The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-11-05
IN ARIz0NA'S WONDERLAND.
Investigations cf the Remarkable
Pctrfffed Forest


Pctrified Forest.
FLAGSTAFF. Ariz.. Nov. 5-BcsUlts OF
! Investigations in the wonderful petri.Ied
forest i'm the northern part of Arizona
have been reported by DIT. J. y. Pulver
and party of scientists who have been
studying the geological formations Of that
part IF the Territory for several months
I The remains of the ancient forest are iu
lb- heart of the san Francisco Noun
! taius
Agate Bridge" is the most notable
feature of this land Of natural wonders.
The portion Of the forest where the finest
OF the gems are found is i'm Apache coun-
~. seventeen miles from HoIbrook tn,
bridge is a tree trunk transformed in
! 10 the finest agate. which spans a chasm
| sixty feet wide This precious gem is 10
feet long and 3 feet inches in diameter
at the base, taperiuE TO three feet at tho
apex, and contains enough material 20
give Labor 20 al the Iapidaries in the
world for the next generation. This log
Is one of thousands. II is impossible 10
conceive Of the marvellous beauty Of this
region. for the Erounu is covered with
amethyst, red and yellow jasper topaz,
onyx. carnclian, and gigantic specimens
OF agate Of every variety-gems as Dig as
-four barrels and steam boilers.
DR.. Pulyer reports that there Is n fine
group Of big logs in the foothills. about
twelve miles east OF Wiuslow. and prob
ably fortv-fiva miles distant from the
agate bridge. He WIS hunting lost horses
when he came upon sandstone Gins, no.
table because Of their unusual perpcndic-
ularity. These cliffs have worn away.
leaving exposed huge trees. which may De
observed from distaLce OF a mile OF
more from the valley, standing out I'm
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 running of into the solid
rock y great niche in the face Of the
wall marks the place from which one Of
these trunks has fallen. Some Of the re-
naming ones appear just ready TO fan.
while others project but little beyond the
race, indicating that .he mountain is filled
! with the remains Of these trees.
oeh efal miles westward. along the Si1ua
OF thg mountains, a small but remaTkabI
p"lItleQ forest was found. The largest
Tree, which must have been the very king
OF us race. stands on the summit OF Il
I slIn-baked, desolate fOOthlI II is twenty
SIX and one-haf feet in circumference.
ana fourteen feet in height with roots
lIubecded in the solid rock Almost an OF
these trees are perfectly preserved even
10 me park, which in some cases is dve
With the exception Of a sireie cotton
wood trunk the trees are of an extinct CO.
/ hItToqs species They lie prone upon the
EIouha- me section or ends Of the logs
show brilliant reds and yelIows aud dun
blues- ne bark Is not brilliant but duh.
ana wonderfully well preserved some
trees snow even the knots to perfection
some OF the petrihed logs are four feet
IN thickness and from ten to twelve feet
lohS. Ihey have no branches. but the
Hundreds or 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
tht btiFiitcd trees and their beauty Of
colDrluE IS beWlldering. There are liter
ally thousands Of bushels Of chips that
are red moss agate and may be beautiful
ly polished. There are many times more
chlpS OF amethyst, grey topaz. and vari-
OUS-hLed agatgs. 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
I the annual ring marks and the separation
OF the bark from the trees The stone is
Of the hardest and takes and keeps an in
comparable polish.
III the rocks al about the trees there
. are impressions Of branches, leaves and
even cones and fruits, that must have be-
longed To them. The trees with the thick
Z bark were CgulfcTs. Ike the sequ1iaS. or
big trees Of California and quite likely
Ike our common tTcCS-that is such as
oaks, chestuuts beeches. elms naples
ma guOlias and lndeus. The only living
trees found In the vioinity Of the fossil
forests are pines and spTuces and two
kinds Of cottonwood
The scIcntifc theory concerning the pet
rlfactiOn is % the effect that inter the
forest Of pines and CedarS was established
the basin or valley became a lake This
valley has an area. approximately. Of -HG
by so miles, and II IS surrounded Is vN-
unct volcanoes These volcanoes eruDtied
themselves into the lake and the trees
became soaked with the siliceOUs water
SILICA took the place OF every fibre and
atom Of wood The cDl0rs OF red. brown
yellow and purple came from the iron and
manganese solution I'm 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 tho water. in its rash 90 the
northwest. leT-itd the stone T-es. break
ing them of as smooth as il they mad been
sawed This SIstEius the theory chat the
trees were usfrir,d where they graW.
The fact that nearly an the fallen TRUNKS
ie I'm one direction. and 90 the northwest
SuSlains the theory that the lake enutieG
Go the northwest and into the Grand Can
Won.