The Travel-Log – Myers Flat, California - Atlas Obscura

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The Travel-Log

Humboldt Redwoods Interpretive Association
Myers Flat, California

A vaudeville performer mounted this hollowed-out redwood log onto the chassis of a truck, and toured the country spreading a message of conservation. 

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Charles Kellogg was a popular Vaudeville singer from northern California known for his impeccable imitations of bird songs sung from the throat instead of by whistling. When he would return home, he would see his beloved redwood forests under threat, and thought of a new way to spread a message of conservation. 

In 1917 the Pacific Lumber Company donated a fallen redwood trunk 11 feet in diameter from their lands and Kellogg cut a 22-foot section to mount onto a Nash Quad chassis. The log weighed three tons, and a tunnel had to be dug underneath so that it could be mounted. Kellogg would use the Travel-Log to tour and inform his audiences and the media about the need to conserve the California redwoods.

Kellogg passed away in 1949, and his family and friends kept the Travel-Log stored as his former home until it was donated to the Humboldt Redwoods Interpretive Association in 1995. It would be restored through community efforts and fundraisers in 2000, and the Humboldt Redwoods State Park Visitors Center would be remodeled to house the unique mobile home, which was driven across the country to help keep the California redwoods standing for future generations to look up to.

Know Before You Go

The Humboldt Redwoods State Park Visitors Center is open from May to September 9 AM - 5 PM, and from October to April  10 AM - 4 PM Wednesdays through Sundays.  

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December 20, 2021

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