Siskiyou County’s National Christmas Tree, 1986

By Kathy Graves

The 1986 National Christmas Tree was a 54-foot Shasta Red Fir from the Klamath National Forest in Siskiyou County, California. The tree’s theme was “Mother Goose Christmas.”  President Reagan, along with his wife Nancy and Justice Byron White, lit the tree at the White House.

A man known as “Big Ed” ran the Ken-Del Christmas Tree ranch in Tennant, California. His nephew, Michael Stonecypher, won a falling contest to fall the famous tree.  Big Ed showed them how to take down a tree of that size with no damage to the tree.  

For Michael Stonecypher, it was not a true felling of a tree, but a gentle letting down, while it was braced by the blade of a cat to then be hooked to a crane.   Michael did a buck cut so it would fit on the trailer.   Ed and Michael, and a whole bunch of others did a truly amazing job in getting it down and onto the trailer.  It was an amazing day – Michael got a “pullin “ as he called it (chain saw) and prize money.  The chain saw is in the Smithsonian..

Michael Stonecypher was the one, along with his uncle, “Big Ed,” who were professionals in taking down big and small trees.  Onlookers on the day who witnessed the soft landing said it was a great day for the small-town community of Tennant and for Siskiyou County .

People still remember the commemorative mugs, shirts and Christmas ornaments, while children in the county created ornaments to go with the tree.  We suspect some of those items might still be packed away in closets.

-photos are from the Siskiyou County Historical Society and Yreka Preservation’s Meamber Collection

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