St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-11-10
A PETRIFIED WONDER.
The Great Forest of Petrifiet
Wood Near FIorissant. Col.

The Great Forest of Petrified
Wood Near FlOrissant, Col.
Colorado Springs Gazette.
The petrified forest at Florrissant is
located in a green valley mile and
half from the station. The road to it
leads south from the railroad, rising
over the rolling hills i'm gentle slopes
and disclosing new and beautiful views
at every turn. To the east and north
rise the green slopes of the divide, cul-
mnating on the east in the snow-capped
summit Of Pixies peak. To the north,
about five miles, Crystal peak STANDS
out, sharp cone, from among cluster
Of wooded hills rising in round terraces
to Its base. Far to the west, over the
intervening mountains and park. may
be seen the snowy range, perpetual
wall of snowy white on the horizon,
marking the backbone of the continent.
Everywhere along the road may be
found little chips of petrified wood,
either dropped there by curiosity hunt
ers or scattered from the remains of
some stump in the immediate vicinity.
After going up and down through sew
eral little valleys, the road descends
rather steep grade to the valley where
where the ''forest'' is located. The val
ley is broader here than elsewhere, and
here and there, scattered over the bot
tom and on the lower slopes of the sur
rounding hills, are little mounds
OF white petrified chips mark
ing the spots where the tops of the
stumps reach the surface. Only one of
the. Stumps has as yet been en-
tirely uncovered. and to this most of
the visitors go tirrt. 1t is OH the edge
of small grove OF pine OH the west
side of the valley. Over it is rough
scaffolding, from which are suspended
the stump. Several years ago, when
the Midland was first opened, some one
conceived the idea of tranSplantlng the
stump to Manitou, but it was found that
it could not pass thrOug h the tunnels
of the road. The saws sunk easily in
the top Of the stump for about two feet.
when they encountered hard silica, to
which the outside air had not yet pc ne
trsted. and there they stuck.
The stump is about fOrty-five feet in
circumference and twelve feet high. It's
shape is perfect; the buttreSsed roots,
the knots and the irregularities OF the
bark are all there. as distinct as those
on any Of the pine trees close at hand.
The wood varies greatly. While ali of
it shows distinctly the grain and Pc
culiaritieS of pine wood, there are some
pieces which are as hard as flint and
white as marble, while others are soft
and almost like natural wood. BY
pulling off pieces of the petrified wood
here and thele are found little fibers
which the silica did not for some reason
reach, but these crumble to dust when
touched. The tree has been identified
as belonging to the same family as the
giant trees of California.
Across the valley from the large
stump Is another one almost as peculiar.
1t is large bluish-black stone, which
is made of thousands Of pieces of petri-
fed charcoal, conglomarated in solid
mass. None of the pieces are over an
inch in length, and how they became
thus knit together is likely to remain
geological mystery.
The place in its present condition will
fully repay a visitor, but the expendi-
ture of few thousand dollars by the
town of Florissant in securing title to
the land, digging out the stumps and
grading the grounds would make it a
very great point of attraction for curios-
ity seekers. The forest is reached by
ride of thirty-six miles Oh the Colorado
Midland, over the divide.