eminent author, and tree expert Dr. Al C. Carder (The primary author of giant trees who I credit at the beginning of this page). After reading the story of the Nooksack giant, Dr. Carder did not find it credible, and Arthur Lee Jacobson also found the height, “465 feet” unreasonable, as such a tall tree would stand out like a target, subjected to wind and lightning, but also the noticeable lack of other trees in this size range. I take these two gentlemen’s assessments seriously, as they are experts in plant biology, and have studied trees for decades. I suggest the reader of this blog take this reported tree’s height, and many other historic reported heights on this blog with a level of caution and healthy skepticism. Those trees whose height has been studied and researched by Dr. Carder, and are referenced in his book are in my opinion, of the highest credibility. Also, living trees (Douglas-fir, and Redwood) listed here which have been measured by laser range finder, LiDAR survey, or climbed and measured via tape, are of the very highest level of credibility.
That being said, I do find the provenance of the Nooksack tree significant, as I was able to contact the current property owner of the old Alfred Loop homestead who knew about the story of the tree, and even approximately where the stump once was, and through Ron Judd of the Seattle Times, I was able to acquire a photograph of the actual tree itself from 1897 with very detailed measurements described on the placard. So I have little doubt a great Douglas-fir was felled at the Loop ranch, but the exact, and authentic size of the tree still needs further confirmation. Keeping a skeptical but open mind, I will say the reported board foot volume of 96,345 feet is significant in my opinion, especially considering the relatively slender girth of the tree — about 34 feet, or almost 11 feet diameter. Similar 11 ft diameter Douglas fir trees in the 300 to 350 foot tall range have reportedly scaled 40,000 – 60,000 merchantable board feet–the yield of lumber beneath the first branches- yet this is only half as much as the Nooksack giant. Assuming for the sake of argument, the Nooksack tree’s board footage was a genuine number, by my estimates of extrapolating market board footage from the volume of a cone, as well as estimating prime lumber using the Doyle and Scribner scale from the 220 feet of the tree’s trunk (high grade market board feet) I have concluded the tree had to have been somewhere around 350 to 400+ feet at the minimum to account for such a massive volume of timber. To read more on my estimates of volume for this tree see link: https://rephaim23.wordpress.com/2013/10/28/nooksack-giant-my-extrapolation-of-height-volume/
Additionally, the 2008 study by Domec et al, on vertical trends in pit aperture conductance for Douglas fir suggested a theoretical maximum height of 131 – 145 meters (430 – 476 ft) with 95% confidence interval — For what it’s worth. In Dr Carder’s book Forest Giants, he gives credence to some reports of fallen Eucalyptus Regnans which were measured at over 400 to 435 feet in length. I don’t know if any height studies have been done on the theoretical limits of Eucalyptus Regnans, but with the study by Domec et al, and the fact that the Nooksack tree was apparently measured on the ground, and bucked into log lengths– it is my opinion that the tree is potentially as credible as any of the extreme claims of Eucalyptus Regnans in the 400 to 500 feet range, and was in fact only 12% taller than the Lynn Valley tree, which Dr. Carder accepted as genuine. Perhaps in time, more solid documentary evidence can be located which will ultimately refute or substantiate the purported height.
*Update: Jan. 1, 2018: After reviewing the known facts about this reported tree after nearly 9 years, and calculating the required volume and height needed for the board feet (the fact that it had twice the normal market volume of wood as 300-350 ft fir trees often yielded), and finding other reports of 350 to 400 foot trees in the greater Nooksack river valley from the 1890’s – I am now satisfied that a particularly gigantic Douglas-fir was felled at the Loop ranch in 1896, probably approximating the very dimensions recorded on the placard, (that the dimensions were written down at or shortly after the time of cutting, not allowing for years or decades of mythos to enlarge its size) and likely did really reach or exceed 400 feet, because so many over 300 foot tall trees were routinely cut down in the Cascade foot hills in the 19th century without a mention, I believe it would have taken a very large, or unusually tall tree to have made the national press for over a full year after it was logged. And it does fall within some upper ranges of biological feasibility.
