The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1900-05-30
TNE PETRIFIED FOREST.
MAY MAKE ARIzoNA's oNDES-
land A NATIONAL PARK.
,,,. Once The Oceans Bed, And
Dates Back Millions OF
Years Before Man.

a,ickened in the peIrlHeu loiooO Va
trigona. and there appears to be every
li1,Iibood of it's being withdrawn from
ontrv by congressional action for the
,,,nnose of creating it into national
bark saws a Washington dispatch 10
tbo New York Times. Probably no
Mace on the American continent pos
sossps more interesting scenic features
or instructive geological fields than
tbis wonderful forest OF Arizona terri
torv In fact, the petrified forest IN
rrvnt if is asserted, cannot compare
with it.
The forest includes an area OF ten
miles square, in the northwestern sec
ton of Apache county and only few
miles from the town of Holbrook'
Adaman1a a small settlement on the
Santa Fe Railway, is the nearest rail-
wav station, from which majority OF
siobtseers go to the forest. 1t Is
namad after an old man, Adam Hanna,
the only inhabitant noted in its i'm
mediate vicinity, upon whom falls the
dutv of guiding and shelteripg IN his
humble home those desiring to sec the
curiosities of the forest. Were 1t not
for the small sums the old man picks
up in this way, it would be Impossible
for him to exist, for the land is wholly
unsuitable for grazing, nor is it capa-
bic of supporting any vegetation what
ever, The bed of the forest is vast
desert of sandstone and worthless ex-
eept as a government reservation.
The Arizona petrifed forest proba-
blv dates back to the Triassic terrane,
or the early part of the Mesozoic for
nation, millions of years before the
age of man, and it is probably second
in antiquity to the coal felf 5 in
America, which are of PalaeozOic
time. The three great geological ages
are classified as Palaeozoic, Mesozoic
and Cenozoic, dated back 100000 or
5O,OO0,0On years, 100000 years and
100000 years respectively. During
the MesozOic time the American con-
tinent is supposed to have been cover
ed over by q vast ocean but undOubt-
edly near some former land, from
which the trees of the petrifed forest
were washed down and lodged on the
bottom of the Mosozoic ocean. 1t was
then that the silicification began, but
it must be remembered that these
trees did not become silicifed by ma
lures slow process in a few years, as
are razor homes petrified "to order"
in Scotland. The huge logs of wood
gradually became logs of stone while
lying at the bottom of the ocean. They
must have been completely covered
with wet, sticky, soapy mud and sand,
properly called silica, which subse-
quently sifJed into the tree, taking the
place of wood, which was gradually de-
caying. AS fast as a grain or the
smallest particle of grain of wood de-
cayed, precisely the same quantity of
SILICA was forced into the opened cell,
and in this systematic way, after years
and years of time, with all natural
conditions favorable, SILICA took the
place Of wood and former log of wood
became log of stone of the very hard
est formation possible.
By the time this inversion was com
oleted, the American continent, then
Che ocean bed had been raised 5000 or
s'VOo feet, The ocean had partially
LEG up, leaving the region of the
oesfined forest in the center of a des-
b ~ This area was since supposed to
Ian oasis, where tropical plants grew
;Siii1,u,[iiantly; a stream of water ran rap
10y through it, as is indicated by the
''" rms gulches and ravines.
!! his field with it's numerous inter-
o o@olng features has already gained
;t eau popularity, and the many visi-
- -voro VINO are attracted there every
ear express great satisfaction at its