Review Copy 2014 BARBARA ANN MOJICA All Rights Reserved.

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2 Review Copy 2014 BARBARA ANN MOJICA All Rights Reserved.

3 A long time ago, as a little girl, I dreamed of traveling all over the world, And often I'd ask about the past Driving everyone crazy fast! Amused by this my parents thought, Why not call me History for short?

4 Since then I've traveled By land, sea, and air...

5 So read this book and I ll take you somewhere!

6 Little Miss HISTORY Travels to SEQUOIA National Park 2014 Barbara Ann Mojica. All Rights Reserved. Published in The UNITED STATES of AMERICA eugenus STUDIOS, Publisher P.O. BOX 112 CRARYVILLE, NY WebSite: ISBN-13: ISBN: No part of this book is to be reproduced, in any format, without the written permission of the author.

7 Dedicated to Dr. Joelyn Iannone who encouraged me to soar.

8 Got your hiking boots on? Today we are going to walk in the shadows of some of the oldest and largest living things on earth!

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10 Sequoia National Park is the second national park to be designated in the United States. You probably heard of the first.

11 Many people confuse sequoia trees with redwood trees. Can you tell the difference? Redwood trees are taller; sequoia trees are wider and heavier.

12 The bark of a sequoia tree can be up to three feet thick and its branches can be eight feet thick!

13 The bark of a redwood tree can be up to one foot thick and its branches can be five feet thick.

14 Redwoods reproduce every year, but sequoias reproduce every two years. Redwoods can live for two thousand years, while sequoias might live three thousand years!

15 When a sequoia tree is about ten years old, it starts producing seeds that are spread by the wind. They grow fast and can reach sixty-five feet in twenty years.

16 A sequoia tree that might reach three hundred feet would grow from a seed that is less than one half inch long!

17 Why are sequoia trees important?

18 This wood resists fire and decay. It is used to make trestle bridges and railroad ties. Also...

19 ... the grain in sequoia wood creates beautiful furniture!

20 For many years Native Americans lived in this wilderness. In 1856 Hale Dixon Tharp, a gold rush miner, decided to raise cattle and sheep in the area.

21 He was guided by the Yokut Native Americans to the Crescent Meadow area where he built a log cabin out of a fallen sequoia log!

22 John Muir, a Scottish American, wanted to preserve nature. He convinced the U.S. Congress to create Sequoia National Park. He is called the Father of National Parks.

23 Earlier in 1864 he ran away to Canada so he would not be drafted to fight in the American Civil War.

24 Many of the trees in Sequoia National Park were named after generals and presidents. Jim Wolverton, an early local settler and naturalist, served under General William Tecumseh Sherman in the Civil War. Wolverton named a giant sequoia tree in Sherman s honor in 1879.

25 The National Park Service lists the General Sherman Tree, not as the tallest or widest tree, but its 52,500 square foot volume of wood makes it the largest tree in the world!

26 This two thousand year old tree is still growing and adding enough wood every year to build a five to six room house!

27 Harsh weather caused this sequoia tree to drop its lower branches. Today its first branch begins 130 feet above the ground!

28 Besides the General Sherman Tree trail, you can hike to other interesting places. Tunnel Log is a tunnel cut through a giant tree that fell in 1937.

29 The trail to Tokopah Falls follows the Kaweah River to the granite cliffs and waterfall of Tokopah Canyon which rise twelve hundred feet.

30 Moro Rock is located in the center of the park. A four hundred foot stairway, cut and poured into the rock, allows you to climb up to its top and look out over the park!

31 This stairway was built in 1931 as one of the programs started by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to help Americans find work during the Great Depression.

32 On Veteran s Day in 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower selected the General Grant Tree to be a living memorial to the men and women who gave their lives for their country.

33 Every year near Christmas Park Rangers place a wreath near its base to remember those fallen soldiers.

34 At the Lodgepole Visitor Center, you can see exhibits of the geologic history of the park, the Native American inhabitants, and the local wildlife.

35 More than three hundred species of wildlife call this park home.

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37 There are many black bears but also brown, cinnamon and blonde bears. A hiker might even see a mountain lion or a bighorn sheep!

38 I had lots of fun walking and riding on horseback in this great park, but there is one big problem.

39 Air pollution! The Sequoia National Park has the worst air pollution of any national park in the United States! Why?

40 Forest fires create some air pollution but more comes from the nearby San Joaquin Valley. This beautiful farmland also contains many pollutants.

41 There are two trucking highways, diesel freight train routes, food processing plants, and thousands of diesel tractors. When the sun s rays hit these pollutants, smog forms. These levels of pollution in the park are often above recommended health standards!

42 It is sad to think that in a beautiful national park like Sequoia, you have to watch for signs being posted that read like this:

43 Can you think of some ways to solve this problem?

44 Next Stop... FORD S THEATER Washington, D.C., USA