In 1905, William Kent and Elizabeth Thacher Kent bought 611 acres of Redwood Canyon for $45,000, as timber companies were clearing neighboring forests.
Three years later, the North Coast Water Company sought to dam the canyon, sparking a legal battle that threatened the grove’s survival.
Kent appealed to Gifford Pinchot, who forwarded the case to President Theodore Roosevelt, who accepted the donation in January 1908 and proclaimed the 295‑acre tract Muir Woods National Monument.
The monument has since protected the redwoods for more than a century, with recent efforts restoring Redwood Creek and hosting a 2014 BioBlitz that mobilized 320 volunteer scientists.