Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-04-06
IN A PETRIFIED FOREST
HUGE TREES CONVERTED INTO
BEAUTIFUL AGATE.
j. N. PuIver, Who Led q Party Through
This Arizona Wonderland,
Tells of Discoveries.

Flagstaff Correspondence Of the Chicago Record
Results of Investigations in the wonderful
petrif1ed forest in the northern part of
Arizona have been reported by Dr. J. N.
Pulver and party of scientists who have
been studying the geological formations of
that part Of the territory for several
months. The remains of the ancient forest
are in the heart of the San Francisco
mountains.
Agate bridge is the most notable fea-
ture in this land Of natural wonders The
portion Of the forest where the finest of
the gems found is in Apache county,
seventeen miles from Holbrook. The
bridge Is a tree trunk. transformed into
the finest agate, which spans a chasm
sixty feet wide. This precious gem is 40
feet long and five feet three inches in
diameter at the base, tapering to three feet
at the apex, and contains enough material
to give labor to all the Iapidaries in the
world for the next generation. This log
Is one of thousands, many Of them broken
into huge fragments. 1t is impossible to
conceive Of the marvellous beauty of this
region, for the ground is covered with
amethyst, red and yellow jasper, topaz,
onyx, carnelian and gigantic specimens of
agate Of every variety-gems as big as
flour barrels and steam boilers
Fine Group of Big Logs.
DR.. Pulver reports that there is a fine
group Of big logs in the foothills. about
twelve miles east Of Winslow, and prob
ably forty-five miles distant from the agate
bridge. He was hunting lost horses when
he came upon sandstone cliffs, notable be-
cause of their unusual perpendicularity.
These cliffs have worn away, leaving ex-
posed huge trees, which may be observed
from distance of mile or more from the
valley, standing out in bold relief, like the
pillars OF some ancient temple. A closer
View shows these trees to be from four to
six feet in diameter, and often twenty or
thirty feet high, with their great roots run
ming off into the solid rock A great niche
In the face Of the wall marks the place
from which one of these trunks has fallen
Some of the remaining ones appear just
ready to fall, while others project but little
beyond the face, indicating that the noun
tain is filled with the remains of these
trees.
Several miles westward. along the slope
of the mountains, small but remarkable
petriffed forest was found. The largest
tree. which must have been the very king
of its race, stands on the summit Of a sun
baked. desolate foothill. 1t is twenty-six
fourteen feet in height, with roots i'm
bedded in the solid rock Almost all of
these trees are perfectly preserved, even to
the bark, which in some cases is five inches
thick.
Trees of an Extinct Species.
With the exception of a single cotton
wood trunk the trees are of an extinct CO.
nifeIous species They lie prone upon the
ground. The section or ends of the logs
show brilliant reds and yellows and dull
blues. The bark is not brilliant but dull,
and wonderfully we'll preserved Some
trees show even the knots to perfection
Some of the petrified logs are four feet in
thickness and from ten to twelve feet long
Ihey have no branches, but the hundreds
OF 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 petrified trees, and their beauty of col
t oring Is beWildering. There are literally
thousands Of bushels of chips that are red
moss agate and may be beautifully pol-
lshed There are many times more chips
OF amethyst, gray topaz and various hued
agates, showing the grain Of the trees as
they grew millions of years ago. One may
OBTAIN cross sections of fallen trees show
ing In completest detail the annual ring
MARKS and the separation of the bark from
the trees The stone is of the hardest and
takes and keeps an incompatible polish
Ancestors of the "Big Trees"
In the rocks all about the trees there are
Impressions Of branches, leaves and even
cones and fruits. that must have belonged
to them. The trees with the thick bark
were conifers. like the sequoias, or big
trees of California, and quite likely were
their direct ancestors. Others We're like
our common trees-that is such as oaks.
chestnuts. beeches, elms, naples magno-
las and lindens. The only living trees
found In the vicinity of the fossil forests
are pines and spruces and two kinds of
cottonwood.
The scientific theory concerning the petri-
faction Is to the effect that after the forest
OF pines and cedars was established the
basin or valley became lake. This valley
has an area. approximately. of 100 by 80
miles, and 1t Ii surrounded by extinct vol
canoes. These volcanoes emptied them
selves into the lake, and the trees became
soaked with the siliceous water. SILICA
took the place Of every fiber and atom of
wood. The colors of red. brown, yellow and
purple came from the iron and manganese
In solution In the water. All this took place
before the existence Of the Grand canyon of
the Colorado. When nature formed that
big ditch the lake was drained, and the
water, in Its rush to the northwest, leveled
the stone trees breaking them off as smooth
as If they had been sawed. This sustains
the theory that the trees were petrided
where they grew.
The fact that nearly all the fallen trunks
lie in one direction. and to the northwest,
sustains the theory that the lake emptied
to the northwest and into the Grand can
yon.
Trouble I'm the Green Room.
From the Chicago Tribune