The Current Confederate Flag Controversy and a Memory of Beauvoir

Following the horrific Charleston church shooting of June 17, many are calling for the removal of the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia (commonly referred to as the Confederate Flag) from display at the South Carolina state capitol.

I live in California and my Southern ancestors fought for the Union (they were from the Missouri Ozarks, a region of divided loyalties, with neighbor against neighbor), so with no attachment to that flag or the Confederate cause, I'll leave the decision of the flag placement to the citizens of South Carolina. I hope they choose wisely. I note only two things. First, any argument supporting the Southern cause must square itself with the evil institution of slavery, and I'll let the Confederacy apologists twist themselves into a pretzel over that one. Second, South Carolina fired the first shot of the War of the Rebellion, making it responsible for what followed, something General Sherman did not forget when he turned his army north from Savannah.

The flag issue made me think of an October 8, 2005 afternoon in Biloxi, Mississippi. I was there on business following Hurricane Katrina. I stopped outside Beauvoir, the post-war home of Jefferson Davis, former President of the Confederate States of America, to see the hurricane damage to the house. I had seen the house undamaged, on March 2, 1986, when I walked over on a late Sunday morning from Keesler AFB, where I was attending an Air Force school. But now Army troops on guard duty kept the public from the grounds. I don't know if they were active duty, Reserve, or National Guard troops. I spoke with two of them. One was a white man in his thirties, the other a black woman in her early twenties. Both were in battle dress uniform and were unarmed. I had a short and pleasant chat with them. As I drove away, I wondered if the woman had any thoughts about guarding the house and grounds of the man who had led the nation that intended to keep her ancestors as slaves. Hopefully she took the guard duty with the same smile she gave as we talked.

Beauvoir, March 2, 1986

Beauvoir, October 8, 2005

Beauvoir, October 8, 2005

My concern here is, where does it end? There are already calls to remove the Confederate flag from license plates. Amazon has announced it will not sell items bearing the Confederate flag. At what point does this become cultural cleansing? Will the statues of Jefferson Davis and Confederate generals be torn down? It will not likely end with symbols of the Confederacy. There are nascent calls to replace the California state flag, for some find the Bear Flag of the California Republic offensive. Let's talk about this, folks. I'm reminded of Martin Niemoller's words, "First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out..." I fear the masses are embarking on a very dangerous path in their desire to correct past wrongs.

Placer Big Trees Grove

As if there aren't wonders enough in Placer County, we even have our own grove of Giant Sequoia trees. This northernmost grove was discovered by a prospector in 1855. Six Giant Sequoias are standing. One is named after a state senator from Placer County (Lardner). Three are named after Allied commanders from the Great War (Haig, Joffre, and Pershing). Two remain unnamed. While the Joffre Tree is the tallest (250 ft), the Pershing Tree (225 ft) is the largest by volume, its trunk 12 feet in diameter at breast height. These Giant Sequoia are small compared to their southern cousins.

I visited the grove on June 4th. It had been many years since my last visit.

In Foresthill I stopped by Worton's Market to consult the map, and to take in the wonder of the vast canyon of the Middle Fork American River. Nearby were about a half-dozen Forest Service workers who had stopped for supplies. With their trucks and trailers and all terrain vehicles, plus their shovels and ropes and assorted other gear, they were clearly heading out to the wilderness for some hard work. They were in their late twenties and early thirties, all men except for the one woman. From my queries I learned their job was to seal the entrances of abandoned mines. What a dream job to have.

A short distance beyond, I turned onto Mosquito Ridge Road, which follows the Middle Fork. I stopped in places to examine walls of slate twisted in crazy angles from subduction. Long ago there had been a mile or two of slate above these points, but those rocks eroded away and now fill the level Sacramento Valley.

I crossed the bridge over the North Fork of the Middle Fork of the American River. With easy access to the river, many people try their hand at finding gold around here. I've worked gravels upriver myself, but found little color. At the side of the road was a pile of camping and prospecting gear. I stopped and got out and looked out from atop the bridge. I saw the owners of the gear off in the distance, carrying more items up trail. I wondered how their luck went finding gold.

I continued up Mosquito Ridge Road. The views of the canyon were magnificent, but I had to pay attention to the road to keep from driving off it.

I left warm and sunny conditions in the Valley. The weather can change quickly in the mountains. Around Milepost 23 (I think at 4500 feet) the temperature had cooled by some fifteen degrees, and there was briefly a light rain.

I took the turnoff to the Placer Big Trees Grove, and soon reached the parking lot. Only one other vehicle was there, and the occupants (two young men with two dogs) were departing the trailhead as I got out of my truck. So with them a good way ahead of me, I essentially was alone on this half-mile trail. I took an interpretive booklet and commenced my walk. The cloud cover gave good diffused light for photography.

This grove is so far from the others that there has been no cross-pollination from outside Giant Sequoias, leading scientists to wonder if these trees have evolved their own genetic code. In the past century, Giant Sequoia plantations have been established around this area. Potentially in a thousand years Giant Sequoias will tower here and there. But the plantation trees may impact the genetics of the descendants of these old timers, and nobody knows if this is a good thing or not.

This is a grove. One can find individual trees. I once saw a lone Giant Sequoia by a remote trail, near Dix Mine in Placer County.

On the return drive I had this view of the canyon. Magnificent.

And one more picture of those twisted slates.