Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1906-05-22
Denied bv Meteorite.


Denied by Meteorite.
Washington Post: In Coconino
county, Arizona, about five miles south
of Sunshine station, on the Santa Fe
railroad, is very remarkable emf
hence rising above an almost perfect
ly level plain and known locally as
Coon Butte or Coon mountain.
This so-called mountain consists of
circular ridge from 1870 to 100 feet
in height, surrounding an almost circu-
lar depression in the earth about 400
feet deep and approximately three
fififths of mile in diameter From
the bottom of the depression to the
crest of the ridge surrounding it the
distance is from $50 to $50 feet.
The depression has a general re-
semblance to crater. and superb
cial glance conveys the impression
that it was really the crater of a vol
cano which became extinct ages ago.
Biologists, however, soon observed
that the rim around the crater-like de-
preston is not composed OF volcanic
out-pourings. The hole is found to
penetrate from 20 to 40 feet of red
sandstone, then from $50 to $50 feet
of yellowish limestone, then light
gray sandstone, and finally brwn-
ish sandstone in which it terminates.
These same level strata, formed
when the land was covered with water
extend over the plain in all directions
for many miles. The theory that the
so-called crater could have been form
ed by volcano may be set aside as
impossible.
Another theory was that this re-
markable hole was the result of a
steam explosion, but the latest investi-
gators have found many reasons for
believing that this explanation is in
credible. The vast amount of steam
required to do this work could be stor-
ed up only in regions of volcanic
activity. There is no evidence that
such a region ever existed here.
Daniel Nj. Barringer. geologist, and
B. G. Tighlman, physicist and chem
list, have been giving a great deal of
time to Investigating this phenomenon,
and the Academy of Natural Sciences.
Philadelphia, has just printed their
results. They have collected an as
tonishing amount of evidence in fav-
of the theory that this great hole in
the earth was produced by the impact
and moving. Of course, at terrific
speed
| The body must have been very
large meteOrite or a small asteroid,
and in making this deep hole it not
only ground an immense quantity of
rock into fine particles and almost
impalpable dust, of which large part
of the crater rim is formed, but it was
itself to large extent broken into
slivers by the terrific force of the col.
lision.
behring's have revealed many small
fragments and splinters of it to a con.
siderable depth, but no large piece has
yet been found beneath the floor of
the crater. On the other hand about
Is tons Of the meteoric iron have been
collected from around the crater and
sent to the various museums of the
world. Several thousand pieces have
been discovered around the crater, and
to a distance of two and a half miles
from it, and there are millions of par
ticles of it scattered far around the
crater.
Like other meteoric objects coming
to us from the skies, these countless
fragments contain iron, nickel, unid
lum and platinum.
A double compartment shaft is nov
being sunk in the exact center of tn
crater. Unless insurmountable diff
) culties are met, it will be sunk to sucl
depth as will show whether or no
any large part of the body lies burie'
several hundred feet below the foo
of the crater.
} There are some geographical evl
} dences pointing to the probability tina
: as time is measured in geological
i, epochs the fall of this meteorite mus
have been a comparatively recent OF
l currence. Mr.. Tighlman names 10
900 years as the utmost possible lin
it. but believes that period insid
S of 5000 years is much more nearl
g in accord with the facts.
s Head Of the Ursuline Nuns.
n 81 patar 1-Mnthar An, d0v,s