Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1899-10-21
AN ARIZONA WONDER.
A PETRIFIED FOREST THAT is A MAR
VEL OF BEAUTY.

1t Covers n Hundred Square Miles
and Is n Mass of Glittcring Agate
In BcwiIderinE Array of Cor
SeOus COIOrinE.
The territory of Arizona IS vast
museum of natural curIosities, includ-
ing many of the most wonderful in all
the world. The atmosphere. the CHI
mate, the mountains, the soil, the riv-
ers. the forests are filled with phe-
nomcna, many of which exist nowhere
else. In the desert, 300 miles square,
with Flagstaff as a center, are spread
out a variety of wonders ofMhich the
people of this country have little or no
conception, but if they were in Eu-
rope or Asia thousands of our citizens
would cross the ocean to see them.
Being within only two or three days
journey Of Chicago and easy of access
by frequent trains of sleeping and
dining cars and other modern luXurics
Of travet, they are overlooked by the
multitude and are practically un-
known.
To my mind, next to the Grand can
yon of the Colorado, the most interest
ing and impressive of the natural won
ders of this great Arizona museum Is
the petritied forest, which covers near
ly 100 square miles, within easy dis
tance, 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 accommodation can be
found. The government explorers have
Christened 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 gi-
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 foot deep upon the
ground, and it Is easy to obtain cross
sections of trees showing every vein
and even the bark.
Comparatively little of this agate has
been used in manufacturing, although
1t 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
If the material were not 50 abundant
I I
prices. Where you can get carload of
jewelry for nothing you are not like
ly to pay high prices for it.
A birds eye view of the petritied for
ests on sunny day suggests gigan-
tic kaleidoscope. The surface of the
earth resembles an infinite variety Of
rainbows. The geOlOgists say this great
plain, now 5000 feet above the sea,
was once covered by forest, which
was submerged for ages in water
strongly charged with minerals, until
the fibers of the trees We're thoroughly
soaked and transformed into eternal
stone Many OF the trunks are still
packed in a deposit of fine clay, which
was left by the receding waters, but
llc tlOSlOtI VI tlIC " Illtl lltto pllN Vi iHNu
much of the clay and carried it off in
the air, exposing the secrets that ma
ture buried under It's surface.
One great tree spans deep gulch 40
feet wide. 1t lies where it fell cen
turtles, perhaps ages, ago, and is most
beautiful specimen of petritied wood.
The rings and the bark can be easii!
tp1nn1 thrpnUh thn lunpnt tn
and 1t IS firm enough and strong
enough to last as many centuries as it
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 petrified 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 e.
plains where all the arrowheads Of
moss agate came from and other
weapons and implements of similar
material that are found in the Indiai
mounds and graves of the central and
western states. In the stone age the
agate of the petrified forest was the
very best material that could be OBJ
tanned for both the implements of war
and peace of the aborigines. A scalp
ing knife could be made very easily
from one of the chips of agate and
could be ground to very fine edge.
Many crystals were used for jewelry
and ornaments also.-Chicago Record