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Show yrj EAR the southeast corner of Utah. . i In a remote and well-nigh inacces- " hS 6lble part of the Navaho reserva" I 1 tion now Siven over t0 tDe use ' ' tue plu,e3 18 situated a natural J L bridge, called by the Navahoes fSfcv Nonnezosche, the stone arch, by the piutea Barohoini, the rainbow, f4 whicn surpasses any structure of I'Wtf I's kind knpwn to man. Even f-Uffi the other great bridges of south-ern south-ern Utah, the Caroline, the Augusta, Au-gusta, and the Edwin, known since 1902, are exceeded in size and beauty by the rainbow arch. Discovered but little over a year ago. )1 has thus far been visited by less than 25 irhite men and described but once. Recently a United States Geological Surrey Sur-rey party, consisting of H. E. Gregory, in charge; John Wetherill, K. C. Heald, and the writer, stood upon 'the summit of Navaho mountain and looked over a country of wlld-ness wlld-ness and grandeur. Fifty miles to the north the graceful peaks of the Henry mountains outlines out-lines themselves against the horizon; much nearer, the Colorado and San Juan rivers united unit-ed in the midst of a tilted and disjointed tableland; table-land; to the west, the Colorado was already beginning be-ginning to make that wonderful mile-deep gash so fitly called the Grand Canyon; while to the yyft south was visible the even skyline formed by J the extensive tops of Black and White mesas. Turn In whatever direction one would. thfi scene was one of bewildering magnitude. Nearer nt hand, surrounding the mountain v k 1?.- s! k fc AfOJiTOSt Or riS AiM Ad Jfy fTOA mrsorrov or r go?c at somf D5TAiC OW-CAS?YOf , Y M rtf rtAftGOW AXCH AS STy fHOAf dowa - CAtrof: S(?fr,308r-r; drA?t278 rtrr fa $ fa- 1 VJW or t f " , ' "V- POftrOt Of 7H ysMr . ronr vsA?iy " '' s YBfJiSAfM -J SH? 1 like an island, surged a billowy sea of red sandstone, carved into fantastic, rounded, and oval masses, colossal in size, between whoss cross-bedded and swirling slopes wound deep and tortuous canyons. Hidden away in such a labyrinth, it is not surprising that the bridge remained so long unknown. Yet it is only four miles distant in a northerly direction from the mountains' summit, and is visible from this point as a tiny arch, provided one knows exactly ex-actly where to look. Otherwise the eye may wander at will over this wilderness of rock 1 without sighting its most interesting feature. Although so close at hand, this goal was only reached after two days' time and a journey jour-ney of 35 miles over a very indirect route. The mountain had to be descended to the south, a long detour made around its eastern flank, and a devious and winding course followed fol-lowed northward down the bridge canyon, over a trail ever difficult and ofttimes dangerous. The way led between lofty and perpendicular cliffs, towering to a sheer height of one-fifth of a mile, on wHose vertical sides could now and then be descried the crumbling ruins of some r , ' ancient cliff-dwelling. In places the walls overhung to form vast semi-spherical chambers, large enough to shelter shel-ter a cathedral, and in which a shout echoed and re-echoed many times; in other places the sides approached so closely that the only foothold foot-hold was In the rocky bed of the small stream below, where one was forced to pick a precarious pre-carious passage from boulder to boulder. After hours of laborious and intricate travel, a point was rounded and 500 yards ahead a graceful arch was outlined, beneath which the canyon and stream continued their flexuous partnership. The first view of the bridge is i minimized by the lofty walls beyond and the ' comparatively narrow defile, through which It is only partly visible; but once passed under, ' N It may be seen In its full magnificence. A towering arch, rainbow-shaped, of wonder ful symmetry, rises nearly sheer from a ledge on the one side, and, spanning the stream, joins the opposite canyon wall on Its downward down-ward curve The opening, augmented by a gorge cut by the stream to a depth of SO feet below the level of the supporting bench, measures meas-ures a vertical distance of 267 feet; but the total height from stream-bottom to the top of the arch Is 809 feet, while the abutments at their base stand 278 feet apart The causeway, upon which one may be lowered from an adjacent ad-jacent cliff, but whose sides are too steep to Brve for a complete passage, la 33 feet wide by 42 feet thick at its keystone point; and the limbs are not greatly great-ly in excess of these dimensions. A mere recitation of figures must fail to convey an adequate Idea of ' the Imposing nature of the bridge. It is not the size alone, though this far exceeds the greatest masonry arches constructed by engineering skill; nor is it solely the graceful lines or curvature of maximum stability, sta-bility, but rather all of these, that combine to make this the most remarkable re-markable single arch now known. It would easily span, with room to spare, the dome of the Capitol at Washington; or, if hung over the Flatlron building of New York, Its limbs would come within a few feet of the ground, though to the west of Fifth avenue on the one hand . rtfViar and to the east or tsroau w a ' L The arch is carved from a buff-colored, finegrained fine-grained sandstone, brick-red upon its surface and stained with vertical streaks of a darker shade Mostly massive, though in part oblique-bedded oblique-bedded the rock is only moderately firm, and is easily crushed beneath the blows of a hammer. ham-mer. Geologically