430 -476 ft: A study published in 2008 proposed that Douglas fir may have a theoretical height limit of between 131 and 145 meters (430 to 476 feet). See Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7556065.stm “Vertical trends of different morphological traits have been used to estimate the maximumheight to which trees can grow (1, 10). These extrapolations provide estimates that can be compared to observations to infer whether the trends within the data range persist beyond it. Using this approach, we made extrapolations of regressions fitted to the relationships between pit aperture conductance and height to predict the height at which pit aperture conductance would approach zero. This height was 138 m (131 – 145m; 95% confidence interval) and 109 m (99 – 123 m; 95% confidence interval) in branches and trunks, respectively (Fig. 3B). This calculated range of maximumheight for Douglas–fir, predicted on the basis of vertical trends in pit aperture conductance, is consistent with the historic record height range of 100 – 127 m (16, 17).” Maximum height in a conifer is associated with conflicting requirements for xylem design. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008:
Another Whatcom tree. Three men lean against the end of a fir log, vicinity of Sehome Dock [Bellingham, WA]. Precise year unknown – early 20th century. (P.R. Jeffcott Collection #335. Center for Pacific NW Studies, WWU)
480 ft *[Unconfirmed story] A Douglas-fir felled at the south side of the Black Hills, near Bordeaux, Wa c. 1930. It was situated in a south facing valley with high ridges on either side. This tree was measured on the ground with steel tape by loggers at 480 feet in length, and 12 ft in diameter at the butt. – [Story unconfirmed 2nd hand account as of 2012] Personal online communication I had in tree forum with user “issafish”:
My father told me that when he was working for a logging company in the 1930’s they cut down a Douglas Fir on the south side of the Black Hills in Washington State that when they got it on the ground it measured 480 feet. Of course I only have my father’s word so no proven facts. A book on Northwest logging, I forgot the title but remembered this fact, talked about a Douglas Fir of that height being cut down south of Tacoma Washington. unfortunately, almost all the old growth lowland Douglas firs have been logged, so we will never know if they truely got that big.I have included a wikipedia link that states that a study says that Douglas fir has the potential to get 476 feet tall, so there probably were some that big or bigger before they were logged.”
Tallest Historically Reported Coast Redwood Trees: (This list is in its infancy and needs more work. I tend to think many more reports of 370 – 400+ Coast Redwood trees exist, and are yet to be located, as Coast Redwood is clearly the superior tree of height and volume- far surpassing any present or historic Douglas fir in girth and volume- and undeniably the tallest tree species on the earth at present.)
350 Ft. Report from 1901, of a Redwood in Big Basin, Santa Cruz mountains 350 feet tall and 35 feet in diameter. – An Enormous Red-Wood. Pac. Coast Wood & Iron [Pioneer Western Lumberman]. 35:10. Jan. 1901., California coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens (D. Don) Endl.) An annotated bibliography to and including 1955. pg 58.
Redwood in Big Basin, “400 Feet High”, 60 feet circumference. – San Jose Mercury-news, Volume LVIII, Number 148, 25 November 1900
360 Ft. From a 1912 film entitled “Cutting California Redwoods” the scene of operations being in the woods of the Hammond Lumber Co. The pictures are most excellent being taken several weeks ago by the Essanay Co of Chicago and afford a most unique method of advertising the redwoods. One particularly large and well situated tree 360 feet in height and 14 feet in diameter was felled the picture portraying each step of the work of cutting cross cut sawing as well as the tree falling. – The Timberman, Volume 14, Decemeber, 1912 pg. 61.
360 Ft. Sonoma county, April 12, 1875. A first person account of a tree cut down by Mr. Albert T. Lillie from Korbel’s mills, tree was 16 ft 8 in. by 14 ft 7 in. diameter on the stump, 10 feet from the ground. This tree was 6 feet in diameter 200 feet from the stump, and 360 feet in total height. Sonoma Democrat, Volume XVIII, Number 27, 24 April 1875
Los Angeles Herald, Volume 4, Number 31, 1 May 1875.
