El Palo Alto
Local folklore holds that El Palo Alto was a rest stop for the first European expedition that discovered San Francisco Bay, led by Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portolá in 1769.
Fearing the tree's total loss, Leland Stanford directed that the riverbank be reinforced with a wooden bulkhead, which was replaced with concrete abutments in 1904 and again in 1911.
Although it has decreased in stature by some 50 ft (15 m) since the late 1800s, El Palo Alto was ultimately saved by the continuous preservation efforts of the city, local arborists, Stanford University, and Southern Pacific (the owner of the adjacent railroad); a 1997 appraisal concluded that the tree would "persevere and grow for centuries to come".
The tree is thus contemporaneous with the Viking Age, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in China, or the Fatimid Caliphate in the Islamic world.
[11] Prior to European contact, the Ramaytush speaking subgroup of the Ohlone people lived near to the tree, in the village of Puichon.
[1] According to traditional history, El Palo Alto was the campsite of Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portolá's men[15] between November 6 and 11, 1769.
[14] Visiting the bay in 1774, Father Francisco Palóu came upon a large tree on the creek, considered its location suitable for a new mission, and erected a wooden cross near it.
[18] Local historian Steve Staiger said that Portolá's camp may have been under a tree further downstream, later felled by a Spanish military engineer to make a bridge.
[21] Jeff concludes his presentation suggesting that evidence is now favoring the idea that El Palo Alto was the tree described in the 1776 expedition.
Previous travelers took narrow trails on horseback or slightly wider tracks on oxcart; it was joked that the road between the two cities was "three miles wide".
[39] The most convincing evidence that the tree was part of the Rancho San Francisquito is the land claim case of Maria Concepcion Valencia de Rodriquez of 1866.
[43] In 1887, Soto's heirs sold their land to a good friend of Leland Stanford, Timothy Hopkins, who used it to develop the nearby town of University Park (see 1894 view).
[48][b] Yet, even as the tree became so enmeshed with the university's branding, its position east of the railroad right of way confirms that there never was a time when El Palo Alto was on land owned by Leland Stanford.
[26] A December 1882 article in The Sacramento Bee states: "Some years ago it had a companion tree, but the latter was undermined by a subterranean stream and fell to the ground.
Miller suggested that railroad records likely to contain definitive information were destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and subsequent fire.
Fearing its loss, after the first trunk fell, Leland Stanford directed a wooden bulkhead to be built reinforcing the tree's side of the creek.
[80][81] In 1961 six local arborists together deemed the tree to be in fair condition, but suffering from smog, insufficient water, termites, and a deteriorating root system.
[68][82] Smaller, "nurse" trees were planted to protect El Palo Alto's root system from compacted soil.
[63] A 1999 appraisal concluded that "notwithstanding a catastrophic event ... it is expected that the El Palo Alto redwood will persevere and grow for centuries to come.
[90] Preservation efforts continue, including with ground-penetrating radar, "air-spade excavation",[91] drone monitoring of the tree's crown, and a prism attached to its top to track movement.
[95] In 2004, seedlings from El Palo Alto were planted in the American Forests Historic Tree Nursery in Jacksonville, Florida.
[96] Under this giant redwood, the Palo Alto, November 6 to 11, 1769, camped Portola and his band on the expedition that discovered San Francisco Bay.
The celebrated Pedro Font topographical map of 1776 [sic] contained the drawing of the original double trunked tree making the Palo Alto the first official living California landmark.
Placed by the Historic Landmark Committee Native Sons of the Golden West Nov 7 1926 Tutorow, Norman E., The Governor, The Life and Legacy of Leland Stanford, A California Colossus, The Arthur H Clark Company, 2004
