Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-01-21
EVENING STAR FRIDAY, JANUARY 81 1sse-1e PAGES
IN a FOREST Of STONE
rnf Fswhss Tells of.,a. Hsmonbl. E1.
ploratioas e
One Of the Marvels 81 Mature, He says,
Which Should De Reserved
by the GovernMent.

Prof ]. Walter FewkeS Of the National
Museum Is Of the opinion that the petri-
| fed forest Of Arizona should be reserved
| by the government by all means in much
the same manner as the beauties Of Vel
| lowstone Park are preserved. The profess
SCR says that the forest il really one of the
marvels Of nature, and he was astounded
when he visited 1t on his trip to Arizona
| last summer. He was greatly interested In
| his visit to the forest and made two ex-
| cursions there for the purpose Of visiting
| them. He said to Star reporter:
''The place is about fifteen miles from
Holbrook, Ariz. There are really three for
l.csts close together, the extent of which is,
| as near as l could judge, about 100 acres
They are in what Is known as the bad
lands of Arizona. The trees lie in forma-
lions of clay, which underlie some more
recent formation. When the layers of the
clay wear out it seems as if the roots of
the trees are below. When the clay disap-
pears from the top surface, the trees APP
pear. The butts of the tree are several
feet in height. 1 measured one which look
ed higher than my head and which EXTEND
ed 100 feet in length. They are all colors
other parts Of the tree are perfectly pre-
served. The petrifaction has evidently
been carried on by liquid mixed with slick
flowing on the trees and finally taking the
place of the wood as it disappears. None
CT the trees is standing up, all being in an
recumbent position.
THE clay formed on the trees and the
infltration of the slick took place. They
tumbled down, and when the clay was
taken away some of them were exposed in
the banks. The clay by the way,is a variety
or black adobe l went out to the place
10 visit ruin which was there, and from
which l expected to get some valuable
specimens, but it yielded little or nothing
Looking down from an elevation in the for
est peculiar sight Is presented. The clay
is formed in ridges and the whole looks
like the back of some horrible monster. In
one place noticed a gulch with a log ly-
Ing across the top making a natural bridge
The bark on the trees, the roots, the knots
where the branches begin, and everything
was perfectly shown. The colors are beau
t1ful and the exterior appearance even diff
fers. The trees belong to an old flora.
My idea Is that where the clay Is not
worked out, there are probably a number
of other forests similar to this I have lust
described. The trees are close together,
lying in all sorts of positions. Some of the
like thick cart wheels. We took hold of
one of them, Weighing probably ton, and
rolled 1t down hill, where we watched it
crash into a lot of other logs. We brought
several small specimens out with us. The
supply there Is almost inexhaustible UNI
derstand the trees are on the government
land. but they have been staked out to
some extent. believe,.aby persons who
want to have claims there. Some of them
wish to polish the material up into different
objects The forest, however, should be
preserved as government property.
The Indians are fond sof preserving
pieces of the fossil wood. AT Walpf, the
village of the Moqui tribe, 4 saw a piece
OF the wood In shrine devoted to the
earth god" Y-ni