Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1884-12-18
FOSSIL FORESTS.
Huge Trees Turned 10 Stone-A He
markablc Scene i'm Arizona.

Lithodendron City as yet does not fig
ure on the maps Of Arizona, writes
correspondent of the New York Eceniag
Posi-. 1t dwells in the minds eye of a
mixed lot composed of laymen and sci
entists, who have pitched several tents
on the banks Of the Lithodendron river,
and, baptizing the spot with the limpid
waters, have christened it Lithodendron
City, only to jump the claim on the fol
lowing morning and found another city
Of the same name at night, perhaps thirty
miles away, so that Lithodendron is al
most anywhere along the banks Of that
river that flows quickly along, ike some
laggard that has fallen behind the times
and, as if abashed, is stealing on through
scenes that bear the stamp Of long ago
One evening, as Lithodendron had
been founded about the fiftieth time,
Milesian gentleman, who formed one of
the assistants to the scientific corps Of
investigators, was requested to bring in
some wood for the practical purpose of
boiling coffee. Half an hour passed,
and then the woodcutter appeared with
wild look on his honest countenance.
ssNow, amt it curious thing, he com
menced, pointing to the ak, that looked
as if it had been dulled purposely with a
file 1D'ye know, general, forninst in
the old dart, Father Malone, long life to
his worship, told me av counthry be-
yand the says where the trees and the
cattle were all turned to stone. It's
jokin' ye air, says I. Yell live to see
the day I'm not, says Father Malone
and more power to him, I've done that
thing. I'll produce me resignation av
yer honor'll give me pin and paper and
some one to white; Pm on the home
track the very night. Matterl Look at
the AK livery piece of wood butts turned
to stonei The first bit of av a tree l
found, l laid off me coat, fetched it a
blow, when it flew out Of me hands, and
the tree let out stream of light half a
mile long. 1 tried five, an each one
was harder than the other, and in the
bush was stone birds a-sleepin' on the
limbs, and each twig weighed ton"
Pat was thus the first to discover a
feature of the valley that formed one Of
the quests of the party, namely, the ia
nous fossil forests that have been the won
der Of every one who had visited this
region.
The slope Of the river, here about fifty
feet in height, presents a remarkable ap-
pearTnce. Not green object is to be
seen, but all about, strewn here and there,
some erect and others PROSTATE, lie myr-
lads Of pieces of strong trees, limbs,
trunks and branches of fiint-like hard
ness-the remains Of once mighty for,
est. So thick are these IL some places
that one can almost imagine that this il
the bed Of some creek with all its pol
ished boulders laid bare, only that tht
remains have all the structural beauties
that characterized them when alive
The cause of the wholesale destruction
of the stone forests is undoubtedly du,
to the extremes Of heat and cold thai
have snapped them off and hurled then
to the ground. The soil here is soft anC
sandy, with some clay, perfectly adapted
to the preservation Of the remains. Tht
size of some of these trees shows tina
many of them might have compared will
the extent sequoia Of the National park
One trunk was 225 feet long and abou
five feet in diameter, and so finely pre-
served and photographed in the rock, a.
it were, that until the ak glanced from
its fint-like bark and sparks Of fire fol
lowed, one could hardly realize tn.
change that had taken place. The trunk
that are broken show remarkable fea
lures and company, il is said, has beel
organized to cut them up into various
articles of ornament, which when pol
ished present marvelously beautifu
surface The color Of the wood is pre-
served, and veins of the richest red rul
here and there, anon changing to yellow
gray or blue The remarkable colorins
has given rise to some curious and erro
neous impressions in the mind of tn
noble red men principally Navajoes
that summer in the locality. They hav,
q legend that their forefathers were
vast and powerful race and that thel
conquered mighty giant that lived OIL
the Lithodendron. The fossil trees the,
consider his bones or parts Of the skeleton
and the red stains and even the lava bed
the blood which ran from him.