Another big Sonoma Redwood over 350 feet. – The Weekly Calistogian, Volume V, Number 7, 1 February 1882
Sonoma Democrat, Volume XX, Number 25, 14 April 1877
360 Ft. Charles Kellogg in 1917 carved out a 22 ft motor home log house out of a fallen Redwood tree in the Eel river forest, at Bull Creek, 360 foot long, and 11 ft diameter. – New-York tribune, December 09, 1917, Pg 8, & Automobile Topics, Volume 48, Dec. 01, 1917 pg 370.
360 Ft. In 1912 a giant Redwood at Bull Creek, estimated at 360 feet tall, 160 ft to first limb, and 26 feet diameter 8 feet up, scaled 384,000 board feet by Donald MacDonald, General manager of Pacific Lumber Co. – American Lumberman – Part 2 – Page 37, 1912
Another report from 1853 along the Coast of California, Quoting the Yreka Herald, a forest called the Redwoods, on Trinidad Bay, some 20 or 30 miles from the mouth of Klamath river on the northern Sea coast of California. The Largest tree on Eel Creek, measured 120 feet in circumference 2 feet from the base, a second tree on Trinidad Trail, between Elk and Redwood camps, had fallen and measured 94 feet circumference one yard from its base, while another was 291 feet in length, prostrate, a portion of the top of it being broken off. The Weekly Placer herald. (Auburn, Placer Co. [Calif.]) July 16, 1853, pg. 3
A redwood tree was felled at Little Lake, [Mendocino County], recently that measured 100 feet in circumference. – Press Democrat, Volume V, Number 138, 17 July 1878
367 ft 8 in. Fife Creek, Sonoma Co., c. 1873, 45 ft circ. “…but it is not generally known that the tallest standing tree yet discovered in America was the product of Sonoma County. This tree grew upon the west bank of Fife Creek, just opposite the town of Guernerville, and was known to all the early settlers on Russian River as “The Monarch of the Forest.” It was one of the finest specimens of redwood that has ever been seen by man. It measured 45 feet in circumference at the base and was 367 feet and 8 inches tall. This tree was felled about twenty-five years ago by Heald & Guerne and converted into lumber.” – The Sequoia of Sonoma. By T.J. Butts, Esq., of Santa Rosa., 1898 Special thanks to Cathedral Grove for original research of this tree, and photo archives of Big trees.
368 Ft. or 380 Ft. Scotia, Eel River. June 25, 1897, the Visiting Knights Templars of Eureka picnicked at Scotia, and visited the Pacific Lumber Company’s plant, and Scotia mill. After a luncheon, the party beheld the felling of a giant redwood, which had measured 15 feet in diameter and 368 feet in height. – San Francisco Call, Volume 82, Number 26, 26 June 1897. Another report has the tree 380 feet high, and 14 feet in diameter – The Humboldt Times, Volume XLVIII, Number 152, 26 June 1897.
372 or 377 Ft. Dyerville Giant, Humboldt Redwoods State Park. It was 113.4 metres (372 ft) high when it fell in March 1991. It was estimated to be 1,600 years old, and measured 17 feet diameter at chest height. Dr. Al Carder gives an even slightly taller figure of 377 feet for the tree after it fell, and was measured from its original base. See Forest Giants, A.C. Carder 1995, Page 34.
375 Ft. A report of a fallen Redwood in Bull Creek in 1921, which was stepped off at 375 feet in length by a Mr. Howland. Other trees in the Bull Creek forest were said to be 350 or more feet tall and 15-20 ft in diameter. Some of the ages ascribed to the trees, 7000 years for instance, were probably erroneous estimations, but the 375 foot long tree is an intriguing anecdote. – Abilene weekly reflector. [volume], August 04, 1921, Page 4, Image 4
375 Ft. “The Sawyers are expert at felling the trees. They can fell the trees so the top of the tree will come within 4 feet of where you will drive a stake. The trees of 14 feet in diameter grow to the height of 300 or 325 feet high, those of 18 feet in diameter 350 to 375 feet high. The trees grow very straight and it will be 150 to 200 feet to the first branch. The trees of these dimensions cut from 135,000 to 180,000 feet, board measure.” – W.C. Chapman, Cutting Down the Big Trees. Railway and Locomotive Engineering: A Practical Journal of …, Volume 17, 1904, pg 82.
