Some of the most interesting places are located just a short drive off the main road. Sequoyah’s one-room log cabin in the beautiful forests and hills of eastern Oklahoma is just such a place.
Sequoyah is known as the inventor of the Cherokee’s nation’s written language. He built this cabin in 1829 shortly after his move to what is present-day Oklahoma.
Sequoyah was born about 1770 in Tennessee to a Cherokee mother and non-Indian father. Sequoyah was intrigued by “the fact that white men could convey messages by the use of writing or ‘talking leaves’…. Sequoyah came to realize that the Cherokee language is composed of a set number of reoccurring sounds. With this insight it was possible for him to identify and create a symbol for each sound, thus producing a syllabary rather than an alphabet.†After 12 years of work, in 1821 he completed the Cherokee syllabary.
The drive to the cabin takes visitors along some beautiful country roads. The first thing you notice when you enter the grounds is the air – it is clean, moist and just makes you feel good. The next things you notice are the well-maintained grounds followed by how solid the buildings are constructed. It is obvious this is a well loved and appreciated landmark.
The cabin is actually preserved inside a modern building. After opening the door of the outside building you enter a single open room; at the center is a hand-hewn log cabin, along with the walls, are displays about Sequoyah’s life and his work. What is nice about this exhibit is that visitors can actually step inside his cabin for a close-up view of the period furniture and items that would have been in his life. Unlike many places that hide stories from the past behind cold glass, this landmark is open, inviting and warm.
The people working at the landmark were all friendly.
Sequoyah’s cabin is located about 6 miles northeast of Sallisaw, Oklahoma, on State 101. The cabin and grounds are open Tuesday – Sunday. Check the website for hours. Admission is free.
The cabin is preserved as a National Historic Landmark.
A special ‘thank you’ to Arethia Stann for her introduction to this great place and a tour of the surrounding countryside. Wado, Arethia!
For additional information visit:
http://www.okhistory.org/outreach/homes/sequoyahcabin.html
If you and your family have the opportunity to visit the General Grant Tree of Kings Canyon National Park you are in for a treat.
Parents can walk among and appreciate the majesty of these ancient and immense Giant Sequoia Redwood trees. Kids will enjoy being outside, playing in an old cabin, and walking through the Fallen Monarch, a cave-like giant redwood that is so big that it once stabled 32 U.S. Cavalry horses.
The General Grant Tree is important because it is the world’s third-largest living thing (by volume). The General Grant is 268 feet (81.6 meters) in height and has a circumference of 107.5 feet (32.7 meters)! It is not just big, but ancient; although the exact age of The General Grant is not known the National Park Service’s website estimates the tree to be between 1,800 and 2,700 years old.
When visiting this tree spend a few minutes contemplating about the civilizations and people who lived about 2,000 years ago, then consider that the General Grant was likely an old tree when those people walked the earth. Wow!
Some “fun facts” displayed on a placard near the General Grant Tree help visitors better understand more about this immense redwood, they include:
If the trunk of the General Grant Tree was a gas tank on a car that got 25 miles per gallon, you could drive around the earth 350 times without refueling.
The General Grant Tree is so wide it would take about twenty people holding hands to make a complete circle around the base.
If the General Grant Tree’s trunk could be filled with sports equipment, it could hold 159,000 basketballs or more than 37 million ping-pong balls.
President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the General Grant Tree to be the nation’s Christmas Tree in 1926. In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower designated it as a National Shrine, a living memorial to those who have given their lives for their country.
Many of the Giant Redwood trees in the Sierra Nevada Mountains were named just after the American Civil War. It was at this time that General Grant Tree was named after Ulysses S. Grant the final leader of the Union forces. A short distance away from the Grant Tree is the Robert E. Lee Tree, named for the leader of the Confederate forces. The Lee tree is the 12th largest tree on the planet.
The General Grant Tree and other Giant Sequoias are located in Kings Canyon National Park and the adjacent Sequoia National Park. Visitors to the Grant Tree can enjoy a self-guided trail that is half a mile (.8 kilometers) in length. The trail from the parking area is paved so wheelchairs and strollers are welcome. The location of the Grant Tree is roughly a 1.5-hour drive east of Fresno, California.
