Historical Clippings Book (HC-02) (297 pages)

a rs ‘aon Our Lofty ‘Euks’ Create a Legend HE lofty eucalyptus has become so firmly rooted in California’s lore and Jandscape that most people believe it is a native. But as trees go, the mighty ‘‘euk”’ is a johnny-come-ately to the California scene. Like a good many things that have become implanted in the state’s history and legends, it arrived during the gold rush, along with the black locust and the Ailantiius or “Tree of Heaven.” The reason is that the vast majority of the gold seekers were farra boys at heart and they brought seedlings with them as rerainders of the Jand they had left in their quest for riches. The locust, which the miners dubbed ‘‘the boney tree” because of ils sweet fragrance and the fact that bees found it irresistible, was brought by Missourians. Today the Jocust is the dominant iree in the Marshall Gold Discovery Park at Coloma where it all began in 1£48. Even the exotic Ailanthus has taken root in the old mining camps —a gift of the Chinese who came to work the abandoned diggings but found their wealth catering to the needs of the occidentals. The “Tree of Heaven,” however, didn’t engender a reverence among the miners. They called it “the Chinese stink tree.” But neither the locust or the Ailanthus had the stature to work thernselves into the lore of California like the mighty eucalyptus. { OST historians agree that the first ‘‘euks” arrived in California as seedlings in the packs of Australian miners. The eucalyptus had qualities that the other trees lacked and enterprising Californians were to use them for their own purposes, good and bad. Becanse the tree grows rapidly and soaks up moisture like a sponge, early settlers in Bakersfield planted them to soak up mosquite ponds that threatened the area with malari. Later Southern California citrus , growers planted them by the thousands to protect their crops from the het dry Santa Ana winds. ei ‘¢ Eucalyptus lining a Newark roacl are among thousands planted in early days O one is certain when the first seedlings were planted in Alameda County but it appears they took root wherever they were dropped. The late George W. Patterson planted a grove near his Newark ranch in the 1850s with seeds he purchased from a visiting sea captain. Some of the surviving giants can still be seen from the Nimiiz Freeway. In 1857 William Walker was making a tidy profit from eucalyptus seeds at his Golden Gate Nursery and in 1863 Methodist Bishop William Taylor sent some seeds from Australia to his family in Alameda. But the “euks’’ biggest booster was undoubtedly California’s Surveyor General J. T. Stration. In 1870, he sold more than 200,000 in Alameda County alone and 130,000 of them were planted near Hayward, where they were used for a time as telegraph poles. —~ ODAY, the offspring of the Tasmanian seedlings promoted by Stratton form an almost unbroken line along the crest of the hills from Castro Valley to Berkeley. The University of California campus contains some of these giants and likes to brag that sorne of them are the largest in the world. And at Mills College the groves were so popular that their color schemes were worked into the decor of the campus buildings. In 1886 the eucalyptus was planted on Yerba Buena Island and more than 3,000 persons paddled across the Bay to participate in the ceremonies, which featured a concert by the Army band, an address by General Mariano Vallejo and the recitation of an original poem by Joaquin Miller. Y the 1880s, it was virtually impossible to travel in California without passing groves of the moaning, creaking giants. One State official figured out that more than 2,000 miles of eucalyptus had been planted as windbreaks. But the enchantment wore a Jittle thin in certain quarters shortly after the turn of the century in what has become known as “the great euk boom and bust." It began with rumors of an impending hardweod shortage and speculators, of which there were tany, sniffed the aromatic leaves and thought they detected the sweet smell of gold. They formed companies, sold stock and planted thousands rnore throughout the state. Then the U.S. Forest Service got into the act and the timber specuJators lest their fortunes quicker than a eucalyptus tree loses its bark. it is financially impractical to cut the eucalyptus for timber because of the texture of the wood. the forest service reported, a fact that Alameda County's pioneers would have been only too willing to make known if somebody had only asked them. For the pioneers, while they planted the mighty euks by the thousands as windbreaks and to seak up ihe marshes, they never used thern for building. They built their homes with redwood. 4 Bs Ma a IESIT LA. . Ce RR ane. “3 : This thick “euk” at Alamo ae believed jo be acing the largest MUNQUIFIE Wwe WIE S96L ‘SG “adag “uns.