375 Ft. Sonoma County, California. Cut down (c. 1870) by Murphy Brothers Saw Mill, 375 feet in length and 10 feet in diameter, clear of bark. Tree made 37,000 feet of dressed lumber and 16,000 feet of rough lumber which sold for $1,080. – Sonoma Democrat, referenced in: Scientific American Supplement, No. 88. September 8, 1877 pg 1403. & Sonoma Democrat, Volume XX, Number 37, 7 July 1877
380.8 ft – Hyperion Tree, Redwood National Park, 380.81 feet tall above average ground level, and 388 feet tall to the lowest end of the stem in 2019 climb and tape drop. Discovered in August 25, 2006 by naturalists Chris Atkins, and Michael Taylor, and measured 379.65 ft in 2006 climb by Dr Stephen C. Sillett. Tallest officially confirmed living tree in the world for the past 17 years. Comparative development of the four tallest conifer species, Forest Ecology and Management Volume 480, 15 January 2021, 118688
Hyperion Tree. About 380 feet high.
Tallest current Redwood trees as of 2013:
379.65 115.72 15.2 4.63 Hyperion, Redwood, Tributary of Redwood National Park, LIDAR search confirms this to be the tallest redwood.
376.54 114.77 16.0 4.88 Helios, Redwood, Redwood Creek Tributary, Former title holder for tallest from 7/1/2006 - 8/25/2006.
372.73 113.61 17.0 5.18 Stratosphere, Humboldt, Rockefeller Forest. Former title holder for tallest, 2000-2006.
371.19 113.14 12.4 3.78 Icarus, Redwood, Redwood Creek Tributary, Discovered July 1st, 2006. Dead spire top. Once taller.
371.00 113.08 14.4 4.39 Nugget, Redwood. Grows on a bench along Redwood Creek. Vigorous Top.
370.34 112.88 12.8 3.90 Paradox, South Fork Eel River. Former title holder for tallest, 1995-1996.
370.04 112.79 14.9 4.54 Lauralyn, Humboldt, South Fork Eel River. Big Leaner. Discovered by Paul Zinke & Al Stangenburger.
370.01 112.78 13.7 4.18 Orion, Redwood, RNP. Found by Sillett-Atkins-Taylor. Grows on a high perched bench with spring.
From Michael Taylor's webpage:http://www.landmarktrees.net/redwoods.html
380 ft – A tree felled by B.F. Porter on his timber tract in Eureka, California in 1914, was reportedly 380 feet tall, and 26 feet in diameter 7 feet above ground. – American Forestry, Volume 21, American Forestry Association, 1915 pg 150, & Carder, A (1995). Forest giants of the world: past and present. Ontario: Fitzhenry and Whiteside.
American Forestry, Volume 21, American Forestry Association, 1915 – Pg 150.
375+Ft Alexander Duncan of Duncan’s mill, on Russian river c. 1881, cut down a Redwood tree that was 11-1/2 feet by 14 feet diameter on the stump, which was 3 feet above ground. This tree took $40 to prepare its “deathbed” ; a soft bed was graded for its fall, so that the wood was not shattered. The tree yielded 18 logs, each 16 feet long, with the top log being 4 feet diameter at the small end. The tree made 80,000 feet of marketable lumber. [Note: 288 feet of logs, plus 3 ft stump, plus discarded top, likely indicates a tree in the 350+ to 400 feet tall class, with a full intact crown. 4 feet diameter 291 feet above ground, I believe we can conservatively add 75 to 100 feet of discarded top]. – Scribner’s Monthly, Volume 22, No. 6 pg. 840, & Building Age – Volume 11, 1889 – Page 73.
