Emily Chan
Now, they only grow in the western region of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, which serves as their primary water source. As you can imagine, trees of this size need a lot of water to survive.
According to the National Park Service, the Sherman tree was once given the name of Karl Marx by a utopian socialist community called the Kaweah Colony, which was founded in 1886.
The group was short-lived, though, and disbanded in 1892. They supported themselves by logging and lived in the area before it was established as a park by the U.S. government in 1890.
The tree got its current name from James Wolverton, a Civil War veteran who fought on the Union Army’s side.
He became a rancher in northern California, and when he stumbled upon the massive tree, he chose to name it after the great general he had fought under, General William Tecumseh Sherman.
Thanks to their ultra-thick bark, giant sequoias are incredibly resilient. Their bark can be as thick as two feet, offering excellent protection against fire, which has become increasingly critical due to the changing climate.
For instance, the Washington tree is still standing after it was struck by lightning in 2003 and was ravaged by a winter storm that tore off its limbs in 2005.
Before suffering damage, it used to be regarded as the world’s second-largest tree, only 20 feet shorter than the Sherman. Now, it’s still standing strong at 115 feet tall.
