The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1908-12-31
ZWIW BUTTES MEHP
NDLHN WILLS.


If present plans do not miscarry,
and if the people of Arizona are per-
mitted to have their way, little cor
ner Of the Painted desert, equal to two
townships in area, will soon be de-
clared national monument, and set
aside for preservation forever in it's
present condition, for the use and en-
joyment Of the whole people.
There is no more beautifully indefi-
mite term in American geography than
the Painted desert" There are rail-
road maps that confine the lame to
narrow strip Of territory along the
Little Colorado river; but anyone ia
miliar with the southwest knows that
there are at least a half score of other
regions of equal or greater extent
fully as deserving of the title. George
Wharton James defines the Painted
desert region as extending from the
Rio Grande west to the Calico noun.
tatns, the Salton sea, the Mojave des-
ert. Its northern limits are some
where among the plateaus Of southern
Utah, while its southern boundary
must be sought somewhere down in
northern Mexico. 1t includes the Col.
orado desert, the Grand canyon, the
Mongollon plateau, the Tonic basin,
the Verdi, Hassayampa and Salt river
valleys, the Petrified forest and the
Superstition mountains. Not all of
this vast region is desert in character,
and only relatively small portion of
its desert expanses deserves to be de-
scribed as painted.
Yet the conditions Of color and bare
ness that first suggested the name ex-
ist in places throughout this whole
vast stretch of country. Parts of it are
as fertile as any of the worlds garden
spots. 1t contains some of the noblest
virgin forests in America, including a
number OF national forests, aggregat-
ing many millions of acres in extent.
1t Is crossed by the Continental divide.
The lofty peaks of the San Francisco
and San Mateo mountains, as we'll as
the lesser heights of the Zuni, Super
stition, MogoAon. Pinal and other
ranges are within its borders. 1t Is
crossed by one of the great rivers of
America-the Colorado: and hundred
smaller streams, such as the Little Col
orado. the Gila and Virgin rivers, Bill
Williams Fork and Havasu, Walnut,
Oak, Willow, Diamond and Bluewater
creeks drain other portions. Portions
of the desert area are mere wastes of
natural sand-but other portions are
chaotic bad lands" upon which the
Master Painter of the universe has
spread a divine harmony Of color that
shames the widest flights of the ina.
g;nation.
Transcontinental travellers never
fail to wonder at and admire the
standing rocks, red cliffs, black lava,
precipices, extinct volcanic craters
and tall white walls that lend variety
to the view the whole way from Isleta
to Gallup. West of the Colorado river,
the chocolate-cOlored mountains and
hills that shade from gray to black.
and from brown to crimson compel the
notice of the least observant. All these
are of the Painted desert-but they are
no more than tantalizing hints of the
greater glories that lie beyond the car
window perspective.
Most Of those who forsake the Pull
mans and ever after boast Of a close
view of the Painted desert inspect it
only as an incident of trip to the
strange towns Of the Hopi Indians-a
long and wearisome journey of hun
dred miles or more from Canyon Dia-
bio. Winslow or Holbreok. The por-
tons one sees on such trip are not
those most worthy of inspection-for