The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1900-03-17
Wonders of Chalcedony Park
From the Arizona Graphic.

agate Bridge" is the chief wonder of that
marvellous dream known as Chalcedony Park
or the peirifed forest of Arizona The por-
ton of the forest where the finest gems are
found is in the Apache county. from seventeen
to twenty miles from Holbrook. on the Santa
Fe Railroad.
The ''bridge" Is tree trunk, transformed
into the finest agate, which spans a cbasin
sixty feet vide. This precious gem is ITO
feet long. four feet in diameter al the base,
tapering to three feet at the apex, and it con-
tains enough material to give labor to all the
lapidaries in the world for the next generation.
This log il one OF the thousands, many of
them broken into huge fragments, which 1T
ter the ground 10 an area Of above 100 square
miles. The area of that portion Of the park
containing the agate bridge is confined 10
| few miles. 1t is impossible to conceive Of the
marvellous beauty of this section, for the
ground is covered with amethyst, red and yell
To-" jasper, topaz, onyx, carnelian and gigan-
tic specimens Of agate Of every variety. IF
The gems in TiffaDy's could be increased to
to the size of -four barrels and steam boilers,
multiplied by l,000, 900 and scattered over
Manhattan Island, the result would give fair
idea Of ChaIcedony Park.
The primeval forest has not lost mach of
its beauty, although the human vandal has
been there, and with dynamite has destroyed
logs Of priceless value, in their original form,
10 get pocketful of crystals from the heart
CT the tree. The beauty and interest of the
spot will not be wholly destroyed by the pre-
sent generation, and the time will come when
the Government will police Chalcedony Park
and protect its treasures.
The Indians have known the forests since
their beginning, and it was here they found
material for their precious arrow tips. They
call he. ssohsu Tbn
white man discovered it when the United
States Pacific Railroad was surveyed along the
thirty fifth parallel early in the SOS. Jules
Marceau, the geologist of the survey. made n
collection of specimens, and extensive men
ton is made of it in the Government reports
The tourist and vandal did not get at it until
near 1880, when the Atlantic and Pacific, or
Santa Fe, Railroad, was built. The first
specimens of the wood seen by the general
public was at the New Orleans Exposition, in
1885. A display was made in Paris in 1889,
and again in Chicago in 1893. The only
place where the stone is polished and manu-
featured is al Sioux Falls, S. D.. and re-
cent newspaper says this company is engaged
in getting out 81 900, 600 worth Of ornaments
and iewelry for sale at the Paris Exposition
! Of 1900. The cost of cutting and polishing
the petrifaction approaches that of treating
diamonds, as it is calculated to be seven-tenths
the hardness Of diamond.
The scientific theory concerning the petri-
faction is TO the effect that after the forest of
pines ana cedars was established, the basin
or valley became lake. This valley has an
area, approximately, of 100 by so miles, and
il is surrounded by extinct volcanoes. These
volcanoes emptied themselves into the lake,
and the trees became soaked with the sIlici-
Gus water. SILICA took the place of every
fibre and atom of wood. The colors of red,
brown, yellow and purple came from the iron
| and manganese in solution III the water. All
| this took place before the existence of the
| Grand Canyon Of the Colorado. When ma
ture formed that big ditch the lake was
| drained, and the water, in its rush TO the
northwest, leyeed the stone trees, breaking
them off as smooth as if they had been sawed.
This sustains the theory that the trees were
petrifed where they grew.
The fact that nearly all of the fallen trunks
| lie in one direction, and TO the northwest.
suslains the theory that the lake emptied to
the northwest and into the Grand Canyon.
A few ages of erosion after the draining of the
lake brings the forest down to the present
day, and has left some strange freaks. One
big tree trunk protrudes over the brow of n
| cliff, looking like cannon on a fort. An
other has been left balanced on n column of
stone, presenting great .'T.
S. j. Holsinger, special agent Of the Gov
ernment Land Office, has recently returned
from the petri6ed forest, where he went to in
vestigate the ACCESSIBILITY Of forming national
park Of the region. He will report favorably
on the project, and will advise that terri
tory eighteen miles by nine miles be included
in the park. In this area lie four different
groups, or forests, of fallen trees, although it
does not include all of the groups Of petri-
factions in the valley. Mr.. Holsinger says
there are millions of tons of the agatized wood
in the proposed park territory. He measured
many tree trunks, which were 165 feet long
and as large as feet in diameter. He says
that one group of petrifactions, locally known
as Rainbow Park" is the most remarkable
spectacle of color he has ever seen, and so
dazzling was the effect of the sunshine on the
brilliant confusion of stone fragments that
dizziness of his head compelled him to sit
down. At Carrie, the station on the Santa
Fe nearest the petrifactions, he learned that
the Sioux Falls Company had ordered a
carload of the stone to be shipped to the
| factory.