Not matchsticks, shingles and most didn't shatter, only some. they cut them into 24 foot sections and used oxen and horses/mules plus steamdogs to move them to nearby mills that cut them down to shingles and they were shipped over the mountains to towns and larger waterways where they became things like the city of San Francisco.

Please do not spread the matchsticks myth. It's insulting the trees and to to San Francisco and other impressive mausoleums of these once noble organisms.