Charlevoix county herald., 1909-01-09

stone into images, columns, monu--
ments, towers and strange, fantasuf
forms that have no names. lrrespe2
tive of it's coloring, it would deserve
rank among the worlds wonders. YET
its coloring is the greatest wonder OF
all. Here may be seen a red wall ooV
feet high and 100 miles long. Yonder
is coal black cliff Of hardened lava
rising from a valley floor OF snowy
alkali. From any vantage point. one
may survey a glowing LANDSCAPES that
shows 100 shades of pink, gray, red,
chocolate, carmine, crimson, mauve,-
brown, yellow and olive. Near Indian
Wells is seemingly interminable line
of tall rock sentinels, all CARRIED in diff
ferent hues, on guard in this land or
enchantment. No wonder the Spanish
explorers, when they first beheld it
more than $50 years ago. named it "EE
Pintado Desierto."
Nine miles north of Adamana is
Dead River canyon, from the rim OF
which one obtains view Of the Paint
ed desert that can hardly be matched
IOE SceIlC tulCIcSl. HC uilHC IC-
quires not more than two hours, over
a road that derives more than ordinary.
interest from the circumstance that 1t
crosses the old Central Overland stage
route, the far western extension or
the historic Santa Fe trail. Although
this has not been traversed for more
than a quarter of century, the delk
p,,tc NV hn mhpnIc Of thn
coaches, freighting caravans and prai-
RE schooners of the emigrants, bound
for the far-off land of gold in the eXcit
ing years that began with 40, are still
plainly viri5le.
Just on the brink of the canyon IL,
an ancient cedar tree, the only one for
miles around. Tradition has it that
here was the famous rendezvous and
camping place Of band of despera-
does and cattle rustlers that terrorized
this part of Arizona for many years.
Hence the spot is locally famous az.
the Robbers Roost"
To describe even the small portion
of the Painted desert visible from
Robbers Roost is as hopeless as to,
the eye can carry is a succession OF
buttes, terraces and castellated hills
that seem to display all the colors of
the rainbow. Pervading all is the mNs-
tic purple haze of the arid lands ~
blends chaos itself into q symphony of
color more celestial than of this sordid
earth. Away off to the northwest is n
black, flat-topped mesa, beyond which
lies the land of the Hopi Indians. To
the north is the land of the Navaios-
the American Bedoulns. But this is
desolation itself, uninhabited even by
the hardy tribes that find in the desert
a congenial home. At ones feet is the
sandy, boulder-strewn bed of forgot
ten river whose healing flow ceased
ages ago, when this gorgeous land of
thirst bore a far different aspect
green with tropic vegetation and melo-
dious with the songs of birds. From
the parched desolation rise simmer
ing heat waves, so that one shrinks
from the descent into the canyon as
from fiery furnace.
However, ii is not as bad &c & io,ks.
A circuitous path leads to the canyon
floor, over glittering beds Of GYPSUM
and thick deposits of mineral paint.
Near the bottom the edge OF a vastUa-
post of silicified wood is reachG
| This is not the famous Petrified forest
OF Arizona, which is Is miles south.
but in many respects IL is not less
wonderful. Officially it is known as
the North Sigillaria forest. 1t is pro-
posed to set aside ~ square miles of
IL as national monument, that IL may
be forever preserved as a public pos
| session.
III ones eyes be sharp he rlay fuA
many strange and curious things min-'
gled with the sand, slick and rock
fragments. There are corals and the
fossil bones of fishes that disported
themselves in ocean depths when this
lofty Arizona plateau was far below
sea level. There are the fossilized re-
mains of prehistoric birds, animals and
reptiles for which science has not yet
invented names. On larger scale re
a thousand freaks of erosion-the WI *
OF sandstorm and rainstorm, of wind.
water, frost, snow, heat and all the
irresistible forces of nature. Yonder
stands host Of gigantic, silent. stone
fgures-some of almost angelic beau
ty, and others diabolic in their gro
tesqueness-among which Colorado's
Garden of the Gods might be lost and
passed by unnoticed, SO numerous are
the greater wonders.