Hale Tharp
Encyclopedia
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
, and the first non-Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
to enter Giant Forest
Giant Forest
The Giant Forest, famed for its giant sequoia trees, is within Sequoia National Park. This montane forest, situated at over above mean sea level in the western Sierra Nevada of California, covers an area of...
, in what is now Sequoia National Park
Sequoia National Park
Sequoia National Park is a national park in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California, in the United States. It was established on September 25, 1890. The park spans . Encompassing a vertical relief of nearly , the park contains among its natural resources the highest point in the...
.
Gold Country
Tharp was born in MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
in 1828. In 1851, a widow
Widow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
from Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, Chloe Ann Smith Swanson, hired Tharp to take her and her four sons to California in a covered wagon
Covered wagon
The covered wagon, also known as a Prairie schooner, is an icon of the American Old West.Although covered wagons were commonly used for shorter moves within the United States, in the mid-nineteenth century thousands of Americans took them across the Great Plains to Oregon and California...
with two teams of oxen. They settled in Placerville
Placerville, California
Placerville is the county seat of El Dorado County, California. The population was 10,389 at the 2010 census, up from 9,610 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, where Tharp married Swanson. Tharp then began mining in California’s Gold Country
Gold Country
Gold Country is a region in the central and northeastern part of California, United States. It is famed for the mineral deposits and gold mines that attracted waves of immigrants, known as the 49ers, during the 1849 California Gold Rush.-Geography:State Route 49 was built through the Gold Country,...
.
Sequoia
In the summer of 1856, Tharp went to Tulare CountyTulare County, California
Tulare County is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, south of Fresno. Sequoia National Park is located in the county, as are part of Kings Canyon National Park, in its northeast corner , and part of Mount Whitney, on its eastern border...
to establish a preemption homestead
Preemption Act of 1841
The Preemption Act of 1841, also known as the Distributive Preemption Act , was a federal law approved on September 4, 1841. It was designed to "appropriate the proceeds of the sales of public lands.....
, with the intent to return later to ranch cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
. He built a shake
Shake (shingle)
A shake is a basic wooden shingle that is made from split logs. Shakes have traditionally been used for roofing and siding applications around the world. Higher grade shakes are typically used for roofing purposes, while the lower grades are used for siding purposes...
and brush shack
Shack
A shack is a type of small house, usually in a state of disrepair. The word may derive from the Nahuatl word xacalli or "adobe house" by way of Mexican Spanish xacal/jacal, which has the same meaning as "shack". It was a common usage among people of Mexican ancestry throughout the U.S...
near the confluence of the Kaweah River
Kaweah River
The Kaweah River in the U.S. state of California flows westward from the foothills of the Sierra Nevada into the Central Valley. It rises in forks in the southern Sierra Nevada inside Sequoia National Park, the longest of which is the Middle Fork, about long...
and Horse Creek, east of Visalia
Visalia, California
Visalia is a Central California city situated in the heart of California’s agricultural San Joaquin Valley, approximately southeast of San Francisco and north of Los Angeles...
and south of Three Rivers
Three Rivers, California
Three Rivers is a census-designated place in Tulare County, California, United States. The population was 2,182 at the 2010 census, down from 2,248 at the 2000 census....
. He then returned to Placerville.
Two years later, Tharp, along with his brother-in-law John Swanson, returned to his homestead and built a log cabin and barn, Cattle Cabin
Cattle Cabin
The Cattle Cabin is a one-room log cabin that was built in the Sierra Nevada by Hale Tharp and two partners in 1890, in present day Sequoia National Park, California....
. Tharp then sought cattle summer pasturage. Led by the local Yokut Indians, Tharp "discovered" Crescent Meadow and Log Meadow near the Giant Forest
Giant Forest
The Giant Forest, famed for its giant sequoia trees, is within Sequoia National Park. This montane forest, situated at over above mean sea level in the western Sierra Nevada of California, covers an area of...
. He claimed grazing rights there for several years.
Tharp's Log
Tharp's Log
Tharp's Log is a hollowed giant sequoia log at Log Meadow in the Giant Forest grove of Sequoia National Park that was used as a shelter by early pioneers...
is a home Tharp built in a hollowed Giant sequoia
Sequoiadendron
Sequoiadendron giganteum is the sole living species in the genus Sequoiadendron, and one of three species of coniferous trees known as redwoods, classified in the family Cupressaceae in the subfamily Sequoioideae, together with Sequoia sempervirens and...
(Sequoiadendron gigantuem) log at Log Meadow. It is restored and visited by tourists in Sequoia National Park
Sequoia National Park
Sequoia National Park is a national park in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California, in the United States. It was established on September 25, 1890. The park spans . Encompassing a vertical relief of nearly , the park contains among its natural resources the highest point in the...
today, and is on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Hale Tharp, along with stepsons George and John Swanson, were the first non-Native Americans known to ascend the granite dome Moro Rock
Moro Rock
Moro Rock is a granite dome rock formation in Sequoia National Park, California, USA. It is located in the center of the park, at the head of Moro Creek, between Giant Forest and Crescent Meadow. A stairway, built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, is cut into and poured onto the...
.