A tunnel was cut through the tree in 1881, enlarging an existing fire scar. Two men, the Scribner brothers, were paid $75 for the job (equivalent to $2,274 in 2022). The tree had a slight lean, which increased when the tunnel was completed.

In 1881, the Wawona Tree, a massive Giant Sequoia in Yosemite National Park's Mariposa Grove, was famously tunneled through to create a tourist attraction. The Yosemite Stage and Turnpike Company paid two brothers, the Scribners, $75 to enlarge an existing fire scar into a 7-foot wide by 9-foot high tunnel. This allowed horse-drawn carriages—and eventually early automobiles—to drive directly through the living tree. The "Tunnel Tree" became a global sensation and a symbol of early American tourism, featuring in thousands of postcards and family photographs. While the tunnel was an immediate success in drawing visitors, it severely compromised the structural integrity and health of the 2,300-year-old sequoia. The tree finally succumbed to its weakened base and an exceptionally heavy snow load in February 1969, crashing to the forest floor. Today, it remains where it fell, now known as the "Fallen Tunnel Tree," serving as both a decaying mini-ecosystem and a historical monument to an era when conservation efforts were often secondary to the creation of dramatic, and ultimately destructive, tourist spectacles.