The sea coast echo., 1912-12-21
CANYON scENE\%NLAR DEorRT GApDfN

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, is more
varied and of softer aspect. The view
Is limited only by the power of hui
man vision. The winds and storms
and rushing waters of ages have
chiseled basalt, sandstone and clay
into images, monuments, towers,
spires, minarets, pagodas, temples,
flying buttresses and a thousand
nameless fantastic forms. Irrespec-
tive of the colorings, these Painted
Desert bad lands deserve to rank
among the scenic wonders of the
southwest. Yet the coloring is the
greatest wonder of all Here may be
seen red wall 500 feet high and 100
miles long Facing it may be a coal
black mess of hardened lava. rising
from valley floor of snowy alkali.
From any vantage point one may sur.
Vey a glowing landscape that shows a
score Of shades OF pink. gray green,
red, cholocate, carmine, mauve, brown
and yellow.
In Deadriver Canyon.
If one drives north from Adamana
to the Painted Desert district that it
is proposed to set aside as a national
monument, he obtains his first view
from the rim Of Deadriver canyon, To
describe the vista from this point is
as hopeless an undertaking as for an
enamored youth to describe the
charms of his lady love. AS far as
the eye can carry is a succession OF
buttes, terraces and castellated hills,
painted with almost the glory of the
rainbow. Pervading all is the mystic,
purple southwestern haze (due to tho
impalpable dust Of the desert) that
would blend chaos itself into a har.
monfous land of enchanted dreams.
Off to the northwest is a black fat
topped mesa, beyond which lies the
land of the Hopi Indians At ones
feet is the sandy. boulder-streRn riv.
er, whose healing flow ceased ages
ago, perhaps when this gorgeous
desolation was green with tropio
vegetation and melodious with the
songs of birds. From the parched
wastes rise shimmering heat waves,
invisible undulations, so that one in.
voluntarily shrinks from the descent
into the canyon, as into a fiery fur
mace
However, 1t really is not as hot as
the imagination leads one to antici.
pate. A circuitous path leads to the
bottom of the canyon, over glittering
beds Of gypsum and thick deposits
of mineral paint. Near the bottom
the edge OF a vast deposit OF silicified
wood is reached This is not the
famous Petrified Forest (Which is
about Is miles SOUTH, but n many
respects 1t is not less wonderful.
Officially it is known as the North
Sigillaria Forest. Here the petrifled
tree trunks are not agatized, as in
the more famous deposits farther
south, and the amazing coloring that
the petrifed wood in
the latter locality is wanting
For hours one may wander through
a labyrinth Of winding gorges, around
titanic monuments and over distorted
buttes and crazy hills. until the mind
becomes puzzled and confused with
the endless variety of form, and until
the eye Is surfeited and weary with
the dazzling succession of tints and
colors. Yet one may follow this little
strip of the Painted Desert for a hun.
dred miles, seeing something new and
with almost every rod
And this is but a patch Of the Painted
Desert, no more wonderful in its aus
tere beauty and weird charm than a
score of ether patches of equal or
greater extent