Felton, California, 2011

The first redwood tree (Sequoia Sempervirens) seen by a European was in October 1769 by members of the Portola Expedition, on the Corrallitos Creek in what is now Santa Cruz County. When the first sawmills were erected less than 75 years later, lumbermen didn't know they were cutting trees that were 500, 1000, even 2,000 years old. Today, the stumps of these old growth redwoods are persistent reminders of where some of the mightiest trees once stood.