The Sanborn Park Hostel is a beautiful historic log house hidden among the coastal redwoods of Sanborn Park County Park near Saratoga, California. Sadly, after a 30-year run, the hostel recently closed its doors. Shown above is how it appeared at the time of the closing in 2010. Below is how it appeared in its heyday – in the late 1980s and early 90s.
Sanborn Park Hostel – a view from its heyday in the late 1980s and early ’90s.
This hostel was a friendly place to stay for backpackers, international travelers, bicyclists, Scout troops, church groups, students on field trips and families who needed a weekend away from the frantic pace of Silicon Valley.
Visitors could explore miles of trails in the 3,688-acre park, discover a nearby section of the San Andreas Fault, enjoy a short hike to a Nature Center, take a picnic to a nearby winery or enjoy a cookout under a grove of redwood trees.
The Hostel always provided programs and trips to help ‘tell the story’ of the local area for those who were curious. Like the park and the redwoods around the building, the hostel also has a story.
For hundreds of years, the local area was visited by native Ohlone people. Signs of their acorn grinding mortors can be found on monolithic rocks that now form an entry to Hostel grounds. The Grizzly Bear once lived in this park. Forests of old growth redwood trees blanketed the hillsides; several large redwood stumps eight feet in diameter are still in the woods if you know where to look.
In 1908 the Honorable Judge Welch built a large log style summer cottage. He named it, “Welch-Hurst.†The name was derived from his name and the word Hurst, meaning woods or a grove. The Judge planted several orchards in the area. He also had a vineyard. He turned a nearby sag pond (sag ponds are natural pools found along the path of the San Andreas Fault) into a picturesque pond with a small island, footbridge, waterfalls, and large lily pads. The pond was home to fish, frogs and an assortment of ducks and geese.
In the 1950s a man named Pick lived in the log style house. Mr. Pick had discovered Uranium in the west (Wyoming or Colorado) and sold his claim to the U.S. military earning several million dollars at the time. With part of his fortune, he bought “Welch-Hurst†and he renamed it “Walden West.†The name was derived from the book, “Walden,†by author, philosopher, and naturalist, Henry David Thoreau.
Pick added a number of buildings in the area including a small complex of buildings that housed early IBM employees and possibly helped to incubate some thinking that led to modern Silicon Valley. Today, the buildings of Walden West provide outdoor education programs for students.
In the 1960s and 70s, the house rapidly passed between several owners and the structure was in serious decline. In 1970s Sanborn Park was being expanded and the old house was purchased by Santa Clara County. Estimates at the time to renovate the deteriorating Welch-Hurst house was estimated at half-a-million dollars, too much for county coffers, and the house was scheduled for demolition.
Sanborn Park Hostel’s Madrone and Redwood Staircase.
In 1979, as destruction seemed imminent, the volunteers of the Santa Clara Valley hostelling club stepped forward with a box of hand tools and $460 in the bank to finance their reconstruction project. They were given the go-ahead. Year-after-year volunteers completely rebuilt and refurbished the Judge’s old home. In the main house, they preserved the original rock fireplace and the beautiful madrone and redwood staircase (shown). They also reconstructed the old carriage house turning it into a modern building with beautiful pine ceilings and wooden floors – all the time using as much wood from the original structure as possible. Tax dollars were never used to restore Hostel. This effort was entirely self-funded.
The hostel’s ‘Golden Age’ was in the late 1980s and the early 1990’s when the Hostel’s 39 beds were completely booked.
After the horrible events of 9/11 in 2001 international travel plummeted. Seeing a backpacker from Europe was a rare sight. American travel also declined during this time as a strained U.S. economy, lessening vacation time for families, increasing insurance costs and a host of other reasons impacted travel and the Hostel. These forces slowly took their toll and Sanborn Park Hostel closed in 2010.
When the hostel closed the price to stay for one person was $14, the lowest overnight fee at any hostel in the United States.
