The Lindsey Creek Tree was a notably large coast redwood (sequoia sempervirens) that grew in Fieldbrook, California, along the Lindsey Creek, which feeds into the Mad River.[1] It was once thought to be the largest single-stem organism (tree) known to have existed historically due to erroneous article published in the Humboldt Times.[2] In 2024, a second article was discovered that offered more accurate measurements of the tree.[3] Although the tree was not as large as it was fabled to be, it would still likely rank within the top 5 largest coast redwoods alive today.[4]
Its dimensions were measured by lumberman Henry A. Poland to be 325 ft (99.06 m) tall with a diameter of 19 ft (5.79 m) at its base, 14 ft (4.27 m) at a height of 125 ft (38.10 m), and 9 ft (2.74 m) at a height of 200 ft (60.96 m).[3]
The tree stood on land owned by Dolbeer & Carson Lumber Company.[3] In 1897, this firm contracted the Vance Mill & Lumber Company to log the area, which earned this tract the nickname Vance's Lindsey Creek Woods.[5] This forest was locally famous for having some of the largest trees known in Humboldt County at the time, including the Fieldbrook Tree.[6] By 1905, most of the Lindsey Creek Woods had been clearcut, but the Lindsey Creek Tree was left because it could not be effectively felled and saved.[2] Being the only standing tree in the middle of a clearcut made it extremely vulnerable to weather and erosion, and it subsequently blew down in a storm in January 1905.[7][2]
Before more accurate measurements were discovered, the tree's volume was estimated to be 90,000 ft³ (2548.52 m³) based on the first article claiming that it measured 19 ft (5.79 m) at a height of 120 ft (36.58 m), with a total height of 390 ft (118.87 m). This would have made the Lindsey Creek Tree twice the size of the current largest tree, General Sherman, and around ten feet taller than the current tallest tree, Hyperion. Now, the largest tree to ever exist historically is the Crannell Creek Giant.[8]
Photographs of the tree were thought to have been lost until 2024, when a researcher located a set of five photographs in the Cal Poly Humboldt Archives that matched the description of the tree.[9] These photographs were taken by famed Humboldt County photographer Augustus A. Ericson.[10] Two of these photographs were titled with the measurements collected and published by Henry A. Poland.[11][12] There is also evidence that these photographs were taken in Vance's Lindsey Creek Woods around the same time the tree fell.[13] According to the researcher who located them, these facts prove within a reasonable doubt that the photographs are of the Lindsey Creek Tree.[9]
Lindsey Creek Tree #1, c. 1905: Lower trunk with exposed roots, courtesy of Cal Poly Humboldt Archives.
Lindsey Creek Tree #2, c. 1905: Lower trunk and roots with six people present, courtesy of Cal Poly Humboldt Archives.
Lindsey Creek Tree #3, c. 1905: Lower trunk with six people present, courtesy of Cal Poly Humboldt Archives.
Lindsey Creek Tree #4, c. 1905: Upper trunk with six people present, courtesy of Cal Poly Humboldt Archives.
Lindsey Creek Tree #5, c. 1905: Lower trunk after being cut, courtesy of Cal Poly Humboldt Archives.
Skip Johnson, a Fieldbrook logger interviewed in 1971, testified that he witnessed the Lindsey Creek Tree after it had fallen. He reported it as the tallest tree in Fieldbrook. He stated that a family member measured its diameter at 19 ft (5.8 m) at 130 ft (40 m) off the ground, and 9+1⁄2 ft (2.9 m) at 260 ft (79 m) off the ground, and its total height slightly exceeded 390 ft (120 m). These claims are unfounded, however, and the source documents of Skip Johnson's testimony have not been located.
Fairly solid evidence indicates that coast redwoods were the world's largest trees before logging, with numerous historical specimens reportedly over 400 ft (122 m).[14]Hyperion, another coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), currently the tallest, is 115.85 m (380.1 ft), which also makes it the world's tallest known living tree.[15]
Walter Fry and John Roberts White. Big Trees. Stanford, Calif., Stanford University Press; London, Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press; First Printing, 1930, xvi, 126 pp.; ill.; 22.2 cm. x 14.4 cm.