Building Age – Volume 11, 1889 – Page 73
388+ Ft Murphy Bros. Mill, Sonoma Co. 1875, “The Largest trees are fifty feet in circumference, growing to a great height with scarcely a perceptable diminution in size, often two hundred and fifty feet without branches, attain a total height of from three hundred and fifty to four hundred feet”… “Murphy Bros., with a capacity of twenty five thousand a day. A writer in the Country Gentleman [Col. J. B. Armstrong of Armstrong’s mill] who visited this mill writes as follows of the timber which had to be carefully felled to miss the buildings: There were thirteen logs in a tree each sixteen feet long. Another tree measured two hundred and eighty eight feet from the stump to the end of the last saw log. It had cut fifty three thousand feet of boards; the top was left at four feet diameter and near one hundred feet in length…” – Journal: Appendix. Reports, Volume 1, 1875 – Transactions of the State Agricultural Society – Redwoods of Sonoma County, pg. 401-403., & Russian River Redwoods – Russian River Flag, Volume VI, Number 46, 24 September 1874
380 – 390 Ft A new approximate height range I believe represents recent Redwood discoveries which have been kept secret since 2013. It has been revealed by M.D. Vaden on his excellent website that since 2013 new record height trees have in fact been discovered, one or more even exceeding the 380 foot Hyperion, and by 2014 Redwood National Park no longer held claim to the three tallest trees. The specific locations and definite knowledge has been kept confidential among the top 20 professional tree researchers and discoverers. “Presently, Sequoia sempervirens is now approaching 390 feet” – Hyperion Coast Redwood.
385 ft –“I spent some time in the Big Lagoon area doing both forestry work and a short stretch of logging. Some of the old guys there told of many very tall and large Redwoods. A fair amount needed halved or quartered, before being loaded on a railcar. As far as height goes, there was talk about lots of 400′ plus timber brought out of the Redwood Creek watershed. I saw Redwoods felled that ran 340 feet, the Master’s record was 385 feet, my personal best was a paltry 290′. I saw some spectacular Douglas Fir in the Klamath Mnts. and there are prime examples of Sitkas in Northern Humboldt and Del Norte Counties. The biggest and best timber is in Del Norte.” – Jul 23, 2012, Biggest & Tallest Doug fir and Sitka Spruce & redwoods https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/biggest-tallest-doug-fir-and-sitka-spruce-redwoods.204269/
380 – 390 Ft Humboldt County, California, 1927. According to Mr. Ralph Townsend, of the Save-the-Redwoods League, “Mr. Townsend was unable to say just how- high the tallest redwood was, as the dense-ness of growth around the taller trees precluded accurate measurement; but there were a few trees in Humboldt county approximating 380 to 390 feet, and in his opinion the maximum height of redwoods anywhere did not much exceed this figure, if at all.” – The Australian Forestry Journal – Volume 10 – Page 12, 1927.
~ 400 Ft A tree in Humboldt County, (more info, date, and location needed) growing on the backbone of a ridge, 22 feet in diameter five feet up, fully 200 feet to first limb, estimated to contain 256,600 board feet and in height, probably, would “fall little short of four hundred feet.” The tree was also seen by a Mr. L. K. Wood, Jr. – The Quest for Qual-a-wa-loo, Humboldt Bay – Oscar Lewis 1966
The Quest for Qual-a-wa-loo, Humboldt Bay – Oscar Lewis 1966
400 Ft Humboldt Co. 1908, report of Redwoods 26 ft diameter which tower 400 feet.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, June 28, 1908, Page 9, Image 9
390 Ft– Tulare, California, 1891. Gigantic redwood 390 feet tall 26 feet diameter to be cut for Chicago Exhibition Fair. – The Railway News …, Volume 56, 1892. pg 200
The Railway News …, Volume 56, 1892. pg 200.