The County has no plans for the historic Welch-Hurst building which the Hostel rented from the Parks Department. The refurbished one-hundred-year-old house will likely be boarded up and forgotten. The building is on the Registry of National Historic Places.
I have many fond memories of the hostel. While in college I worked as a ‘Houseparent’ at Sanborn Park Hostel. At the time I wanted to travel, but could not; working at the Hostel provided an opportunity for the travelers to come to me. The Hostel provided me with rich opportunities to learn about different cultures and to meet a wide variety of people. During this time I met thousands of people and some special travelers from Australia, New Zealand, and Austria became life-long friends. One wonderful woman traveling from overseas eventually became my wife.
At times the hostel had a ‘magic.’ One such time involved an evening sitting in front of the large stone fireplace in the living room. A small but bright fire burned. About fifteen people, of all ages, some from overseas, sat on the sofas. We talked about the world. At one point someone brought out some sweet crackers, then someone else made tea for the group. We all talked late into the evening about ideas, places to travel and shared stories. It was an evening that fed the soul. This might sound odd, but if you find yourself in such a setting ask how people sing ‘Happy Birthday’ in their native language. It is a great way to make friends and end an evening with a smile.
In the 30 years as a Hostel, 157,460 people stayed as overnight guests. This number included visitors from 99 foreign countries and all 50 states. Foreign travelers accounted for 20 percent of the total visitorship; that is roughly 31,500 visitors who chose to explore and experience America.
Four points are especially noteworthy about Sanborn Park Hostel’s 30+ year run.
The work to refurbish this historic 100-year-old building was done entirely by volunteers.
Not one penny of public money was ever used to refurbish or operate the building – it was entirely self-funded.
During the hostel’s entire history, it had the lowest overnight fee of all US hostels, only $3 in 1979 to $14 when it closed.
In the 30 years of being a Hostel that 157,460 overnight visitors stayed here; with visitors from 99 foreign countries and all 50 states.
The organization who started Sanborn Park Hostel will continue their famous monthly pot-luck and slide show dinners on the last Thursday of the month at the Saratoga Community Center. Plus, some of the resources from Sanborn Park Hostel have been used to further Hostelling along California’s Central Coast. So in a sense, although the Hostel is gone it will continue in spirit.
It is sad to see the Hostel go, but the Hostel’s newsletter said it with dignity, “Closing the Sanborn Park Hostel is bitter-sweet, but birth and death are both nature’s ways.â€
To learn more about hostelling visit these sites:
http://www.hihostels.com
http://www.hiusa.org
Parks and outdoor interpretive organizations are always looking to green their operations. But sometimes the enthusiasm of the moment results in a “Ready, Fire!, Aim” approach when a “Ready, Aim, Fire!” approach is needed.
READY: Understand the purpose of greening the park store.
Ask the question, “What problem do you wish to solve?”
This may sound counter-intuitive, but the purpose of greening your space is not about ‘saving the planet’ or ‘protecting the environment’. While individuals and organizations may be passionate about such issues, framing a discussion around these hot-button slogans could have combustible results. Remember that a manager, co-worker, budget officer, visitor, or even a donor may have a very different perception of these words and their meanings.
The purpose of greening your organization should instead be grounded in measurable benefits like reducing waste, reusing-recycling materials, and conserving energy which aid in those correcting those other issues.
AIM: Understand the mission-based justification.
What results or benefits do you wish to obtain from greening your store? Here are three of my favorites:
Help visitors to better understand where they are visiting.
Gain a competitive advantage.
A healthier bottom line.
FIRE: You take action!
Here are five helpful steps to consider as you take action.
Step 1: Scope
Document your project’s scope – this includes the project’s purpose and business justification.
Step 2: Assessment
The purpose of an assessment is to help establish a baseline for your green practices. A baseline is an original plan for a project, and any changes will be measured against the baseline.
Step 3: Implementation
This is an entire subject by itself of which future articles will be written. But here are some key points to remember when implementing your green processes.
Build on small victories.
Generate momentum (buy-in) for your project by demonstrating the economic benefits.
