The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-03-17
STONE TREES OF ARIZONA
Fortified Forests in the Northern
Part of the Territory
Mines of wealth for Indians Before
white Men Invaded America
Relies of n Prehistoric wilderness
-a.ufes OF Marvellous ColorinE-

Flagstaff. Ariz.-There are doze
mighty natural wonders in the resi"
traverscd by the Atchison, Topeka an
Santa Fe Railroad through New MeNic
and Arizona, on the way toward Calilor
mia. and some of them have no counter
parts in all the world. Among thes
wonders are the petrified forests OF horln
ern Arizona.
Cbnlcedony park-as the locality or tH'
principal fossiized forest is named OF
Government geological maps-lies apou
,v,,o miles north of the railroad, and may
be reached by carriage from Carrizo sta
,ion-near Holbrook. Ariz. The petritied
forest is in the midst of the great deser'
Of Anache. Fifty miles to the northeast
is the Navajo Indian reservation some
eipbtv-dve miles northwest is the Grand
C,sn,,op of the Colorado, and intervening
are the several ancient Mok pueblos
,,ar,.I,ad nm their tabIeIands or mesas of
stone.
In other parts of the United States
thor. may be found occasional petrifac-
ti,,s of unusual character. but here are
The remains of a great forest much more
ancient than the petritied forest of the
Yellowstone National Park of certain
parts of Wyoming. and Of the calistoga
drposits Of California. These latter are
of tertiary age while the Arizona forest
belongs FAR back in Mesozoic time. prob
ably To the Triassic formation. The diff
ference in their antiquity is therefore
many million years. The forest proper
covers some two square miles. but petri-
FED trees are to be seen in an area OF
fifty square miles 1t is remarkable
sight Charles Dudley Warner said that
if is a spot here the most blase globe
trotter stands in mute wonder.
with the exception of a single cotton
wood trunk the trees are of an extinct
couiferous species. They lie prone upon
the ground. The sections or ends Of the
logs show brilliant reds and yeilows and
dun blues. The bark Is not brilliant, but
DUH, and wonderfully well preserved.
Some trees show even the knots to per-
lection. Some of the petrihed logs are
four feet long They have no branches,
but the hundreds of small pieces varying
from 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 bewildering There are literally
thousands of bushels of chips that are
red moss agate, and may be beautifully
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 detail
the annual ring marks and the separation
of the bark from the trees. The stone
is of the hirdest, and takes and keeps an
Incompatible 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 Zuni Indians told the United States
surveyors about the spot whence their
polished agates came. and Col John w.
Stedman was probably the first white
man who ever looked upoa the petrified
trees nat was in 1851, and two years
later he told Of his discovery In an arti-
Gle I'm the New York Tribune" In July.
1852. jules Marceau, another United
States civil engineer, made collection
of specimens, and extensive mention is
made of il in the Government reports
The tourist and vandaI did not get at It
until near 1880, when the Atlantic and
Pacific, or Santa Fe. Railroad was built
The stone is polished and manufactured
- U
and polishing the petrifaction approaches
that Of treating diamonds. as il is calcu-
lated to be seVen-tenths the hardness OF
u diamond.
The aboriginal Indians of Arizona and
New Mexico found the petrified forest a
mine Of wealth to them ages before the
nrst 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
Tar north as Wyoming and as far south
as Zacatecas. Mexico. The NaYaios and
Zunis Of New Mexico used to make an
nuaI trips across the desert sands to
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 |
10 twenty feet long. and some of them /
must have been immense trees Measur- |
ing the exposed parts of several they va |
rled from $50 to 2p0 feet In length, and
from two to four and one-half feet i'm I
diameter
Agate bridge" is the most notable feat !
IRE IN this land Of natural wonders The (
portion Of the forest where the finest of |
he gems are found is in Apache county |
rom seventeen to twenty miles from Hol- |
brook. The bridge is a tree trunk \
transformed into the finest agate. which |
spans - chasm sixty feet wide. This
precious gem Is 10 feet long and five feet
-apering to three feet at the apex and |
I contains enough material to give la
Dor TO all the lapidaries in the world for
he next generation. This log is one of |
thousands, many of them broken into |
huge fragments. II is impossible to CON |
,eivc of the marvellous beauty of this |
-egion for the ground is covered with |
amethyst, red and yellow jasper. topaz
lnyN, carnelian. and gigantic specimens |
IF agate Of every variety-gems as big |
Is -four barrels and steam boilers
Sections Of some of the fallen trees in |
he petriled forests. several feet in di-
imeter and large enough for the tops of |
ahlrs, have been cut and polished. Not /
wen the imperial works at Elcatorin-
)Ourg. in Russia. with their wealth of |
talkansto jasper. massive malachite and |
'ther superb ornamental stones. can rival |
he beauty Of the agatized wood of Ari-
iona.
o protect this wonder from commercial
ises. From Holbrook station over 300
ons Of agate and Jasper from the petri-
led forest were shipped to stone polish
rs during the year 1896 A hotel in Den
'er had counter made of polished slabs
rom two Of the finest stone trees in the
crest Some commercial vandals have
With dynamite, blown to pieces maguifi- |
eth specimens of fossil trees to get
.ockeifm Of crystals from the heart OF
he tree. The time will come when the
Government Will police Chalcedony Park
ma protect Its treasures.
4 scientific theory concerning the pct
ifCation is to the effect that after the
crest Of pines and cedars was establish
q the basin, or valley. became a lake
This valley has an area. approximately.
4 lv by 81 miles. and Il is surrounded |
" extinct volcanoes These volcanoes
implied themselves into the lake, and the
rees became soaked with the silicious
water. SILICA tool, the place of every
Iber aud atom OF wood. The colors of
ed. brown, yellow, and purple came from
ne iron and manganese In sOlution in the
rater. All this took place before the