Evening star., 1909-02-28

Soldad, San Benito county. Cal. are a
collection of jagged peaks of impressive
grandeur and much scientific interest.
The Tonic National Monument Is a
group of prehistoric ruins located in the
region commonly known the Tonto
draining basin. Gia county. ArZ and are
of great chronological and educational in
tereSt a. relics of a vanished civilization.
Monument Elevated 1,5OO Feet.
The Wheeler National Monument is
near Wagon Wheel Gap station on the
Denver and Rio Grande railroad, in Col
orado. near the summit OF the Continental
| Divide. at an elevation of 11,5OO feet.
The fantastic forms resulting from the
| erosion of rock and soil make the spot
one OF exceptional beauty. The numer-
Gus winding canyons and pinnaCleS form
striking and picturesque effects as are
seldom found elsewhere. Historic inter-
est attaches to the place because eX-
ped1tion led by Gen. John c. Fremont
was overtaken by disaster in that imme-
diate vicinity. Skeletons of mules. bits of
harness and camp equpaGe have been dis
covered near the spot
The Devils Tower is conSpicuouS
landmark in the form of a monster obe
l1sk, composed of lava and granite ris-
ing LOO feet on the banks of the Belle
Fourche river in the Black Hills in south
eastern Wyoming. The obelisk is 376 feet
wide at the top and 796 feet wide at the
base. 1t Is associated with many Indian
legends and more than one fierce battle
has been fought around it by the saw
ages.
The petrified forest near Flagstaff, Ariz.,
is we'll known. 1t is few miles from
the tracks of the Santa Fe railroad and
covers large area. which - SGeWn with
the trunks and limbs of trees that have
been turned to stone by some mysterious
process of nature. 1t is UNIQUE among the
freaks of nature.
Montezumas S Castle is an enormous ruin
situated about 800 feet above the bed of
a creek, forty-eight miles south of Flag
staff and 121 miles north of Phoenix. Ariz
1t contains twenty large and eight small
rooms. besides number of closets and al
coves evidently used for storerooms. What
the original dimensions of the building
were is purely con njectural, but the struc-
ture remaining measures forty-eight feet
from base to summit, being five stories in
height and about 100 feet long. Other ruins
of smaller dimensions are found in the
same locality which were built and occu-
pied by an extinct race that had consid-
erable knowledge of mechanics and an ad-
vanced civilization. When and how it
vanished from the earth is unknown, but
it is conceded by archeologists that this
is the oldest ruin in the southwest and
that it was deserted long before 1910.
when Coronado made his expedition from
the City of Mexico in search of the fabu-
lous cities of Cibola
Records of Conquest.
FL Moro, or Inscription Rock. is another
important landmark, thirty-five miles east
of the Zuni pueblo and fifty miles south
of the Santa Fe road, near Wingate sta
ton. 1t is quadrangular mass of white
sandstone, nearly mile in length and
more than two hundred feet in height
Upon its weather-beaten surface are nu-
merous inscriptions in Spanish, some of
them deeply and beautifully engraved
and dated as far back as 1906. These in
scriptions contain brief records Of the
visits of explorers and Spanish soldiers
on the march of conquest, or early Fran
cfscan friars penetrating the wilderness
to convert the heather. A special agent
Rock 'is one Of natures most unique
obelisks, wrapt in the profound silence
OF the desert. with no living thing to
break the stiffness. 1t is hard to realize
echoed the clank of steel harness and
coats of mail, and that with the imple-
ments of Spanish conquest the pathfind-
ers of the new world were carving his
toric records upon the eternal rocks"
Chaco. Canyon is another collection of
clin dwellings of great interest.
Muir Woods is a wonderful natural for
est in California.
The Tumacacori National Monument is
the ruins of a church and monastery
built by the Jesuit missionaries during
the time Of Spanish domination two miles
south of Tubas station. near the Southern
Pacific railway: in Arizona The walls
are of burnt brick. twelve feet thick, and
only partially preserved. Portions of
mural paintings still remain on the walls
of the chancel.
The Natural Bridges.
The natural bridges in southwestern
and eastern Utah and north of the Navajo
Indian reservation are not accessible to
the public. because there are no roads to
reach them; but that country is develop-
ing quite rapidly, and means of transpor-
tation will ultimately be provided, be-
cause they are more lofty and have
greater spans than any other natural
bridges known to exist. Beside them the
Natural bridge Of Virginia. which is asso-
| ciated in every chid's history with an
incident in the youth of George Wash
lngton is mere miniature. The Utah
natural bridges We're created by the ero-
sion of streams which worked their way
through them ages ago. They have been
seen and described by members of the
geological survey, agents of the land Of
flee and other scientists, who estimate
them as among the greatest wonders of
the world.
The Lewis and Clarke cavern IS q limo
stone cave of enormous dimensions con-
tanning number of large vaulted cham
bers. 1t Is situated one mile from Lime
spur station, on the Northern Pacific rail
road, In Montana 1t has two entrances
which are about 100 yards apart in the
walls of a deep canyon of the jefferson
river. about 800 feet below the rim, and
overlook for distance Of fifty miles the
trail OF Lewis and Clarke on their expedi-
tion to Oregon. The vaults of the cavern
have never been fully explored, but those
that are known are maEnificently deco
rated witt. stalactites and stalagmites of
great variety. in size, form and color sim
liar to those Of the Luray caves of Vir-
ginia.
A bill has already passed the Senate
and has been reported to the House es-
tablishing the Glacier National Park west
OF the summit of the Rocky mountains of
Montana, which contain more than sixty
glaciers.
yynnVT