1853 CE
Discovery Tree Felled
About this moment
The Discovery Tree, also known as The Mammoth Tree, was a Sequoiadendron giganteum tree located in Calaveras Grove, California. In 1852, A.T. Dowd found a grove in the Sierra Nevada; the trees in the grove were believed to be the first giant sequoia trees to be discovered by white settlers, though some earlier reports of giant sequoias were reported. The trees he discovered included the Discovery Tree, with a height of 300 feet (91 m) high and a base measuring over 24 feet (7.3 m) in diameter.