Andrew Putnam Hill (August 9, 1853–September 3, 1922) was a Californian painter and photographer best known for successfully leading an effort from 1899 to 1902 to save a forest of large redwoods in

Big Basin Big Basin Redwoods State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of California, located in Santa Cruz County, about northwest of Santa Cruz. The park contains almost all of the Waddell Creek watershed, which was formed by the seismic uplif ...

, California, as a public park, the first in what became the

California State Park System The California Department of Parks and Recreation, more commonly known as California State Parks, manages the California state parks system. The system administers 279 separate park units on 1.4 million acres (570,000 hectares), with over 280 ...

Life and career

Hill was the only child of Elijah and Jane Hill, both of whom were descended from early American settlers."Andrew P. Hill," ''Scenes along the Line of the San Jose & Los Gatos Interurban Railroad: Photographs by Andrew P. Hill'', San Jose, California: San Jose Historical Museum Association, 1994, , pp. vii–ix, p. vii. Born on August 9, 1853, in Porter County, Indiana, he came to California with his uncle when he was fourteen; his father had come West shortly before Andrew's birth but died of exhaustion and exposure after surviving an Indian attack.Leonard McKay
"Andrew P. Hill: He saved the Redwoods,"
Victorian Preservation Association of Santa Clara Valley. Although a Protestant, he studied for two years at the Catholic Santa Clara College, (now

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...

) in Santa Clara: one year at high-school level and one at college freshman level. Forced by lack of funds to leave, he worked as a draftsman, then entered the California School of Design in San Francisco (now the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...

) in 1875. In 1876 he opened a portrait painting business in San Jose with Louis Lussier, continuing solo after Lussier's death in 1882. In 1889, he opened the Hill and Franklin Photography Studio and Art Gallery with J. C. Franklin. When Franklin left a year later, he partnered with his mother-in-law, Laura Broughton Watkins, as the Hill and Watkins Photographers Studio."Andrew P. Hill," p. viii. For three years they were joined by watercolor artist

Sydney J. Yard Sydney Jones Yard (November 5, 1855 - January 2, 1909) was an American painter who became one of the most famous watercolor artists in the United States, and the first professional artist to settle in the new community of Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif ...

. In the

earthquake of 1906 At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensity sh ...

, Hill's studio and the works there were destroyed, as was his painting ''The Murphy Party'', which hung in the historical room of the California Pioneers Association in San Francisco and depicted the first settlers crossing Sunset Pass. He then turned to absentee management of a goldmine in Calaveras County, with little success, but continued to paint and photograph out of his home. Hill married Florence Maria Watkins of Santa Clara in April 1883. They had three sons, the first of whom died in infancy. Hill died in 1922.

Big Basin

In 1899, Hill was commissioned by the English '' The Wide World Magazine'' to photograph the scenery at what is now called Big Trees Grove at Felton in the

Santa Cruz Mountains The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States. They form a ridge down the San Francisco Peninsula, south of San Francisco. They separate the Pacific Ocean from ...

after a forest fire had been put out with wine from a local winery. He had an altercation with the landowner, who demanded payment for allowing photographs of the Coast Redwood ('' Sequoia sempervirens'') trees and told him that they "were destined to become firewood and railroad ties."Jeff Jones, "Henry Cowell History," excerpted a
The Creation of the Park
Henry Cowell Redwoods SP, California State Parks. At the turn of the century only 25% of the old growth Redwood forests remained. Hill vowed to save the redwoods for posterity. In his memoirs, he wrote of this decision:

I was a little angry, and somewhat disgusted, with my reception at the Santa Cruz Big Trees. It made me think. There were still fifteen minutes until the train time. Just as the gate closed, the thought flashed through my mind that these trees, because of their size and antiquity, were among the natural wonders of the world, and should be saved for posterity. I said to myself, "I will start a campaign immediately to make a public park of the place." I argued that as I had been furnishing illustrations for a number of writers, whom I knew quite well, that there was a latent force, which, when awakened to a noble cause, would immediately respond, and perhaps arouse the press of the whole country. Thus was born my idea of saving the redwoods.

His attention shifted to Big Basin when it was suggested that the redwoods there were taller and more important. On May 18, 1900, while camping there, he and others founded the

Sempervirens Club Sempervirens Fund, originally established in 1900 as Sempervirens Club, is California's oldest land trust. Founder Andrew P. Hill’s goal was to preserve the old-growth forest that became Big Basin Redwoods State Park, the first California sta ...

, which decided that Big Basin should become a public park. Many prominent locals supported the effort, including Santa Clara College's president, Robert E. Kenna, S.J.,

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

's president,

David Starr Jordan David Starr Jordan (January 19, 1851 – September 19, 1931) was the founding president of Stanford University, serving from 1891 to 1913. He was an ichthyologist during his research career. Prior to serving as president of Stanford Univer ...

