The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-03-17
STONE TREES OF ARIZONA
Petrilied Forests in the Northern
Part of the Territory
Mines of wealth for Indians before
white Men Invaded America
Relics of n Prehistoric Wilderness
-a-ntrS of Marvellous Col"rihs-

-A=HtrS OF harNeio"S
IlaestaT. Arlz.-There are dozen
mighty natural wonders in the region
traversed 10y the Atchison, Topeka ana
Santa Fe Railroad through New MeNi0'
and Arizona. on the way toward Call'oi
mia and some Of them have no counter
psrrs i'm all the world. Among
wonders are the petrified forests OF noF'i-
ern Arizona. ~. - .bo
C,balcadonv park-as the locality OF tie
,,rincipal fossilized forest is haiil'u -,
Government geological maps-hes ABOUT
~, miles north Of the railroad anu may
lao reached by carriage from Carrlzo sta
,ion-naar Holbrook. Ariz The petrlheu
forest is I'm the midst of the great desert
Of Apache. Fifty miles TO the northeast
is the Navajo Indian reservation some
.f,bty-riy4 miles northwest Is the Irahu
,,-,,,.,,, ,r the Colorado. and intervening
,ro the several ancient Moh pueblos
,,.r.raa ON their tabielands or mesas OF
stone. --..-,, S-atas,
d, other PARTS Of the United states
.l,.ra may be found occasional petrilaS-
7f,rs of unusual character, but mere are
tbs remains of great forest much NOR
ancient than the petrined forest OF the
,-.rr.,,.st,r. National Park. of certain
NJ .UIElIlEs Ait'A VIZ N'-N
da,,.sits of California. These latter are
~. ..,rr,r,- age while the Arizona forest
I..fores far back in Mesozoic time. prob
al.fy to the Triassic formation The diff
terence I'm their antiquity is therefore
,,,,r,- million wears The forest proper
covers some. two square miles, but petFl-
fed frees are to be seen in an area OF
dftv sousre miles II is remarkable
sight Charles Dudley Warner said thdt
If is a spot here IN, most biase Slooe
t~ott.r stands in mute wonder.
with The exception of a single cotton
wood trunk the trees are of an extinct
couiferaus species. They lie prone upon
the ground. The sections or ends OF the
logs show brilliant reds and yellows and
duh blues The bark IS not brilliant, but
dull. and wonderfully well preserved.
Some trees show even the knots TO per
lection. Some of the petrified logs are
four feet long They have no branches,
but the hundreds of small pieces varying
from a couple Of inches to one foot in
diameter are probably the remains OF
branches.
Here and there are heaps Of chips from
the petritied trees, and their beauty Of
color is hewilderins. There are literally
thousands of bushels OF chips that are
polished. There are many times more
chips OF amethyst. grey topaz. and vari-
ous-hued agates. showing the grain of
the trees as they grew millions of years
ago. one may obtain cross-sections of
fallen trees showing in completest detan
the annual ring marks and the separation
of the bark from the trees The stone
is Of the hardest and takes and keeps an
uncomfortable polish
Thousands Of pounds of pieces from
these trees turned TO agate have been
sent all over America and Europe to be
polished and solo for ornaments.
The Zuui Indians told the United States
surveyors about the spot whence their
polished aSates came. and Col John W.
Stedman was probably the first white
man who ever looked upoa the petrifed
trees. 3 nat was in 1851, and two years
later H. told Of mis- discovery IN an arti-
Gle ip the New York Tribune" In July
1852. jules Marceau, another United
States Civil engineer made a collection
OF specimens and extensive mention is
made IF il in the Government reports
The tourist and vandal did not get at It
until near 1890. when the Atlantic and
Pacific. or Santa Fe. Railroad was built
The stone is polished and manufactured
at Sioux Falls. s. d. The cost of cutting
and polishing the petrifaCtlOn approaches
that Of treating diamonds. il is Calcu-
lated 10 be seNen-tenths the hardness Of
= diamond.
The aboriginal Indians of Arizona and
New Mexico found the petrified forest a
mine Of wealth to them ages before the
first white man saw America Jewelry
charms. idols. arrow points. pestles and
various weapons made of the beautiful
chips from the stone trees may still be
found. centuries old. among the tribes as
far north as Wyoming and far south
as Zacatecas Mexico. The NavajOs and
Zunis OF New Mexico used to make an
nual trips across the desert sands 10
the trees Of agate. and the articles made
from the polished attractive stone were
eagerly trade for by the other tribes in
the Southwest
The action Of heat and cold has broken
most OF the fossils into sections from two
TO twenty feet long, and some Of them
must have been immense trees McaSur-
ing the exposed parts Of several they va
rled from 10 TO 21J feet in length. and
from two TO four and one-half feet in
diameter
Agate bridge Is the most notable feat
ure in this land Of natural wonders. The
portion 81 the forest where the finest Of
the gems are found is in Apache county.
from s-vrnteen 10 twenty miles from HOl-
brook The bridge Is tree trunk,
transformed into the finest agate. which
spans Chasm sixty feet wide This
precious gem IS 10 feet long and Eve feet
three inches in diameter at the base.
tapering 10 three feet at the apex, and
It contains enough material to give la
bOr to all the iapidaries in the world for
the next generation This log Is one OF
thousands. many Of them broken into
huge fragments. u is impossible to CON
ceivc Of the marvellous beauty Of this
region. for the ground is covered with
amethyst. red and yellow Jasper. topaz
onyx. carneliau. and gigantic specimens
of agate Of every yariety-gems as big
AS -four barrels and steam boilers.
Of coll 1F1
the pctrited forests, several feet In di-
amater and large enough for the tops 81
tables have been cut and polished. Not
even the imperial works at EIcatorin-
bourg, in Russia with their wealth OF
kaIkausto jasper, massive maiaChlte. and
other superb ornamental stones. can rival
the beauty Of the aga tlzed wood Of Arr
ZOua.
The Government has been called upon
10 protect this wonder from commercial
uses From Holbrook station over 30
tons of agate and jasper from the petri-
fed forest were shipped 20 stone polish
ers during the year 1896. A hotel IN Den
yer had a counter made Of polished STAT
from TWO OF the finest stone trees in the
forest Some commercial vandals have
with dynamite. blown to pieces magnih-
Cetu specimens of fossil trees to get a
pOcketfl OF crystals from the heart Of
the tree. The time viii come when the
Government viii police Chalcedony Park
and protect it's treasures
s scientific theory concerning the pct
riHcariou is 10 the effect that after the
forest of pines and cedaTs was establish
aS. the basin. or valley became a lake
This valley has an area. approximately
Of 1p1 by 50 miles and Il is surrounded
bv extinct volcanoes These volcanoes
empii-d themselves into the lake and tins
trees became soaked with the silicioUs
water. SILICA took the place Of every
fiber aud atom Of wood. , ne cOlors al
red brown. yellow, and purple came from
the iron and manganese iu solution in III
water All this took place before tn,
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