The Shinn family and Redwoods

The Residence of James Shinn in 
Illustrated Album of Alameda County from 1893

The small ailing redwood grove behind the Shinn House brought up questions about when it was planted and where the redwoods came from. It's not like you could run down to Home Depot and buy a tree in the 1800s. Perhaps the trees were obtained while the ranch was a nursery. The redwood shows up in the Shinn's Nurseries catalog as an item to purchase for 50 cents. 

The Illustrated Album of Alameda County from 1893 shows a well grown grove of redwoods behind the Big House. The Shinn family ran the Shinn's Nurseries from about 1873 to 1887.  Their three story home was finished during that time in 1876. Possibly shortly after the home was finished, the coast redwood trees were planted behind the home. If the trees were planted in winter 1876, then the trees, which are still standing are approaching 150 years old.

Saving the Armstrong Redwoods
Big news in L.H. Bailey's Annals of Horticulture in North America 1892..."A botanic garden for the preservation of California red woods has been established during the year by the donation in trust of 640 acres of red wood timber land in Sonoma county by Col JB Armstrong of Santa Rosa The tract is on the north bank of the Russian river The timber is in a good state of preservation The trustees of the garden are Miss Kate Armstrong daughter of the donor. E J Wickson, Charles H Shinn, Luther Burbank, and Robert U Johnson."

Three chapters in Picturesque California
Charles wrote three chapters in John Muir's Picturesque California, completed in 1894. One chapter was "The Land of the Redwood." 

The announcement that Picturesque California
was complete in the October 7, 1894
issue of the Morning Call, San Francisco.

In 1892 Charles was one of the charter members of the Sierra Club. 

Why did editor John Muir choose Charles as author on the Redwoods chapter? We don't know that answer. But perhaps it was because the Shinn extended family included a branch that was in the lumber business which gave opportunities to see the redwoods.

Charles traveled by schooner to Navarro in 1874 where H.B. Tichenor and partners had a lumber operation. Lucy Shinn's niece, Lue Tichenor was married to H.B. Tichenor. [A whole story about this is needed!]

Had he also travelled to Oregon to the northernmost reaches? And to the Southernmost reaches as well in the ensuing 20 years?

Lucy Shinn wrote about Charles' trip to Navarro in a letter, dated about 1874 "Charlie has gone for a trip to Navarro. Cousin Lue offered him free passage on one of Mr. T.’s [MB: Henry Baldwin Tichenor] schooners. He will be gone about a week. He rec’d a line from Lue last night too late for him to take passage on the evening train saying that the schooner would go out today, and so he took a …… on a freight train, would reach City about 10 o’clock."

Charles wrote a poem "Novarro" [Navarro] in 1874 about a trip to Novarro. Was it this trip that Lucy mentioned in her letter?

References

• The Illustrated Album of Alameda County from 1893 has the Shinn House drawing
• Shinn's Nurseries catalog ~1878 sold Redwoods (p. 20) for 50 cents a tree.