The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1925-11-04

I across the top, and six to eight per
sons can stand upon it with east, a
was demonstrated during our visit
The most notable object, however, i
the tall broken trunk standing in /;
ravine below the others. This tire.
resembles an Egyptian obelisk and i
SIX to seven feet in diameter an
about % feet in height. The surface
IS quite smooth and regular except &
decayed furrow on the lower side, a;
If from the force Of lightning, and has
apparently been denuded of bark. In
fact, it may be the heart of a very
large tree, the remainder having
shelled off, as would appear from the
amount of petrifed wood lying
nearby.
Between this point and the river
number Of horizontal lodges of slate
are seen well up on the hillsides. They
are said to be groupings Of coal veins,
as coal mine has been located in the
vicinity, but upon which little work
has been done.
Three or four miles to the south
west of the group of trees seen here,
there is another fossil field Of con-
siderable extent, many stpmps and
trunks of trees being exposed upon
the surface. Those who have visited
it are loud in their praise of its num-
erous wonders, but it has not been
fully explored. North of Challis about
20 miles, in the direction of the Vel
lowjacket mining district, another
strip of petrifed wood was discovered
some years ago, but only few pros
pectors and hunters have visited that
locality.
"There were several in our party
who had made rocks study, prin-
cipally quartz and wall rock, although
they had never before seen such rock
trees. Each one had different theory
to advance relative to the growth of
the trees and the time they had been
in their present state. One thought
that they were not so very aged, after
all, as he could see by the marks Of
the axe on some of them that they
had been chopped down, probably by
he early Salmon Indians with their
title stone tommohawks. Another
he could see where beavers
lad been gnawing at them One under
ook to explain that by the geological
ext the date at which these giants
# the forest threw the cooling shade |
# their luxurious growth over the
vegetation was just fif- |
cen hundred years B. G. Still an
'ther antedated all this and settled |
he discussion by asserting very en-
'hatically "that the trees were as
Id as the hills and might even have
een there before the world was
nade.'
$50 everyone who visits this most
interesting locality has his or her
wn opinion as to the age and origin
f the fossils, character of the wood,
nd so on, regardless of the pointers
iven by the geological fnger-posts
nd guide-boards.
"Not being a stone age lnguist, in
geological sense, cannot give any
Intelligent information as TO the time
hen these strange specimens of for
st kings took on life OF left it off, 1
r how long they have remained in
heir present state. The earth has
Undergone so many changes and pass
i through so many baptisms of fire
nd water that it is all guess work as
, the time and date of the changes.
o one knows anything about that;
nd worse vet, we have no means OF
nding out, and consequently, one
erson knows as much about it as an
her. We read books and believe
lem out of respect for the authors.
nd because they have taken the pains
put their thoughts and studies be-
IRE us in plausible and interesting
amer.
Hundreds and even thousands OF
ears ago. wise heads classified the
,cks and named them as we find
lem today. So with the outer layers
. rings of the earth; one represents |
lie age, another another age. on up
seven. which. we understand. is to
'rrespond with the seven DAYS of
cation. But there it ends We are
Id also that the earth was at one
ne in a plastic state, and that while
was soft it became spherical while
rning over and over as it went
hiring through space. But the
estion arises. who made the plastic
uff and where was it brought from.
d what became of the comet that
it in flame and baked 1t for
2 These questions are just as easy
answer as the question of the age