General Grant tree

[

General Grant tree, Kings Canyon National Park] The General Grant tree is the largest Giant Sequoia in the Grant Grove section of Kings Canyon National Park. It was named in 1867 after Ulysses S. Grant, Union Army general and the 18th President of the United States (1869-1877).

President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed it the "Nation's Christmas Tree" in 1926. On March 29, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared the tree a "National Shrine", a memorial to those who died in war. It is the only living object to be so declared. [cite web
url = http://www.sequoia.national-park.com/info.htm
title = Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Information Page
author = National Park Service
accessdate = 2007-03-06 ]

The tree is the second largest tree in the world after the General Sherman as of 2005 when the Washington tree which was previously second place lost half it's trunk.

Once thought to be well over 2,000 years old, recent estimates point to a much younger age closer to 1,650 years. [cite press release
url = http://www.werc.usgs.gov/news/2000-12-06.html
title = World's Largest Tree is Younger Than Once Thought
publisher = U.S. Geological Survey
date = 6 December 2000
accessdate = 2007-03-06 ]

tatistics

See also

* List of famous trees

Notes

External links

* [http://www.nps.gov/seki/grantwlk/gg1.htm Virtual Grant Tree Walk]
* [http://www.nps.gov/seki/xmastree.htm General Grant: Our Nation's Christmas Tree]
* [http://www.nps.gov/archive/seki/bigtrees.htm The top 30 giant sequoias]
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