The Winslow mail., 1912-07-06
WONDERFUL PETRIFIED
FORESTS IN ARIZONA

acres Of petrified wood varying in size
from the end of your finger to trunks
of trees more than ten feet in diameter
and over 200 feet in length. The forest
is divided into five distinct tracts, all
easily accessi BILE from Adamana, sta
tion on the Santa Fe Railroad. The
| first, or the Rainbow forest, is distant
about five miles and covers about four
thousand acres Here On sees the bro
ken trunks of trees tossed about hap
hazard in lengths of some two to four
feet The wood has every Colcr of the
rainbow. It is in appearance much like
flint. Here huge log juts out over the
traveller and looks much like a cannon.
so much so, that some one has named
it "Dewey's Cannon" Another forma-
ton, some fifty feet high, has been
lamed the eagles Nest from the fact
that for four successive years pair of
bald eagels built their nest on the top,
which is inaccessible to man or beast
The trunks of the trees seem to have
washed here, as in the bed of an ancient
sand and mud. This covering in time
has changed to sand rock and the en-
tire country around has been elevated
and the elements have worn away the
soft earth under this layer and allowed
the petrified tree trunks in tho sand
rock to break off into lengts of mostly
about three feet In many instances
these pieces have fallen down into
washed places which are more than
one hundred feet below the balance of
the trees and rocks. In other instances
they are left projecting from the sand
rock much like guns from fort.
In this first forest is the "Natural
Bridge" which is petrified log lying
across reyine some sixty Or more feet
in width and about the same in depth.
is one hundred and eight feet long and
about five feet in diameter. Here the
guide has his hands full in plotting
the timid tourists over the bridge, for
no one has seen the forest who has not
crossed the "Bridge." From this forest
are taken most of the specimens that
are SO much treasured by the visitors.
Here your likely to meet people
from all parts Of the world-noted sci
entis+s, coming for knowledge; the
ubiquitous "G1obe Trotter," who comes
only to be able to say he has seen the
Forest" the school "Msrm" with her
little note book and pencil; the rail-
road man and his family on their an
nual vacation trip; have even met the
eastern farmer who walked the entire
distance that he might see the "World' S
Wonder" as he expressed it to me.
The second forest is about three miles
south of the first. In it the trees are
much more intact and while cracked
across in lengths much like timber
sawed into single belts,' they are ly-
ing pieces. Two immense trees lying
side by side, "The Twin Sisters, are
over two hundred feet in length and
about four feet in diameter. One place
in this forest just like an eastern chip
ward where wood had been chopped
and chips we're thick on the ground
The coloring here is much the same as
the first.In area it has about two thou
sand acres.
Passing south west about five miles.
one reaches the third forest. Here the
trees are much better preserved as to
being in full lengths. Many of the
trunks are from one hundred up to one.
which by actual measurments, was al
most four hundred feet in length. The
the first. The wood has more the ap-
pearance of agate with some crystals
mixed.
During the past year John Muir dis
covered two new forests to the north
and east of the others that had not been
known prior to his writings. They fill
|
scientific knowledge regarding the
"Petrified Forests
The ''North Sigillaria Forests is by
far the most interesting, lying nine
miles to north of Adamana, and con-
tains many finely preserved speciments
of the carboniferous period, some of the
tree trunks still standing asthey grew
The general scenery here is, to say the
least, very peculiar and picturesque
and I might almost say gruesome. The
trees almost lack any Of the fancy or
variegated colors seen in some of the
other forests.
These trees, standing as they grew
show that the changes which have tax
en- place in them and caused petrifac-
ton must have occurred at a period
when the trees had heen subn7erped in