a rs ‘aon Our Lofty ‘Euks’ Create a Legend HE lofty eucalyptus has become so firmly rooted in California’s lore and Jandscape that most people believe it is a native. But as trees go, the mighty ‘‘euk”’ is a johnny-come-ately to the California scene. Like a good many things that have become implanted in the state’s history and legends, it arrived during the gold rush, along with the black locust and the Ailantiius or “Tree of Heaven.” The reason is that the vast majority of the gold seekers were farra boys at heart and they brought seedlings with them as rerainders of the Jand they had left in their quest for riches. The locust, which the miners dubbed ‘‘the boney tree” because of ils sweet fragrance and the fact that bees found it irresistible, was brought by Missourians. Today the Jocust is the dominant iree in the Marshall Gold Discovery Park at Coloma where it all began in 1£48. Even the exotic Ailanthus has taken root in the old mining camps —a gift of the Chinese who came to work the abandoned diggings but found their wealth catering to the needs of the occidentals. The “Tree of Heaven,” however, didn’t engender a reverence among the miners. They called it “the Chinese stink tree.” But neither the locust or the Ailanthus had the stature to work thernselves into the lore of California like the mighty eucalyptus. { OST historians agree that the first ‘‘euks” arrived in California as seedlings in the packs of Australian miners. The eucalyptus had qualities that the other trees lacked and enterprising Californians were to use them for their own purposes, good and bad. Becanse the tree grows rapidly and soaks up moisture like a sponge, early settlers in Bakersfield planted them to soak up mosquite ponds that threatened the area with malari. Later Southern California citrus , growers planted them by the thousands to protect their crops from the het dry Santa Ana winds. ei ‘¢ Eucalyptus lining a Newark roacl are among thousands planted in early days O one is certain when the first seedlings were planted in Alameda County but it appears they took root wherever they were dropped. The late George W. Patterson planted a grove near his Newark ranch in the 1850s with seeds he purchased from a visiting sea captain. Some of the surviving giants can still be seen from the Nimiiz Freeway. In 1857 William Walker was making a tidy profit from eucalyptus

seeds at his Golden Gate Nursery and in 1863 Methodist Bishop William Taylor sent some seeds from Australia to his family in Alameda. But the “euks’’ biggest booster was undoubtedly California’s Surveyor General J. T. Stration. In 1870, he sold more than 200,000 in Alameda County alone and 130,000 of them were planted near Hayward, where they were used for a time as telegraph poles. —~ ODAY, the offspring of the Tasmanian seedlings promoted by Stratton form an almost unbroken line along the crest of the hills from Castro Valley to Berkeley. The University of California campus contains some of these giants and likes to brag that sorne of them are the largest in the world. And at Mills College the groves were so popular that their color schemes were worked into the decor of the campus buildings. In 1886 the eucalyptus was planted on Yerba Buena Island and more than 3,000 persons paddled across the Bay to participate in the ceremonies, which featured a concert by the Army band, an address by General Mariano Vallejo and the recitation of an original poem by Joaquin Miller. Y the 1880s, it was virtually impossible to travel in California without passing groves of the moaning, creaking giants. One State official figured out that more than 2,000 miles of eucalyptus had been planted as windbreaks. But the enchantment wore a Jittle thin in certain quarters shortly after the turn of the century in what has become known as “the great euk boom and bust." It began with rumors of an impending hardweod shortage and speculators, of which there were tany, sniffed the aromatic leaves and thought they detected the sweet smell of gold. They formed companies, sold stock and planted thousands rnore throughout the state. Then the U.S. Forest Service got into the act and the timber specuJators lest their fortunes quicker than a eucalyptus tree loses its bark. it is financially impractical to cut the eucalyptus for timber because of the texture of the wood. the forest service reported, a fact that Alameda County's pioneers would have been only too willing to make known if somebody had only asked them. For the pioneers, while they planted the mighty euks by the thousands as windbreaks and to seak up ihe marshes, they never used thern for building. They built their homes with redwood. 4 Bs Ma a IESIT LA. . Ce RR ane. “3 : This thick “euk” at Alamo ae believed jo be acing the largest MUNQUIFIE Wwe WIE S96L ‘SG “adag “uns.