Imperial Valley press., 1919-11-15
RED ROCK MAY
BE NATIONAL
MON j N { n I
(By Associated Press)


LOS ANGELES, GAL, Nov. IA pc
tition having been forwarded to the
president of the United States to pro
claim Red Rock canyon, in southern
California, a national monument, the
chamber of commerce of Bishop, Cal,
has asked support in the movement
from every important civic, art, auto
mobile, highway and commercial or
ganization in this part of the state
The canyon, which is described by
enthusiasts as a archaeological treas
'urebox, lies 1875 miles north of Los
Angels. cash in the lower end of
the Sierra Nevada mountains, it's
mouth opens from the Ell Paso range
upon the northwestern edge of the Mo-
have desert, "a miles beyond Mollave
and 1853 miles west of Bishop. Through
it's Is miles of length extends the
southern branch of the Roosevelt ma,
tional highway formerly the Midland
traiN, a transcontinental automobile
route from Montauk Point, Long Island
through Washington, d. c., to Los An
geles, entering the state centrally by
way of Westgard pass, and turning
north and south at Big Pine.
:. Extend Highway
Announcement has been made that
the Lincoln highway will be extended
from. Fly, New, to southern California,
the same way. making direct connec-
ton between Los Angeles and Salt
Lake City, Utah.
California has declared the north-and-
south highway, known as Ell Canine
Sierra, trunk line of the good roads
system and, under the recent $40 ,000-
900 bond issue, will pave it as far as
Bishop, undoubtedly, Red Rock canyon
enthusiasts assert. through the propos
ed national monument.
1t is evident that once the wonders
of Red Rock canyon become generally
known, there will be no difficulty
reaching them. John L. Won Blon, a
newspaper man, who, in recent ar
ticle in the Los Angeles Times, declar-
ed it was my recent happy lot to
discover this place." wrote as follows:
Attempts at description of the can
yon are well night futile; words cannot
encompass it's spectral splendors. Those
prodigies in plain view from the high
way are contained in a section of less
than four square miles, at about 5000
feet altitude, and several times rernov-
preaching from either direction Sharp
turn of the trail brings the wallcd-in
miracles in sight-an enhancing pic
ture that halts the breath.
Wonderful Monument
''Pillars and columns, plain and flut-
ed and chased; pilasters and colonades,
tiny and titanic, tier upon tier, mile
after,4mile, far skyward; arcades. cor
ridors. balustrades; castles, cathedrals,
towers, domes, spires, opelisks, sphinx
es, gargoyles, images = all perfectly
moulded and exquisitely adorned by the
Lord of Creation and unmarried by the
blundering Vandal, man; an acropolis,
a buried city" and hundreds of other
fancies become realities"
Mr.. Won Blon also declared:
RED Rock Canyon is a romantic,
rainbow-hued gorge containing wealth
of amazing structures reared and cary
ed and even painted by the elements,
but out ranking the classics of ancient
and modern architecture. A vast fossil
bed, undug and unsearched, it holds
archaeological treasures untold. Geo
logically it's makeup is problem for
sages. Pottery from it's caves is un-
identified and will concern archeolog-
lists and educators.
Buried City
OF the so-terMed buried city," he
wrote:
six miles up one of the many rugged
branch gOrges on 2000-foOt mesa,
glaringly white and edged with fiinty
jet, the silent city, a tenant less grave
yard, glows under the blazing sun. Hun
dreds of blocks, circular, square and
four to ten feet tall, rise in ordered
rows like headstones in a well-kept
cemetery. Not one is slanted The
streets are swept immaculate by strong
Winds No sexton is needed"
He proceeded:
From all Indications. Red Rock
canyon was a swamp teeming with
fauna in the late Tertiary period. AS
a fossil-feld it should yield abundantly
to expert exploitation. Cursory exam
ination discloses remains of land mann
malta all about-mastodons, camels,
tigers, and numerous smaller species,
ho16nd i'm c1av and ShoJeD -