320-390 ft* – Lindsey Creek tree, near Fieldbrook, CA. Felled by a storm in 1905, and allegedly measured over 390 feet in length, and 30 ft diameter at the base. The tree was said to have still retained a 9.5 feet diameter 260 feet from the base, and over 390 feet long according to a 1971 interview with retired logger Skip Johnson. Based on these dimensions, some upper estimates suggested it may once have been the largest tree ever, perhaps 90,000 cubic feet! Update 3/6/2024: A new 2024 analysis and deep historical investigation by Ross Wylde, convincingly suggests that the Lindsay Creek tree was actually 320 to 325 feet in length, and 19 feet in diameter, being 14 ft diameter 130 feet up, and 9 feet diameter 200 feet up – as reported in 1905 Newspaper articles which mentioned that the tree was measured by lumberman H A Poland. I will update this entry, as new data and photos emerge, along with my own continued investigation of this historical superlative. Lindsey Creek tree & Crannell Creek Giant | Lindsey Creek Giant Redwood
390 ft + A Redwood tree rumored to have been cut at the confluence of Redwood Creek, and Bond Creek, logged in July, 1965 by Arcata Lumber company. According to Martin Litton, of the Sierra Club, “They cut down these trees [at Redwood Creek], and one of those trees was 390 feet long, and that doesn’t count the stump. Now, that made it twenty-five feet taller than the tallest tree, and nobody knows really today how many other trees there may be standing that are taller than that. There is not likely to be anything much taller because the 390-foot tree was growing on a small flat in a stream bottom, which is the kind of area which produced the tallest trees.” – Sierra Club leaders : oral history transcript / 1980-1982, pg 136.
“At the confluence of Bond Creek, an 80 acre “salvage” operation is rumored to have brought down a 390-foot giant, taller than any known living tree.” – Sierra Club Bulletin, 1965. Page xxii
“Joe Munroe photo shows cutting done in July ’65 near confluence of Redwood and Bond creeks. Rumor has it that a 390-foot giant was felled here; if so, it would have been the record holder.” – Sierra Club Bulletin-1966, Page 9
385 – 400 Ft In 1966, Dr. Rudolf W. Becking had reportedly discovered a 385 feet tall Redwood, 17 ft diameter, near Bond Creek. Later investigation proved the tree to have been only 312 feet high. Perhaps an instrumentation or calculation error? Yet, other reports from Redwood creek, and it’s tributaries persisted of trees approaching 400 feet. – Redwood National Park: Hearings Before the United States Senate …, Parts 1-2, 1966
392 ft – Tichenor grove, near North Fork Hotel, Mendocino County, California. 17 ft 2 inches diameter at 7 ft above ground, estimated height 392 feet. – The Californian, Volume 5 By A. Roman, 1882 – pg 486
400 ft – “In 1855 a citizen of Arcata, Humboldt County, cut down a redwood which was 400 feet high. He sawed and split 60 feet of the trunk, and built two two-story houses…” – Picturesque California: edited by John Muir 1888.
400 ft – From John Murray Mickey’s diary in 1854. He traveled miles through the Redwood forest and the Eel river valley, and wrote that he saw trees as high as 400 feet and 30-40 ft in diameter.
“August 29 Next day we traveled on a decending ridge all day. Saw plenty of game of all sorts. We came on to some sqaws picking grass seeds. When they saw us they droped every thing and run for life. We camped in the edge of the big Redwood timber–that is a very large kind of timber. It looks very much like cedar timber. It grows very thick on the ground. The avrage size is about ten feet through and a bout three hundred feet long high. We saw some trees thirty and forty feet through–four hundred feet high. The Bark is over one foot thick. The Bark is very hard to chop. It gums up an ax. We traveled 32 miles through this timber. It was so dence and thick that we only got one glimps of the sun the whole way through. As we went through the redwoods we had to wind a bout some on the account of the big logs that lie in the way. The land has a gradual slope all the way towards the coast. When we got out so that we could see the sun we found ourselves in the head of Eel River valley. This valley is thickly settled in 1854. We went down the valley 7 miles. Here we came to the old man Dobyns Farm. “
400 ft A monster Redwood tree near Dyerville reported to be 400 feet high in 1926, another tree said to be nearby measured 275 feet to first limb. Note: Could this be an early reported measurement of the 372+ ft Dyerville giant which fell in 1991, or of a different unknown tree? – Imperial Valley press. (El Centro, Calif.) 1907-current, April 30, 1926, Page 6.
