part of Fresno County and included the headwaters of the Fresno River. However, a 1957 discovery of a soldier's diary revealed that a small detachment of the Mariposa Battalion had passed through the grove during the Mariposa War in 1851. The grove is now named for John A. Nelder, known as the "Hermit of the Fresno Forest" by John Muir. Nelder, who came to California during the 1849 gold rush, filed a homestead claim for 165 acres within the grove in 1874 and built a cabin near its largest tree the following year. Muir wrote about Nelder and the grove for The Atlantic Monthly in 1878, later including it in his book Our National Parks. John Nelder was killed in 1889 when a fire consumed his cabin. His son inherited his estate and deeded it to the Madera Flume and Trading Company in 1892. Timber era Nelder Grove was subjected to extensive logging in the late 19th century. The Madera Flume and Trading Company logged 277 mature sequoias, each measuring over four feet in diameter, between 1880 and 1892. Many of the surrounding trees, including sugar pines, ponderosa pines, white firs, and incense-cedars were also clearcut. The logging process in the grove was grueling, with horse and oxen teams hauling heavy wagons of logs to the mill. The arrival of a Dolbeer single spool donkey, a steam-powered winch, made the work easier in later years. Due to a lack of water in the grove, a long gravity tramway was built to transport the lumber to the Soquel log flume, which then transported it to the Madera lumber yards, before it finally reached the national market via the Southern Pacific Railroad. By 1897, the area close to the mill had been completely logged, and the last sequoia in Nelder Grove was cut. In 1928, the Madera Sugar Pine Company transferred the land to the United States Forest Service, which placed the grove under federal protection. Noteworthy trees The Nelder Grove is home to several giant sequoias that are notable for their size and history. Nelder Tree: The largest tree in the grove, named after homesteader John Nelder who built a cabin near its base in 1875. Measuring it's the 22nd largest giant sequoia in the world. Forest King: This giant sequoia was cut down in 1870 and toured the United States as an exhibition tree. The stump was rediscovered in 2003.