The largest tree ever cut by humans was the General Noble Tree, a giant sequoia (
Sequoiadendron giganteum) from the Converse Basin Grove in the Sierra Mountains of California, USA. Contemporary reports suggest it stood 285 ft (86.9 m) tall and had a diameter of 19 ft 6 in (5.3 m) at a height of 52 ft (15.8 m) off the ground at which the cut was made (with the aid of specially built scaffolding tower), though at the base this increased to a diameter of 26 ft (7.9 m) and a circumference of 81.5 ft (24.8 m). General Noble s total volume is estimated to have been around 1,250 m3 (44,140 cu ft) according to big tree hunter Wendell Flint. It was felled in August 1892 for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition held in Chicago, Illinois, which celebrated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ famous voyage across the Atlantic.