Imperial Valley press. (El Centro, Calif.) 1907-current, April 30, 1926, Page 6, Image 6
400 ft – On the property of Stephen Roney, west of Napa in the 1870s, stood the “monster king” of the all the Sequoi Sempervirens, a Redwood tree 22 feet in diameter, and “about 400 feet in height.” It was a landmark on the Sonoma Ridge, and was blown down in a windstorm, and cut up over the next ten years, even then a large section of the tree still remained in 1885. – Napa Register (Weekly), Volume 22, Number 41, 15 May 1885
400 ft- Trees standing near the Russian River were estimated by loggers to be over 400 feet high. – Report on Forestry, Volume 4. 1884, pg 249
Report on Forestry, Volume 4. 1884, pg 249
Another Big Tree on Russian River, 350 feet high and 17 feet diameter. – Sonoma Democrat, Volume XVII, Number 23, 14 March 1874
400 ft- Tall trees along Eel River, Humboldt County were calculated at over 400 feet. The Forester, Vol. 7, 1901 pg 159.
The Forester, Volume 7. 1901 pg 159
400 ft + Estimated possible original height of the “Giant Tree”, in the Rockerfeller forest, Humboldt Redwoods State Park, California. Tree is 363 feet tall to re-grown top. Original crown broken off at 339 feet, where the trunk is still 3.5 feet diameter in thickness. Dr. Al Carder speculated the tree’s original height may have once exceeded 400 feet! (See Forest Giants, A. C. Carder 1995 pg 33 reference 10, personal Correspondence between Al Carder and big tree expert Ron Hildebrandt from 1991-1992.)
401 ft An analysis of the predicted original height of “Helios” redwood (currently 377 ft tall) suggests it once stood 401 feet high before losing its top c. 1900-1925! Helios Was a 400 Foot Redwood Not So Long Ago
401 ft– Eel River, Humboldt County, California measured 24 feet in diameter 8 feet above ground, and was 401 feet high. – The Californian, Volume 5 By A. Roman, 1882 – pg 486. See Attached Image below:
The Californian, Volume 5 By A. Roman, 1882 – pg 486.
400+ Ft A 1924 report of Redwoods over 400 feet tall in Del Norte County, Redwood Park, on the former DeMartin family Timber land. – Triplicate, Volume XII, Number 47, 9 August 1924
Triplicate, Volume XII, Number 47, 9 August 1924
420 Ft A report from 1851 of a tree felled on Klamath river, California, 9 feet in diameter, and 140 yards and a fraction more, in length, or over 420 feet. The newspaper columnist for the New York Tribune put credence in reports of trees 400 feet long and 15 feet in diameter in that region. – New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, October 22, 1851, Page 6, Image 6.
424 Ft – A Redwood claimed to be 424 feet was felled in November 1886 by the Elk River Mill and Lumber Co. in Humboldt, County, California yielding 79,736 marketable board feet from 21 cuts. – Redwood Lumber Industry, Lynwood Carranco. Golden West Books, 1982 – Page 21., Fort Worth Daily Gazette, Fort Worth, Texas. December 9th, 1886 – Page 2″. Chroniclingamerica.loc.gov. Retrieved 2012-08-07. & Does size matter? John Driscoll/The Times-Standard, Eureka, California. September 8th, 2006″. Times-standard.com. Retrieved 2012-08-07. http://www.times-standard.com/local/ci_4305681
Fort Worth daily gazette., December 09, 1886, Page 2.
