Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1899-09-07
AN ARIZONA WONDER.
A pGTRlFlED FOREST THAT iSA MAR
VEL OF BEAUTY.

IL Covers n Hundred Square Miles
and Is a Mass of Glittering Agate
In a BewiIdering Array of Cor
geous Coloring.
The territory of Arizona Is a vast
museum of natural curiosities, inelud-
ing many of the most wonderful in all
the world. The atmosphere, the eli
mate, the mountains, the soil, the riy-
ers, the forests are filed with phe-
nomena, many of which exist nowhere
else. In the desert, 800 miles square,
with Flagstaff as d center, are spread
ii a variety Of wonders Of which the
people Of this country have little or no
conception, but II they were ia 1t
rope or Asia thousands oi cur clt5ZeEs
would cross the ocean to see them.
Being within only W. on three d2gs
journey Of Chicago and easy Of access
by frequent trains Of sleeping and
dining cars and other modern ~luxuries
of travel, they are overlooked by the
multitude and are practically I'M
known.
To my mind, next to the Grand cam
yon of the Colorado, the most interest
ing and impressive of the natural won
ders of this great Arizona museum is
the petrifed forest, which covers near
~ 100 square miles, within easy dis
lance, either on foot or horseback,
from Billings station, on the Santa
Fe railroad, but it can be more easily
reached by carriage from Holbrook,
where better accommodations can be
found. The government explorers have
ohristened it Chalcedony park.
The surface Of the ground for miles
and miles around is covered with gi-
gantic logs three or four feet in diam
eter, petrified to the core. Many of
them are translucent. Some are almost
transparent. All present the most beau
tiful shades of blue, yellow, pink, pur-
pie, red and gray. Some are like gil
gantic amethysts, some resemble the
smoky topaz and some are as pure and
white as alabaster. AT places the chips
| Of agate from the trunks that have
crumbled lie q foot deep upon the
| ground, and 1t Is easy TO obtain cross
sections of trees showing every vein
and wen the bark.
/ comparatively kstte ef. ths aso5e has
been used in manufacturing, although
it is easy TO obtain. Manufacturing
jewelers. Of New York have made table
tops and boxes and other articles from
strips that have been sent them, and
IL the material were not SO abundant
its beauty would command enormous
prices. Where you can get a carload Of
jewelry for nothing you are not like
ly to pay high prices for il.
A birds eye view of the petrified for
ests on n sunny day suggests n gigan-
tie Kaleidoscope. The surface Of the
earth resembles an infinite variety of
rainbows. The biologists say this great
plain, now 5000 feet above the sea,
was once covered by a forest, which
was submerged for ages In water
strongly charged with minerals, until
the fbers on the trees we're thoroughly
soaked and transformed into eternal
stone. Many OF the trunks are still
packed in a deposit OK fine clay. which
was left by the receding waters. but
the erosion Of the wind has pulyerized
much OF the clay and carried it off In
the air, exposing the secrets that ma
ture buried under its surface.
One great tree spans a deep gulch 40
feet wide. Ii lies where 1t fell cen
turtles, perhaps ages, & and is a most
beautiful specimen of petrified wood.
The rings and the bark al be easily
traced through the translucent agate,
and 1t Is firm enough and strong
enough TO last rs many centuries as 1t
has already spent in its peculiar posi-
tion. 1t Is undoubtedly the only
bridge OF agate In the world and alone
Is worth a long journey TO see.
The indians Of the southwest used
to visit the petrifed forests frequent
ly to obtain agate for their arrow and
spear heads, and the material was
scattered over the entire continent by
exchange between the different tribes.
from the isthmus Of Panama to Ber-
ing strait. The great deposit here ex-
plains where all the arrowheads OF
moss agate came from and other
weapons and implements Of similar
material that are found In the Indian
mounds and graves Of the central and
WeStefu STATES. IN the StOuc axe the
agate Of the petriied forest was the
very best material that could be OBJ
tanned for both the implements Of war
and peace Of the a~borigines. A scalp
Ing knife could be made very easily
from one Of the chips Of agate and
could be ground to n very fine edge.
Many crystals were used for Jewelry
and ornaments also.-Chicago Record.