The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1912-12-06

RT Is proposed to set aside u
square miles of the Painted Des-
ert Of Arizona as national mon
ument, under the provisions of
the Lacey act, that it may for
ever remain in it's present condition
for the enjoyment of the people. The
| locality it is desired to thus distin-
guish is in Apache county, beginning
nine miles north of Adamana station.
A recent railroad survey runs through
| the district. When this line is. built
| 1t is believed that the locality, which
| Is now little known and not often Wis
tied, will become one of the famous
scenic wonderlands of the southwest.
There is no more vague and indef-
mite term in American geography
than "The Painted Desert" The !, ap-
| pellation was invented by the early
Spanish explorers, who applied the
term "El Pintado Desierto" to any
stretch of multi-colored bad lands, but
never attempted to confine it to any
particular locality.
On some maps the Painted Desert
is indicated as narrow strip of ter
ritory bordering the Little Colorado
river; but this is open to the objec-
ton that there are at least a score of
desert stretches of equal or greater
extent, with hues as gorgeous George
Wharton Jams defines the Painted
Desert region as extending from the
IN hn Co1f nd
from southern Utah to northern
Mexico. By no means all of this
vast region Is desert in character,
and much of its desert expanse con-
sists of mere stretches Of neutral
colored sands; but the essential con-
ditions of color and barrenness exist
at intervals throughout the whole re-
gion, writes John L. Cowan In the
Philadelphia Sunday Record.
Transcontinental travellers obtain
tantalizing hints of the greater glories
that lie beyond the car window per-
spective in the fantastic red rock for
nations, with here and there a cliff
of coal black lava, or an extinct vol
canic cone, that are visible nearly the
whole way from the Rio Grande to
the Colorado river It includes the
tawny cliffs of Pajarito park. the
Mesa Emantada, the imposing rocks
and cliffs of the Acoma country, the
dazzling desolatioin of the white
sands, the petrified forest, the hay
stacks, the ella, Salt River and Hasa
yampa valleys, Canyon de Chiefly, Can
yon Diablo and the Grand canyon of
the Colorado, the green slopes of the
San Francisco peaks, the purple Su-
perstition mountains, the Mogollons
and the Panamint, Funeral and Cali
CO ranges, with the grisly depths of
Death Valley.
Where the Desert Blooms.
Parts of this vast Painted Desert
region are as fertile as any of the
worlds garden spots. 1t is crossed
or bordered by the Rio Grande. the
Colorado, the Virgin, the Hassayampa
and a score of other streams. It Is
crossed by the Continental Divide.
and some of the noblest pine forests
remaining in America are within its
limits. It is creased, in places. by
irrigation canals, and dotted with
ruined cities and cliff homes and iso-
lated dwellings, of peoples who lived.
loved, suffered, fought and died SO
long ago that no legend or tradition
so much as preserves their names
It Is the home of the Pueblo. the
Navajo, the Apache and the Mohave
tribes of Indians; and the abiding
place of the horned toad. the ella
monster, the tarantula, the centipede
and the rattlesnake. Here and there
are wastes OF burning. dun-colored
sand, that stretch away to the hori-
zon's rim; and yonder are the ruins
Of Paradise, or the battlefelds Of war
ring gods chaotic bad lands, Upon
which the Master Painter Of the uni
verse has spread divine harmony Of
color.
In. some OF these painted desert
sketches and coloring is as rich as
that of the Grand canyon: and the
prospect, II less sublime. IL more
varied and Of softer aspect The view
Il limited only by the power Of hui
man vision. The winds and storms
and rushing waters Of ages have
chiseled ,baaalt, sandstone and clay
into images. monuments, towers,
spireA minarets, pagodas. temples,
dyinR buttresses and Z thousand