The red cedar flourishes on fertile and well-watered soils near sea
level, where it grows to an enormous size. In the park it is a smaller
tree, 150 to 170 feet high and rarely more than 4 or 5 feet through
above the swollen butt. It grows occasionally up to an altitude of 4,000
feet, but is a small and insignificant tree in the high mountains.
In the sapling stage the red cedar grows rapidly. The mature tree
increases very slowly in size. It exceeds all other trees in the
Cascades in longevity. Individuals more than 500 years old are not
uncommon and there is a well-authenticated instance where the annual
rings indicated a growth of more than 1,100 years.
While the red cedar forms no great proportion of the forest of the
Pacific Northwest, it is peculiarly valuable to the pioneer on account
of the durability of the wood and the ease with which it can be split
into boards, shakes, and planking. The early settlers used cedar split
by hand as a substitute for sawn lumber in flooring and finishing their
cabins and for the tables and shelves with which they were furnished.
The Indians hollowed the great trunks with fire and made them into
canoes, some of which were large and seaworthy enough to be used on the
Sound and in making voyages along the coast. They wove the fibrous roots
into baskets that carried water and plaited the bark into matting. The
wood of the red cedar is reddish brown in color. It is soft, light, and
very brittle, but very durable. It is extensively used for shingles, the
manufacture of which forms one of the important industries of the State.
The clear logs are sawed into lumber used for siding, interior and
exterior finish, moldings, tank stock, and similar purposes. Common logs
are utilized for shingles. In many localities the entire tree is cut
into 52-inch bolts, which are hauled to the mills or floated to them
down the streams.
The western red cedar makes excellent posts and rails for farm fences.
The young trees are used for telegraph and telephone poles.