427 Ft – Eel River, about 2 miles from Englewood, Humboldt County, California on Feb. 14th of 1893. The mammoth tree, reported as being 417 to 427 feet in length, 77 feet in circumference, and 24 feet in diameter. At 220 to 274 feet, where it broke in its fall, it was still 9 feet in diameter, and the tree scaled 400,000 board feet of solid lumber, of which 305,000 was cut up into merchantable feet. The Big Tree was sectioned by J.H. French (John Henry French), and was to be exhibited at the Chicago World’s Fair, by George W. Stevenson of Westport. This tree was a highlight in the Forestry Building at the Pan American Exposition, in 1901, in Buffalo, New York. After it was felled and stripped of its bark, it was Divided into 14 sections, the bark was reconstructed into a room over 70 ft in circumference which was displayed at the Pan American World’s Fair in Buffalo, New York in 1901. Following the fair, the trophy became the property of the Niagara Falls Museum where it remains today. – Mining and Scientific Press, Volume 66, April 15, 1893 pg. 230, San Francisco Call, Volume 73, Number 128, 7 April 1893, pg 2, Pacific Rural Press, Volume 45, Number 16, 22 April 1893, pg. 352, & The Niagara Falls Museum – Redwood Exhibit.
Frank Kuykendall, A redwood tree 68 feet in circumference on Eel River, near Scotia, Humboldt County, Cal., from which a section was sent to the World’s Fair at Chicago in 1893, ca. 1893 – San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The morning call, San Francisco, April 07, 1893, Page 2.
Mining and Scientific Press, Volume 66, April 15, 1893 pg. 230
On Eel River, Humboldt Co., California, February, 1893. Largest Tree Ever Taken from the Forest, 77 Feet in Circumference Now on Exhibition.
Garden and Forest, Volume 6 – edited by Charles Sprague Sargent, 1893 pg 260
The Garden – An Illustrated Weekly Journal of Gardening in All Its …, Volume 51, Feb 20, 1897 pg 133. Charles Sprague Sargent
Redwood Logging in Mendoncino This may in fact be a photo of the Eel River giant. The Legendary “Cary fir” tree in Vancouver, had the same dimensions as the Eel river tree, so the origin of that story and photo is likely based in part on the very real giant Redwood from 1893.
450 Ft – “On the other hand, the flats at Orick and, even more so, the flats at the mouth of the Eel River in the vicinity of Ferndale, between some of those little places where the Eel River goes out to sea and there is that great flat plain of grazing land (dairy land and grass) once that was a redwood forest. There is hardly any question that the trees had to be over four hundred feet tall on the flats. There are records which may not be accurate, but it s claimed that some of the trees at Orick were 450 feet tall before they were cut. Those were the first places to be cut, and they weren’t cut for lumber. They were just cut so the trees would be out of the way because it was flat ground that could be cultivated. It could be used. The hills were the last to be cut. That s where the redwoods stayed because they didn’t bother to get rid of them. They cut redwoods down originally to get rid of them, then they’d burn them up and make farmland so they could subsist…” – Martin Litton, Sierra Club. – Sierra Club leaders : oral history transcript / 1980-1982, pg 136.
Nature428, 851-854 (22 April 2004) | doi:10.1038/nature02417; Received 7 November 2003; Accepted 16 February 2004
Abstract
Trees grow tall where resources are abundant, stresses are minor, and competition for light places a premium on height growth1, 2. The height to which trees can grow and the biophysical determinants of maximum height are poorly understood. Some models predict heights of up to 120 m in the absence of mechanical damage3, 4, but there are historical accounts of taller trees5. Current hypotheses of height limitation focus on increasing water transport constraints in taller trees and the resulting reductions in leaf photosynthesis6. We studied redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), including the tallest known tree on Earth (112.7 m), in wet temperate forests of northern California. Our regression analyses of height gradients in leaf functional characteristics estimate a maximum tree height of 122–130 m barring mechanical damage, similar to the tallest recorded trees of the past. As trees grow taller, increasing leaf water stress due to gravity and path length resistance may ultimately limit leaf expansion and photosynthesis for further height growth, even with ample soil moisture. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v428/n6985/full/nature02417.html?type=access_denied
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Pacific Forests 
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