Green activities should not be dictated from above – but rather modeled.
Always Document processes.
Step 4: Communicate
Publish the processes on an intranet or another centralized internal website. Communicate with your donors and visitors about how you are reducing pollution, etc. Educate any front-line staff on the advantages and goals of your project.
Step 5: Measure
Refer to your original baseline and track progress at least on a monthly basis.
When greening your own operation remember a “Ready, Aim, Fire!” approach before starting a project. Understanding the purpose and the justification of the project will help you in reaching your green goals.
Sometimes a park visitor is irritated about something. They direct it at you. They say something in a harsh tone, and possibly an awkward response is made. No one intends it, but the dialogue is becoming a confrontation. One simple question can redirect a possible confrontation back to a conversation.
The question is, “What would you like me to do?”
While walking across the parking lot of a National Park Visitor Center, I noticed a very large Cadillac sedan. In the Cadillac was an elderly couple; their license plate showed they were from several states to the east of their current location. Their car doors opened. The woman commented, “This place looks nice. Let’s see if we can get something for Megan.” The man loudly commented about finding a restroom. The couple were just a few seconds behind me so I held the door of the Visitor Center.
The man quickly approached the main desk and bluntly asked, “Where’s the can around here?”
A very young seasonal worker was behind the desk. She was nice enough but spoke as though she was reading from a script, “Hello. The Day Use fee is $5.00.”
His tone was gruff, ” I can always tell when I drive into this state – my wallet gets lighter.”
The worker politely smiled. It’s five dollars to visit the park, sir.”
The man was angry and physically uncomfortable. “We’re not visiting the park!” snapped the man.
The worker looked surprised, “Visiting or not sir, everyone needs to pay the day-use fee.”
The man shook his head, “Five bucks, for a ten-minute stop!?”
The worker dug in her heels. “Sorry, sir. Those are the rules.”
“Rules!”Every time I visit this G%&-D#*n state I am always being nickel-and-dimed for something.”
The young worker appeared uncertain of what to say next. People in the Visitors Center were becoming uncomfortable with the language. The man huffed under his breath, “Fine! I’lll pay the fee – just tell me where the restrooms are.” The girl pointed outside. He quickly disappeared out of the building. The worker mumbled to a co-worker, “If you’re going to be that way, we don’t want you here anyway!” The wife must have heard this because at that moment she quietly put down an item she had in her hand and left the store. Neither the elderly man nor the woman returned. They would probably think very differently about all parks from that day forward.
This was a sad and unnecessary escalation that could have been avoided. Obviously, better training for the workers; improved visitor signage with larger text; or even an identified 15-minute parking area would have helped. But at any point during the escalating conversation, the worker could have sincerely looked at the man and asked, “What would you like me to do?” If the elderly man had been asked he may have responded with, I need a bathroom and my wife is looking for a gift for our granddaughter. I don’t want to pay $5.00 because we will be here for less than 10 minutes.”
This question does two things: Firstly, it identifies that you can act, or are at least prepared to act, and; secondly, it requires visitors to state what they want/need to resolve the issue.
Most people are not irrational; they can be irritable because they are uncomfortable or stressed about something besides you. This elderly man was loud and obnoxious, but these personality issues were probably exacerbated because he was very tired from a long drive and needed a restroom. The worker became a target for his frustrations. When the occasional visitor is irritable and not communicating effectively, ask:
What do you want me to do?
This question can move the dialogue from a possible confrontation back to a conversation.
Some of the most interesting places are located just a short drive off the main road. Sequoyah’s one-room log cabin in the beautiful forests and hills of eastern Oklahoma is just such a place.
The cabin is actually preserved inside a modern building. After opening the door of the outside building you enter a single open room; at the center is a hand-hewn log cabin, along with the walls, are displays about Sequoyah’s life and his work. What is nice about this exhibit is that visitors can actually step inside his cabin for a close-up view of the period furniture and items that would have been in his life. Unlike many places that hide stories from the past behind cold glass, this landmark is open, inviting and warm.
