The Wasp — 1878 — page 425: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page from *The Wasp* appears to showcase California's famous giant sequoia groves as tourist attractions. The illustrations depict: 1. **Top**: A massive hollowed-out tree serving as a tunnel for a steam locomotive 2. **Middle**: Visitors walking through and around giant trees; a train passing through a tree tunnel 3. **Bottom**: A river scene with fallen logs among the forest The page celebrates these natural wonders as marvels of the American landscape, likely promoting tourism to California's redwood regions. The repeated imagery of transportation (trains, carriages) threading through the enormous trees emphasizes how these groves were being developed as accessible destinations for leisure travelers. This reflects late 19th-century American fascination with "conquering" nature through infrastructure while simultaneously marketing pristine wilderness.