A TIMELINE OF TULARE COUNTY TREASURES
Follow the history of conservation in Tulare County by traveling the timeline below.
(Note: The entries in italics outline significant historic events that provide context for the story of conservation in Tulare County.)
(Note: The entries in italics outline significant historic events that provide context for the story of conservation in Tulare County.)
1800s
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1802 Congress authorizes the creation of an Army Corps of Engineers.
1849 The U.S. Department of the Interior is established alongside the existing executive departments of State, Treasury, and War. 1853 Tulare County is created July 10, 1852. 1853 Visalia is established as the county seat of Tulare County; Visalia is incorporated in 1874. 1861 Pioneer stockman Hale Tharp turns a fire-hollowed fallen sequoia (Tharp's Log) into a single-log cabin on Log Meadow in the Giant Forest. 1862 The Homestead Act -- Applicants gain freehold title to typically 160 acres of undeveloped federal land west of the Mississippi. 1864 President Lincoln signs a bill protecting Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias as a public reserve, the Yosemite Grant, to remain inviolate forever --the first federal withdrawal of public lands for conservation purposes. 1869 The city of Farmersville is established in Tulare County; Farmersville is incorporated in 1960. 1872 The city of Tulare is established in Tulare County; Tulare is incorporated in 1888. 1872 The General Mining Act -- authorizes citizens to prospect freely for minerals on public lands and allows miners to stake claims to both the minerals and surrounding lands for development. 1872 Yellowstone National Park, our country's first, is created in the Montana and Wyoming territories. 1878 The Timber and Stone Act -- allows western U.S. lands "unfit for farming" to be sold for $2.50 per acre in 160 acre blocks. Meant to facilitate land ownership for loggers and miners, it ended up benefiting speculators who accumulated huge land holdings for minimal expense. 1879 The community of Three Rivers is established in Tulare County. 1887 The Wright Act (the District Irrigation Law Of California) -- allows for the creation of special irrigation districts funded by a tax based on the value of the land (March 7, 1887). 1888 The city of Exeter is established in Tulare County. Exeter is incorporated in 1911. 1889 The city of Lindsay is established in Tulare County. Lindsay is incorporated in 1910. 1890 Sequoia National Park is created through the efforts of a campaign led by Tulare County residents and local newspaper editor George Stewart (September 25, 1890). 1890 General Grant National Park is created as our fourth National Park (October 1, 1890); it becomes part of Kings Canyon National Park in 1940. 1891 The Forest Reserve Act (The Land Revision Act) -- gives the President the right to set aside lands from the public domain as "forest reserves," thus withdrawing them from sale to private interests; strongly supported by Tulare by county residents (February 2, 1891). 1893 Tulare County residents heartily support the creation of the Sierra Forest Reserve, the ancestor of the Sequoia National Forest and Sierra National Forest. The Reserve is initiated by petitions sent to the U.S. Congress from Tulare County officials wanting to stop the damage in the Sierra Nevada caused by timber and livestock commercial interests; on February 14, President Benjamin Harrison, with authorization from Section 24 of the Forest Reserve Act of 1891, establishes the Reserve. It was the largest reserve, with over four million acres, and the second reserve established. 1897 The Organic Act provides the basis for establishing forest reserves, giving the U.S. Department of Interior the authority to make rules and regulations for the reserves, and stating the criteria for reserve designations, which include timber production and water and forest protection. |
Tharp's Log in Giant Forest
Sequoia National Park
General Grant National Park, now part of Kings Canyon National Park
Sequoia National Forest
Photos on this page by John Greening and Laurie Schwaller |
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