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The World's First RV Carved from One Redwood Log
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by Kay Grant
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Chances are, you don't spend much time thinking about the origin of RVs. You're just happy to jump into yours and take off down the road. Today's RVs have just about every comfort you could want. But it wasn't always so. Made in 1914, the Travel Log, carved from a single redwood tree, was probably the first RV, and it had few comforts.
California's stately redwoods have stood tall for thousands of years. The giant trees, some of which reach 300 feet, have inspired countless poets, musicians, environmentalists, and at least one vaudevillian.
Charles Kellogg, a popular performer, wanted people to see the magnificent trees and to save these gifts of Nature, for logging was claiming them at a frightful pace. He spread the word by making a fallen redwood into a rolling home.
Dave Stockton, Executive Director of the Humboldt Redwoods State Park (HRSP) Visitor Center, where the historic vehicle is exhibited, says, "Kellogg got two axemen from Pacific Lumber, and it took four months to carve the RV. The carvers had to eat 12,000 calories a day. That's how hard the work was."
Kellogg did the interior cabinet work himself. He had a bed, table, tiny closet and some shelves. He cooked outside by campfire. The Travel Log has a small sink and toilet but no running water.... and no tank to hold water. Harry Pritchard, Vice President of Humboldt Redwood Interpretative Association (HRIA) says, "It's a mystery where the water tank was because there is no sign of it anyplace."
Stockton estimates the weight of the vehicle at about 9500 pounds. It is 9'9" high, 6' 1/16" wide, 19'4" long and 11 feet in diameter. The interior is about 5'8" high and the gas tank holds 26.7 gallons.
The driver's cab is large but quirky. To get behind the wheel, it helps to be a contortionist. Swing one leg around the tall brake and gearshift levers, hunch down and twist your body into place onto the upholstered bench, then let the other leg do the same dance.
Straight-ahead vision is impaired, and a child or animal could stroll in front of the moving vehicle without the driver knowing it. With no mirrors, there is no way to see what is behind, beside or around you other than leaning far out the window.
The top speed is 5 mph and the solid rubber tires provide no traction. "It's a rough ride and your teeth chatter," says Pritchard, who knows.
How would you like to drive THAT across the country?
Charles Dennison Kellogg did just that. He drove it around the USA four times on his vaudeville tours as a performer who sang (not whistled) bird songs.
Kellogg's mother died soon after he was born in 1868 in the high Sierra mountains and his busy father had little time for him. Raised by a Native American woman and a Chinese man employed by his father, his love of nature came early.
He was born with unique vocal cords with which he could reproduce bird songs. It is said that he sang to bears in the forest to calm them as the bears walked toward him. The Visitor Center plays an RCA Victor recording from 1901, Serenade, by Kellogg, "The Nature Singer." It is listed as "orchestra with bird voices." For five months of the year, Kellogg made a good enough living performing that he could spend the other seven months enjoying nature.
Kellogg drove the Travel Log for the first time in the fall of 1917. In 1931 he retired, sold the truck and gave the redwood shell to two sisters who took care of him. They used it as a sewing room until 1994, when they donated it to HRIA.
HRIA restored the vehicle with the help of Pacific Lumber Company carpenters in 1999. Dan Goodner, PLC Head Carpenter, remembers: "We had no blueprints, so all we had to go by was photographs. We had to determine from the lines of the log how the rest of the cab was built and how we had to repair it."
HRIA bought a 1914 Nash 4-wheel truck from the Hays Truck Museum in Woodland, California, so the log could be back on wheels.
With restoration completed, the Travel Log was driven to the tiny town of Weott, where it was put into the HRSP Visitor Center, along the picturesque Avenue of the Giants in one of the country's most scenic areas. The sun darting through the cathedral of tall trees projects stained glass mosaics on the road.
After you have paid homage to Kellogg's creation, drive your modern RV four miles north to Founders Grove for a short loop walk among the redwoods, and see the fallen Dyerville Giant (its diameter is about 30'). Victorian Ferndale, a charming nearby town, was the model for Legoland in Southern California. Its main street is lined with boutiques and art galleries and the Victorian architecture is delightful.
Eureka, the largest city in Humboldt County, offers many attractions. Ray Hillman of Pride Enterprises Tours provides architectural and historical tours of Eureka and the redwoods. The Morris Graves Museum of Art is in the first Carnegie Library that was built. Its octagon lobby has a large skylight, redwood pillars and mosaic floor. Children will love the Redwood Discovery Museum, with a myriad of hands-on activities. Most interesting is the Shadow Wall, where your shadow remains after you leave. Tour Blue Ox Millworks, a working Victoriana job shop (one of only eight remaining in the US). They use antique equipment to recreate Victorian decorative furniture. Considered to be the most photographed Victorian in the area, the Carson Mansion draws many lookers. The handsome 1922 Eureka Inn is a nice place to relax by the pool with iced tea or enjoy their redwood lobby.
Hungry? The Samoa Cookhouse is the best known restaurant in the area. Food is served family style at long tables. A small museum sits off the dining room. Rolf's, two miles north of Orrick, near an elk preserve, serves a German Farmer's Omelet for two that is probably big enough for four. The Scotia Inn, a charming old hotel and restaurant in Scotia, serves upscale meals. Their bread pudding with caramel sauce is yummy. In Ferndale, Curley's Grill is an unpretentious but excellent caf￩ with individual alcoves that you can close off for privacy.
The area abounds with RV parks and campgrounds, among them the Redcrest RV Resort near Weott, the spacious, clean Quality Inn & Mad River RV Park in Arcata and the comfortable Dean Creek Resort at Redway, on the Avenue of the Giants.
Humboldt County is indeed redwood country and one feels humbled in the presence of these mighty giants. Go and see for yourself. Free color travel planner: (800) 346-3482, www.redwoodvisitor.org
* As published in the WINTER 2005 issue of Country Coach Destinations
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