The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1885-01-03
Cur 0lio.
THE STONE FOREST.
rom the N. Y. Ecening Post.

| minds eye of mixed lot composed of lay
| men and scientists, who have pitched sey
: eral tents on the banks of the LithodendroI
: river, and, baptizing the spot with the limpie
3 waters, have christened it Lithodendror
City, only to jump the claim on the follow
ing morning and found another city of the
same name at night, perhaps thirty mile:
away, so that Lithodendron is almost any
where along the banks of that river that
, flows quickly along, like some laggard that
has fallen behind the times, and, as il
abashed, is stealing on through scenes that
bear the stamp of long ago
, One evening, as Lithodendron had been
, founded for about the fiftieth time, Mile
sian gentleman, who formed one of the as
ssistants to the scientific corps of investiga-
tors, was requested to bring in some wood
for the practical purpose of boiling coffee.
Half. an hour passed, and then the wood
cutter appeared with wild look on his
honest countenance. 'sNow amt it a
curious thing he commenced, pointing to
the axe, that looked as if it had been dulled
purposely with file, "D'ye know, Gen raj,
forninst in the old dart, Father Malone,
long life to his worship, told me of a coun-
thry beyand the says where the trees and
the cattle were all turned to stone. 1ts
jokin' ye air, says l. 'Ye'll 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 II
give me pin and paper and some one to
write I'm on the home track the very night.
Matter? Look at the axe Divil piece
of wood butts turned to stone The first
bit av tree | found | laid off me coat an
fetched it blow, when it few out av me
hands, and the tree let out a stream av
light half mile long. l 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 a. ton"
Pat was thus the first to discover a
feature of the valley that formed one of the
quests of the party, namely, the famous
fossil forests that have been the wonder of
every one who has visited this region
The slope of the river, here about fifty
feet in height, presents remarkable ap-
pearance. Not green object is to be seen,
but all about, strewn here and there, some
erect and others PROSTATE, lie myriads of
pieces of strong trees, limbs, trunks and
branches of fint-ike hardness-the remains
of once mighty forest. So thick are these
in some places that one can almost imagine
that this is the bed of some creek, with all
its polished powders laid bare, only that
the remains have all the structural beauties
that characterized them when alive The
cause of the wholesale destruction of the
stone forests is undoubtedly due to ex-
tremes of heat and cold that have snapped
them off and hurled them to the ground
The soil here is soft and sandy, with some
clay, perfectly adapted for the preservation
of the remains, The size of some of the
trees shows that many of them might have
compared with the extant sequoia of the
National Park One trunk was 225 feet
long and about five feet in diameter, and
so finely preserved and photographed in the
rock, as it were, that until the axe glanced
from its hint-like bark and sparks of fire
followed, one could hardly realize the
change that had taken place.
The trunks that are broken open show
remarkable features, and company, it is
said, has been organized to cut them up
into various articles of ornament, which,
when polished, present marvelously beau
tiful surface The color of the wood is
preserved, and veins of the richest red run
here and there, anon changing to yellow,
gray or blue. The remarkable coloring has
given rise to some curious and erroneous
impressions in the mind of the noble red
men principally Navajoes) that summer in
the locality. They have legend that their
forefathers were vast and powerful race,
and that they conquered a mighty giant
that lived on the Lithodendron. The fossil
trees they consider his bones or parts of
the skeleton, and the red stains, and even
the lava beds, the blood that ran from him.
In almost every case where the centre of
these tfees is broken open or laid bare there
is seen a magnificent display of quartz
crystals, extending from every side toward
the centre, that glisten like diamonds in
the warm sunlight. The appearance of
things when tons and tons of this material
are lying about in chaotic confusion can
better be imagined than described.
The exact age to which this ancient forest
belonged is not definitely known, but it is
doubtless several hundreds of thousands of
years old, dating back to time prior to the
glacial period 1t was from this locality
that the Smithsonian collection was taken.
Some specimens were also found in the
vicinity of Fort Wingate and on the Meusa
river near the fort They were hauled to
the railroad at Santa Fe, New Mexico, and
so shipped by rail to Washington. These
stone forests form feature of several To-
calities in this country, as well as various
parts of the East A visit to the East
Fork of the Yellowstone will amply repay
the trouble in getting there, and in the
vicinity of Amethyst Mountain will be
found one of the most famous stone forests
ever discovered. To reach it the trail leads
up the valley of the East Fork, through
one of the most attractive regions of the
Western country. For miles the stream
wanders through fiat meadow lands, where
one can imagine the beaver must have
sported long ago, and from the sides the
land rises in grassy terraces much as it
does in some places in Connecticut. To
the south rises the so-called Amethyst
Mountain, and to the far north the rugged
peaks of the Yellowstone range pierce the
sky in never-ending variety.
To the geologist the locality is one of
extreme interest. The underlying stratum
is granite, and upon the top of this are
piled limestone strata to depth of at least
5000 feet. Amethyst Mountain is part
of this, mass of material deposited in what
has been termed the volcanic tertiary
period. Wherever this deposit has been
cut into by rivers in vertical section the
exposed part displays the various strata
that constitute its makeup, and are so
many leaves upon which the past history
of the locality is recorded. At point op-
posite the valley of Soda Butte Creek there
is section of such exposed strata, about
three-fourths of a mile in height and nearly
mile and quarter above the level of the
sea, that shows with distinctness layer after
layer of an ancient forest. From dis
tance the upper strata resemble the ruins
of some gigantic temple, with myriads of
columns rising here and there Lower
down the slope, in places, is fairly covered
with the trees that are piled in heaps,