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Notes (date):
Date supplied by cataloger.
Notes (historical):
In 1879 the General Sherman tree was named after American Civil War general, William Tecumseh Sherman, by naturalist James Wolverton, who had served as a lieutenant in the 9th Indiana Cavalry under Sherman. This tree is often called "the largest living thing on Earth." It is, in fact, the biggest tree in the world because of its "total trunk volume," rather than its height or girth. It is 274.9 feet tall, 79 feet in girth at breast height, and 102.6 feet in girth near the ground. The first branch starts only at 40 m or 130 feet! It is about 2000 years old. E.H. Wilson did not take this picture; it is reproduced from U.S. National Parks. The anonymous photographer did a fantastic job of capturing the entire height of this huge tree in one photograph,which is no easy feat even for today's photographers. ('General Sherman, the Biggest Tree in the World," on Monumental Trees Website: http://www.monumentaltrees.com/en/trees/giantsequoia/biggest_tree_in_the_world/)
