The Winslow mail., 1925-07-24
METEOR MOUNTAIN
CRATER MADE BY
CELESTIAL VISITOR

Did you know that, once upon a
time, star collided with the earth.
and dealt it what must have been
the greatest blow it ever received?
That the scar of the impact is still
visible? That the heavenly visitor
is now buried beneath the arid sell
of Northern Arizona, and that you
might, with little effort, find
fragments scattered over wide
area few miles west of Winslow?
That looking down into the pit is
one of the most remarkable sights
on this earth-one that awes the
beholder with its mystery and
beauty?
Fifty or a hundred times as fast
as a bullet flies, the milion-ton
meteor blazed out of the blue sky.
collided with the earth, showered
an area of seventy-five square
miles with many thousands of white
hot iron, nickel and platinum mis-
siles, after the manner of a huge
shrapnel letting go. tore a stupen-
dous hole in the solid rock surface
and imbedded its metallic head far
beneath. The appalling planetary
crash, which left the earth wound
that is a world wonder today, oc-
Cured may, many centuries ago.
Winslow derives it's slogan, The
Meteor City," from this unique and
bizarre work of nature.
For more than twenty-five years
mining operations have been con-
Quoted in the hope of locating the
great mass of valuable ore. Thou
sands of pounds of surface speci-
mems have been picked up, and
within recent weeks one 200-pound |
piece was found on the desert five |
miles away from the pit. Every
day there are minute fragments |
found. A 400-pound specimen
is on display before the sales room
of the Payne & Funk Studebaker
agency in Winslow, and several are
to be found at the courthouse at |
Flagstaff Museums all over the |
world have purchased the most Of |
the large pieces discovered.
Within a radius of ten miles OF |
the pit has been found more mete-
oric iron than on all the rest of
the earths' surface.
The sunken meteorite is estl-
mated to be at least 800 feet In 4
diameter and to weigh 1000, 900 I
tons. Some experts who have
studied the subject would double, |
treble, and even quintuple these |
figures.
It's impact gouged basin nearly
fOur-fifthS of mile in diameter
and 1880 feet deep, but now tie
bottom is partly filled with sedi- |
ment, and the average depth is $40 |
feet, with a level bottom of about
300 acres, and rim 120 to 160 feet
above the level of the surrounding |
country, sloping outward from 600 |
to 100 yards. More than 100000.
900 tons of stone were broken,
crushed and expelled by the incon- |
ceivable pressure, and half as much
south side for half a mile along the
rim all the strata were vertically
lifted as mass 105 feet above
their original position, turned OUT
ward sharply on edge, and so re
main.
A number of years ago drill rig
was erected by the Guggenhelm
mining interests to explore for the
main body of the meteor. At a /
depth of 1000 feet mass of some
substance far too hard for the
drills to penetrate was discovered, |
and it is thought the drills reached
the meteor, but no practicable |
means was ever devised to continue !
the explorations through the crum- !
bled and pulverized strata above.
more violently displaced. On the |
The derrick is still standing and is |
visible for twenty miles in all direc |
tions. Most tourists scowl or smile |
at the thought of another wildcat !
oil WE'LL" little realizing that the |
tower is a monument to strenu- |
uos endeavor to solve one of the !
most perplexing riddles of the uni |
verse. Good roads lead up to the |
very edge of the gigantic pit, and |
tourists are more and more learn |
ing to, visit this supernatural-ap- |
pearing spectacle. which has for its |
only counterpart the craters of the
moon.
~ ere ~