The article relates the life history of a member of the Roun tree family with the backdrop of the explosives industry here in Santa Cruz and other locales. The Paradise Park area first was the setting of a paper mill in 1860, using the water of the river through a flume to drive the mill operations. When the owner of the paper mill, Henry Van Valkenburgh, was killed by a falling tree branch, the paper mill was sold to John Baird and John Peck to be converted to a powder mill. In the early days, the product was black powder sold all over the county and the mill also had some history in brown powder, and nitroglycerin products. The DuPont family eventually bought the rights to the mill to add to their other manufacturing sites. The mill closed in 1914 with production of explosives moving to other sites that were easier t get to. The article also reviews the use of horses and rail lines to transport the powder down to Santa Cruz for shipping and also the use of steam and electricity as a more reliable form of power than water later on.