The Sully County watchman. (Clifton, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1894, 1888-08-18
A PETRlFIED FOREST.
one OF Arizona's wonders-A Region
strcwn with Agatizcd Wood.

| wan hLhttzcu "OOu.
On our way thither through Arizon,
says Pasadena letter, stoppcd 1.-THE
petriiied forest. | left the Atcbison,
Topeka and Santa Fe at Holbrook, en-.
gagged cowboy and horses, and start.
ed Mt $3.50 am. After riding about 80
or 30 miles we reached a CANYON, and
following this mile or so found our
selves among the most wonderful
works of nature | have ever seen. At
this point the canyon is very rocky, vet
every rock, large or small, is n piece
OF agatlZed or petriiied wood On one
SIDE the transformation seems to have
been OF the ordinary kind. and we find
| perfect specimens of petritied wood,
showing the bark and in some instanc-
es even the rings of growth In some
| places protruding from the earth NAV
be seen the trunks of trees. branches.
ana even roots, so complete has been
the change. In other places sections
OF fossil trees have from exposure at
last been broken up by the action of
the elements. Often the fragments of
the stone resemble perfectly, both in
color and in structure, the natural
wood, showing the grain, sap, and the
knots of the original tree. At first
picked up two splinters a foot long
and not more than three-eighths of an
inch in thickness and struck them to-
gether to be sure that they were not
real wood, but they flew to pieces and
| was convinced.
But by far the most interesting side
of the canyon is the side where the
u te
most abundant it is found for miles
in every direction, and TO the south as
far rs the eye can reach the country is
dotted here and there with what ap-
pear to be short saw logs). On this
side the trees must have grown closer,
for the ground is covered with trunks
of trees ranging in length from 8 to 10
feet and in diameter from | to Z feet
(mostly about = 1-2 TO feet in dame
ter). The agatized wood seems by its
process of transformation to have lost
its grain rs well rs natural color, and
the only apparant likeness which
think these rocks bear 10 tree of this
age (beside their cylindrical shapc) is
that in all instances the sap is Of a
darker color, showing that dccomposi-
ton probably affected it while the
heart or wood of the tree remained
sound. Also in many instances the
rings of growth, being very thick, are
marked by lines of cleavage. You
would think it strange if Mt every step
you were treading on pieces of beauti-
fully colored agate, but in this CANYON
II You are not stepping on pieces it is
because you are on one piece; it is all
agate. | did not 20 prepared to bring
back specimens. To tell the truth |
found a Winchester rifle and n six-
shooter were enough to carry, but it
was impossible To come away without
bringing something, so we took the
sack that held oats, and that oat sack
is now in my satchcl enclosing about
90 pounds of Arizona. | have pieces
of the roots, bark, sap, branches, pitch
and best OF all a cone, TO prove that
these trees arc closely allied To if not
the identical eucalyptus tree of to-day.
In one place fossil trunk spans a ra-
vine so feet above a running stream.
The bridge thus formed is % feet long.
The tree trunk is exposed over 80 feet.
This tree was the longest unbrokcn see
ton and varied from 3 - tcct in di-
amcter ut the base to = l-2 feet where
the top disappeared in the ground.
There was nothing to show that
branches had been broken of and but
one knot was visible. The tree was
perfectly straight, and compared with
the rest was scarcely as large as an
average sized tree.
Would not this have been IA paradise |
for lumber camp before nature got a |
claim on the limit? But | suppose |
some entcrprsing man will soon take |
up the tract and commence the manu- |
facture Of everything from tabletop |
to a cuil-button. In fact, before reach |
ing Holbrook was told a New York |
firm had bought up the tract (thus get
ting corner on agatized woody and
were about 10 develop it,