Tree tragedy

When A.M. Dibble first mapped out his homestead on the outskirts of present-day Red Bluff in 1852, the two factors that most likely determined its location were the nearby Sacramento River and a gigantic valley oak—even then estimated to be more than 200 years old—that provided protection from the elements for Dibble’s adobe home and accompanying outbuildings.

But on Sunday morning (July 13), several limbs from the same tree that long helped shade the site, which is now known as William B. Ide Adobe State Historic Park, simultaneously failed, falling on the famed mud-brick house and other nearby structures.

“Several of the buildings are pretty badly damaged, and the adobe house received the brunt of it,” California State Park ranger Kirk Coon, the park’s supervisor, said at the site Monday. “There’s extreme damage to the structure, the walls are bowing out a bit and the roof has collapsed on one whole side of the building. There are also several artifacts inside we need to remove and account for.”

Also damaged were the site’s smokehouse, workshop, pump house, well and fences surrounding the garden and animal enclosures.

“The only good side is that nobody got injured, and we’re very fortunate about that,” Coon said, noting there were several people visiting the park when the limbs fell at about 9:15 a.m., including a professional photographer, Jessica Crawford, who captured pictures as the disaster unfolded (the photos are visible on the Friends of William B. Ide Adobe State Historic Park’s Facebook page).

Cleanup was slow-going Monday, as about a dozen uniformed state park employees labored in triple-digit temperatures to clear away smaller pieces of debris. Coon explained the larger branches, one of which still sits atop the main house, couldn’t be cleared from the sensitive archeological/ historic site until senior park officials arrived from Sacramento to inspect damage later in the week. Arborists had likewise not examined the tree since the incident, and the reason for the tree’s sudden demise remains a mystery.

“Right now we just don’t know why the tree failed, it’s all just conjecture,” Coon said, noting winds have been mild in recent weeks and he was unaware of other environmental factors that could have caused the branches to fall. He also said the state made several efforts over the years to keep the tree alive, including regular inspections, cabling of the limbs and frequent trimming and maintenance.

“The tree is more than 350 years old, and it has seen a lot of people come in and out of this park and this area,” Coon said, his voice filled with reverence for the damaged giant. “You could look all over this valley and be hard-pressed to find another one as old and big as it was. It’s survived as other trees fell to fires, infestation and root rot.”

Ide Adobe is divided into two areas—the historic section where the tree fell and a park-like day-use area surrounding the visitor center. The historic area was secured by park employees after Sunday’s incident and will remain closed for an undetermined period of time, while the rest will remain open as usual.

During the school year, the park is a field-trip destination for elementary- and middle-school students who visit from as far away as southern Oregon and the Bay Area. During these trips and at special events, costumed docents and volunteers host interpretive, interactive crafting and history lessons about life in early California. Though he never lived in the adobe or owned the land the state park sits on, the site is named after William B. Ide, a California pioneer who was president of the short-lived Bear Flag Republic in 1846 (see “A grave undertaking,” Newslines, June 5).

One of the site’s biggest annual events is Adobe Day, which is held the third Saturday of every August and this year falls on Aug. 16.

“Adobe Day is one of our main concerns at the moment,” Coon said. “We’ve got less than 30 days until it happens and we hope to have as many of the buildings as we can safe and back open. The adobe itself obviously won’t be ready by then, but hopefully some of the other buildings will.”