[3][4][5] A popular story claims Wawō'na was the Miwok word for "big tree", or for "hoot of the owl".

Created by the Yosemite Stage and Turnpike Company as a tourist attraction, this human-made tunnel became immensely popular.

After the National Park Service was founded in 1916, promoting the tunnel through the Wawona Tree became part an effort to increase tourism in the age of the automobile.

[7] Mather and his chief aide, Horace Albright, who would also be his successor, worked to make the parks more accessible, and, with drive-through attractions such as the Tunnel Tree, as memorable as possible.

Because of their size, giant sequoias can create vast new ecosystems when they fall, providing habitat for insects and animals and allowing new plant growth.

The company commissioned sculptor Spero Anargyros to carve the Wawona Tree in the foyer of their San Francisco Northern California headquarters in 1956.

A replica of Anargyros' Wawona Tree carving was featured on one side of Pacific Life's centenary medallion in 1968.