, the mayor of San Francisco,

James D. Phelan James Duval Phelan (April 20, 1861 – August 7, 1930) was an American politician, civic leader, and banker. He served as nonpartisan Mayor of San Francisco from 1897 to 1902. As mayor he advocated municipally run utilities and tried to protect ...

(Kenna's nephew), and

Carrie Stevens Walter Carrie Stevens Walter (April 27, 1846 – April 26, 1907) was an American educator and poet who was a co-founder of the Sempervirens Fund, Sempervirens Club, a California environmental organization. She had much to do with the purchase of the San ...

, who later served as secretary of the club. After nearly two years of lobbying legislators in Sacramento, California, in which Father Kenna's persuasion of the Catholic members, who were then in the majority, was crucial,"Andrew P. Hill," p. ix. and after securing a monetary guarantee from Phelan, a bill that allocated $250,000 to purchase the Big Basin land passed. These were enormous sums of money at the time. Supporters secured a second $250,000 from private benefactors and, with the state, created California's first state park, California Redwood Park, now Big Basin Redwoods State Park and now encompassing over of protected temperate rainforest lands. Father Kenna was appointed one of the first park commissioners. The park opened to camping in 1904. Hill spent summers there and photographed the trees until his death. He had a photography store there and in 1911 ran for park warden.

Death

Hill died on September 3, 1922, in Pacific Grove, California, at age 69. His ashes were scattered at Big Basin Redwoods State Park "at the foot of the redwood monarch which will have the honor of forming his monument."

Legacy

Hill was unable to achieve financial success, leaving his family less than $900 at his death, "but Andrew P. Hill's name and strenuous efforts will forever be associated with the preservation to the state and to humanity of the beautiful California Redwood Park",Andrew P. Hill, Pioneer of Santa Clara County
transcribed from

Eugene T. Sawyer Eugene Taylor Sawyer (November 11, 1846 – October 30, 1924) was a newspaper editor and author of dime novels, particularly for the ''Nick Carter'' series. Biography Sawyer was born on November 11, 1846, in Bangor, Maine; the son of Henry K. S ...

, ''History of Santa Clara County, California, with Biographical Sketches of the Leading Men and Women of the County who Have Been Identified with its Growth and Development from the Early Days to the Present'', Los Angeles: Historic Record, 1922, , p. 355, online at The Valley of Heart's Delight, Santa Clara Research.net. among the last 3% of old growth Redwood forests remaining today. As stated in

's history of Santa Clara County, "Mr. Hill had a public duty to perform, and he went at it with a singleness of purpose which has made men conquerors of fate since the beginning of time." In the book ''Big Basin Redwood Forest'' by Traci Bliss, Hill's photographic contributions to saving Big Basin Redwoods State Park are highlighted along with revealing the significant roles women played in this endeavor.” The California State Parks named the Hill Award for Inspiration after him. The Victorian Preservation Association of Santa Clara Valley bought his San Jose house in 1995, moved it to History Park at Kelley Park, and has fully restored it.

Andrew P. Hill High School Andrew Putnam Hill High School is a public secondary school, magnet, International Baccalaureate World School, and located in the Edenvale neighbourhood of San Jose, California, United States. The school opened in 1956, and educates approxima ...

in San Jose is named after him.Carolyn De Vries, "Andrew P. Hill and the Big Basin, California's First State Park," ''San José Studies'' 2, November 1976, pp. 71–92
p. 71

References

Sources

* Carolyn de Vries. ''Grand and Ancient Forest: The Story of Andrew P. Hill and Big Basin Redwoods State Park''. Fresno, California: Valley, 1978. * Carolyn Gallant de Vries. "Andrew Putnam Hill: Biography of an Artist-Conservationist". Thesis, Santa Clara University, 1975. *

. ''History of Santa Clara County, California, with Biographical Sketches of the Leading Men and Women of the County who Have Been Identified with its Growth and Development from the Early Days to the Present''. Los Angeles: Historic Record, 1922. . Chapter 20 on Redwoods State Park, online a
Historical Account of Andrew Hill's Effort to Create California's First State Park
Pelican Network, an

SFgenealogy.org * Robert W. Piwarzyk and Michael L. Miller. ''Valley of Redwoods: A Guide to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park''. Felton, California: Mountain Parks Foundation, 2006. * ''The Soul of Sequoia''. Grand Opera by Don W. Richards (author) and Thomas Vincent Cator (composer). Sempervirens Club of California. San Jose: Hillis-Murgotten, 1919.
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