The Washington herald., 1921-08-07

A BOUT 400 feet above the bottom Of the valley
~ Of the Yellowstone rises perpendicular wall
- OF rock to a height of so TO 100 feet Petrihed
trunks be in this wall in many places all
of them standing upright in the positions in which
they grew. Some of these trunks, which from
to four feet in diameter and twenty forty feet in
height. far weathered of the rock 10
appear just ready fall while others only slightly
exposed In other places the trees have fallen, leaving
inches. and the foot of the cliff is piled high with frag
ments of various sizes Like most petrhed roekS the
colors OF these bright and beautn and the rock
is vencd and nged and is very hard and susceptible
of high polish
The diameter OF the largest trunk in the Yellow
stone Park is little ten feet, including portion
OF the bark This huge log stands about six feet
above the surface. Perhaps the most remarkable Of
all the forests however located the western end
of Specimen Ridge. Here, over several acres, the
trees exposed various heights on very steep
hillside, most OF them standing up wen above the
surface while at the very summit of the slope towers
OF the largest and best preserved trees. II is
twentysi and one-half feet in circumference without
the bark This giant tree, literally old as the hills
has been determined to be true Sequoia and is so
closely allied TO the modern Sequoia Gigantea, or
Big Tree of California be hardly distinguishable
from it.
1t would be interesting to know the height this
tree attained but it safe assume, from what
4
been at least $50 feet high In other parts of this
there standing trunks from twelve to twenty
feet high, while all around a great many trunks
that rise only few inches above the surface These
vary in diameter from two to FIVE feet. They are
often hollow IN the the cavity lined with bril-
liant amethyst crystals Amethyst Mountain gets its
name from this fact. -
@NE large tree appears to have fallen before Il
was petrihed II is about four feet IN diameter
and Of the forty feet exposed there is no ap-
preeiable dminntion IN diameter, that it must have
been very tall trunk
There is another petriied forest on Cache Creek
while the slopes of the Thunderer, Mount Norris and
other peaks m the park have their petri6ed forests
There IS in fact, hardly square mile Of the area Of
the northeastern portion Of the Yellowstone Park with
out its petried forest each containing enough fos-
siized wood of brilliant hue to erect everlasting
palaces for score of kings
The remarkable fossized trees of Arizona have
been the theme of many wild and fancifuI statements
In which pure speculation and guesses have been gen.
erousy intermingied with fact The true story of these
fossil forests. dating back millions Of years has been
told by government gcoIogists who have defved into
the history of Mother Earth and traced back these
ancient trees to their birth.
The "Petrifed Forest" of Arizona, really series
OF petrihed forests lies short distance south of
Adamana, on the line of the Santa Fe Railway Here
four forests are included in government reservation
called the Petrifed Forest National Monument estab
lishcd by Presidential proclamation in 1000
The name forest is not strictly appropriate for the
petried tree trunks ali PROSTATE and are broken
into sections of different lengths The logs are the
remains of giant trees that grew in the Trassic time
the so-eaed age of reptiles according to the Unted
States Geological Survey. The trees were OF several
kinds. but most OF them were related to the Norfo,
Island pine an Australian species OF which Is now
used a decorative plant
SHE petrihed tree stumps in the Yeliowstone
National Park and in some other places stand
upright in their original positions although they
were long ago covered with hundreds or thousands Of
eet of volcanic ashes and mud which have since been
.rodcd away their removal feav;oo fbe s,,,r,,.