Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1890-07-29
IN 4 FOREST oe sronE.
A Wonderful show Of Petriaed wood IN
u C0lorisao valley. s

A Wonderful Show Of Petrided Wood IN
COiorndo valley.
The petfiEed forest at Florisssut IL 10.
Gated IN green valley "a mile and a hali
from the station The road 70 it leads
south from the railroad, rising over the
rolling hills in gentle slopes and disclosing
new and beautiful views at every turn. To
| the east and north rise the green slspes OF
the divide. eliminating on the cast in the
SNOW capped summit of Pixies Peak To
the north, about five miles, Crystal Peak
stands out, Il sharp cone, from among a
cluster Of wooded hills rising in round ter
races 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 horiz5n, marking the
backbone Of the continent.
Everywhere along the road may he found
little chips Of petrilied wood, either dropped
there by curiosity hunters or scattered
from the remains Of some stump in the vi
entity.
After going up and down through sew
eral little valleys the road descends n
rather steep grade to the valley where the
forest" is located. The valley is broader
here than elsewhere, and here and there,
scattered over the bottom and on the lower
slopes Of the surrounding hills, are little
mounds of white petFified chips marking
the spots where the tops Of the stumps
reach the surface Only one of the stumps
has as yet been entirely uncovered, and to
this most of the visitors go first. Il is ON the
edge of small grove of pine on the west
side Of the valley. Over it is a rough scat
folding, from which are suspended several
saws still deeply imbedded in the stump.
Several years ngo, when the Midland was
first opened, some one conceived the idea
OF transplanting the stump to Manitou,
but it was found that it could not pass
through the tunnels on the road. He then
commenced to saw it into vertical slabs.
which he thought could be put together
afteTward. Tho 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 penetrated, and
there they stuck.
The stump is about IS feet in circumfer-
ence and II feet high Its 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 all OF it shows distinctly the grain
and peculiarties 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 there
are found little fbers which the silica did
not for some reason reach, but thes,
crumble to dust when touched. The tire,
has been identified as belonging to thu
same family as the giant trees of Cali
fornia.
Across the valley from the large stump
is another ono almost as peculiar. 1t is !
large blush black stone, which is made OF |
thousands Of pieces of petrifed charcoal |
in u solid mass None of |
the pieces are over an inch in length. and |
how they became thus knit together is |
likely to remain mystery.
The place, in its present condition, will |
fully repay visitor, but the expenditure
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 u great point of at
traction for curiosity and pleasure seekers.
The forest is reached by ride of thirty
six miles on the Colorado Midland over
The divide Colorado Springs Gazette.