Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1885-11-06
THE NATIONAL PAR .
Description of P.triied Mounta'- -os Re-
markable Geological Curiosttiss.

Description al fetrihcd NounthF~ Tvs He-
markabie Geological Curios'tiss.
San Francisco Post: II will natur-
ally be asked, what is "Petrified Noun
tainY" II is an immense mountain
near the northeast corner OF the park
lying between the forks of the Yellow
stone n few miles above their junction.
1t was called "Petrilied Mountain" by
prospectors several years before it
was seen by DIR. Hayden, who seems
to have considered himself called upon
TO rechristen it, which he did, giving it
the more poetic name OF Amethyst
Mountain" Junction Valley is one
of the most beautiful regions OF the
park. The valley along the east fork
is particularly attractive. rtwenty
miles it is very broad, Astounding in
grassy meadows and delightful parks
On the north side rises the massive
range of Yellowstone Mountains, and
on the south is Petritied or Amethyst
Mountain. Riding along he trail at
the base of this mountain. one IL as
tOnished to see great numbers OF pet
ritied logs OF remarkable size and
beauty. In places the side OF the
mountain is covered with them. About
ten miles above the mouth OF East
Fork this mountain rises very
abruptly over 1000 feet above
the level OF the stream. The
face is succession of steppes,
varying in thickness Upon these
steppes the petrihed trunks stand out
like the columns OF n ruined building.
q al Nr
short, seldom more than six feet In
height, but few were four or five
times as tail Fallen trunks are
found over fifty feet in length. Prof
w. II. Holmes, in his report on n ge-
illogical survey made by him in 1878,
says: cone upright trunk OF gigantic
proportions rises from the mclOsing
strata to the height OF twelve feet.
BY cartful measurement ii was found
to be ten feet i'm diameter, and as
there is nothing 10 indicate to what
part of the tree the exposed sections
belongs, the roots may be lar below
the surface, and we are free TO mag
inc that there is buried here worthy
predecessor OF the giant sequoias OF
California. Although the trunk Is
hollow and partly broken down on
one side, the woody structure is
perfectly preserved the grain is
straight and the circles OF growth dis
tinctly marked. The bark which still
remains on the tirmer parts, is four
inches thick and retains perfectly the
original deeply lined outer surface.
The strata which inClose this trunk
are chiefly tine-grained greenish sand
stone, indurated clays and moderately
coarse conglomerates. As would ma
turally be expected, these strata con-
tain many vegetable remains; branch
es, rootlets. fruits and leaves are eX-
tensvely inclosed.' In many cases
the trunks are changed TO agate and
opal. and i'm the cavities OF partially
decayed trunks are found beautiful
crystals of quartz and calcity OF differ
ent colors Many beautiful amethysts
are found, suggesting. doubtless, the
name TO tn. mountain. Nothing Is
more apparent than th9t there Is an
immense scdimentary deposit OF many
different ages, of hundreds perhaps
thousands OF years each. First, upon
the granite base was made calca-
reous deposit from 800 to 800 feet
thick. Then nature CHANGED its mode
OF operation and Ne-ctation sprang
up. AccorC ny to the indisputable
fossil record this continued hundreds
OF year, ' Then s,. stbAfgmg qn5 alpod:
est, which became stone. Then anoth-
er ace OF vegetation, succeeded by an
other age OF deposition. changing al
to stone ! counted an even dozen oil
these vegetable strata, distinctly sep
= arated by strata OF Sedimentary rock.
Petriiactions are found along the
streams and upon the rougher sur
faces, over an area OF perhaps nifty
square miles