The border vidette., 1931-07-18
AR,ZONA'S NATIONAL MONu-
MeNTS

VII IL dOy OV0CI StoUO Cou OOoSV
form one of its most interesting
and most popular attractions for
vacationists and tourists alike.
Scattered from the northern to
the southern border, these his
toric and scenic spots are a dis
tinctive part of the states out
door appeal, and they preserve
under auspices Of the federal
government some of it's most
unique relics of vanishing past.
OF the eleven national monu
ments in Arizona, six mark the
ruins of prehistoric Iodian civil
izations that flourished unknown
centuries ago. Three are nota
BILE for unusual natural forma
tions, ,and two preserve remnants
of early Spanish and pioneer
days. Eight are under jurisdic
ton of the National Park Ser.
vice. while three-Sunset Crater
made a monument only last year;
Tonto, and Chiricahua-are ad
ministered by the U. S. Forest
Service.
Guaged by number of visitors,
the ever-strange Petr. fed For
est between Holbrook and Saint
Johns is probably the best known
of the Arizona monuments. For
years scientists and laymen
have marveled at this expanse
of vari-colored sands, broken by
erosion into innumerable little
mesas and gorges, where thou.
sands of broken trees have been
turned to stone that glitters with
all the colors Of the rainbow.
Properly, the national monu
ment contains three separate
Petrified Forests, each of differ
ent forms of co!oring. Millions
of brilliant chips glisten among
huge tree trunks. and .the fallen
forests formation is itself an
enhancing study.
By contrast, probably the least
known monument is the Navajo,
in the northernmost part of the
picturesque Navajo Hopi- Paint
ed Desert country. Sixty-five
miles from Tuba City. the Ma
10 National Monument contains
remarkable examples of ancient
cave, pueblo and cliff dwellings.
The most noteworthy are Beta
takin, huge cave-village;Kee
Seel, or Kitsil, where invaluable
pottery has been found 10 age
old apartment houses" in a
secluded wooded canyon; and
Inscription House, named by
Spanish explorers who discover
ed it many years ago. Not far
away, too. just across the Utah
line beyond Navajo Mountain, is
the titanic Rainbow Natural
Bridge monument.
Another far-north monument
is Pipe Springs. near Fredonia
ia the Arizona Strip" north of
the Grand Canyon, where an old
Mormon fort of early pioneer
days stands just as it was built,
about an ever-howing spring
whose waters make a verdant
oasis in the "Prismatic Plain"
overtung by the westerly con
tipuation of the massive Yer
million Cliffs.
Two more interesting prehis
toric monuments are Wapatki,
thirty five miles northeast of
Flagsta if, whose thirty five ruins
are reputed to have been the
home of the ancestors of present
Hopi race; and Walnut Canyon
cliff d wellings few miles south
of the same city. Just north of
Flagstaff. also. lies the newest
monument, Sunset Crater, where
an unusual mountain crater anC
lava beds form the grave of a
long extinct volcano.
One of the finest examples of
true cliff-d wellings in existence
is preserved 10 the Montezuma
Castle National Monument 81
miles east of Prescott and not
far from Camp Verde, in q
scenic guest ranch district.
Built in huge cavity high up
10 The side of an overhanging
cliff, the castle" and adjacent
d wellings are in excellent con
dition. Nearby is Montezuma' $
Well, a crater-like pool under
whose walls more cliff d wellings
we're built.
Not far eff the world-famed
Apache Trail. between Roosevelt
Dam and Globe, stands the Tonto
National Monument, another true
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