it is a part of the Upper La Plata sandstone, a formation of great thickness thick-ness deposited in Jurassic time over a large portion of southeast Utah, southwest Colorado, and northeast Arizona. The origin of the arch is simple and evident. It was caused by the progressive narrowing of the neck of a meander intrenched between high and steep walls, until an opening was made through the tongue of intervening rock, permitting the stream to cut off its meander by flowing beneath the arch thus formed. The one. once made, has been enlarged and given its present shape by the combined action of weathering, expansion, and contraction due to changes in temperature, and the carving effect of wind-blown sand, all of which unite to produce pro-duce the rounded-rock forms so characteristic of this region. The abandoned arm of the meander is present and unmistakable, indi-. indi-. eating the former course pursued by the stream. Though doubtless requiring many years for its formation, the arch is nevertheless a very recent geological feature, and destined to withstand with-stand the forces that gave It being for only a brief period as geologic time is reckoned. The bridge was first visited by white men and its existence made definitely known on August 14, 1909. It was then reached by a party consisting of W. B. Douglass, of the United States General Land Office, with four assistants: Byron Cummings, of the University of Utah, with three students; John Wetherill. of Oljato, Utah; and two Piute Indians. Jim and Nasjabegay. Douglass was acting under instructions from the Department of the Interior, Inte-rior, dated October 20, 190S. to Investigate a reported natural bridge in southeast Utah, with a view to making it a national manument if found of sufficient interest. An attempt was made In December. 1908, to locate the bridee. but was abandoned on account of snow. The search was renewed in August, 1909. the party being joined at Oljato by Cummings. Wetherill, Wether-ill, and the three students. The arch was surveyed sur-veyed by Douglass, and the figures herein used, as well as the details of its discovery, are taken tak-en from his official report to the Land Office. The bridge was undoubtedly known to the Hi a y ""- u - "t . v r 'l ' " ' " . tf 1 , ' I 4 1 r t. r " S . " ' V r ' - ' ' 'J i , V '-X-- -V y i ? cojr zfy ormr crzAT taa-sow am: rrcw up-cavycw Gw3 ? -7 - v ' "Jt fjofi uF-CAjyyov - , ' Indians prior to Its discovery by white men; ' but as to the actual knowledge of it there is uncertainty. Douglass relates that White-horsebegay, White-horsebegay, his guide, on a second visit to the bridge, would not go beneath the arch, but laboriously clambered around one side whenever it "was necessary to pass. Later Mrs. John Wetherill, an accomplished Navaho linguist, ascertained from an old Navaho that the arch is supposed to represent the rainbow, or sun-path,1 and one who passed under could not return without a certain prayer. Evidently Whitehorsebegay had forgotten this prayer and feared vengeance should he break the legendary prohibition. Nearly beneath the arch are the remains of an ancient altar, built doubtless hy the cliff-dwellers, indicating that the bridge was probably an object of superstitious supersti-tious worship even to this ancient people. The bridge Is at once the largest and most remarkable known. Not only in size but in , Bhapeliness does it surpass any of its rivals. Below is tabulated for comparison the dimensions dimen-sions in feet of the largest of - the natural bridges, the measurements of the first four taken from the surveys of W. B. DouglaBS. I m cq 3 o 3" 5 V? r : a ; : en The Baroolnl (rainbow) or Nonnezoshe (stone arch), southeast Utah "09 278 33 43 The Sfpapu (gate of heaven) or Augusta, Au-gusta, southeast Utah 220 26S 31 53 The Kachina (guardian spirit) or Caroline, southeast Utah 210 277 ! 44 60 Tne Owachomo (rock mound) or Ed- ' win or Little, southeast Utah 106 ISO 28 9 The Virginia Natural Bridge 200 45 .. .. Pont d'Arc, France 197 213 .. .. Arch Skewed: span with axis. 283 feet. 'Mean span, 275 feet: greatest span. 350 feet: least span. 202 feet. The exact location of the bridge is latitude 37 degrees 03 minutes 21 seconds and longl-ture longl-ture 110 degrees, 56 minutes 48 seconds west of Greenwich (Douglass), In San Juan county, Utah; six miles northward from the Arizona-Utah Arizona-Utah boundary line; four miles west of north from the summit of Navaho mountain, and I ozrim or me A?ctt rforocftAfflfi? fiOfi ZHFAS OFTftF OFPOSTF LJNB four miles above exit of the bridge canyon into the Colorado river at a point 16 miles below be-low Its confluence with the San Juan. The most exact directions for reaching the bridge would be Inadequate, so obscure and devious is the trail leading thereto; hence the services of a guide are indispensable. 1 Oljato, Utah, where guide and outfit for the final portion por-tion of the trip may be secured, Is reached by two routes, between which there is little choice. On the one hand, Gallup, New Mexico, on the Santa Fe line, may be made the starting start-ing point, whence one must go by stage 35 miles to Fort Defiance, Arizona, and from there by wagon or pack outfit 155 miles In a northerly direction to Oljato. On the other hand, the traveler may leave a branch of the Denver & Rio Grande railroad at Dolores, Colorado, stage 81 miles to Bluff, Utah, and there secure horses for the remaining 60 miles to Oljato. The bridge is distant from Oljato only 37 miles, as the crow, flies, but the trail passes over twice this distance, and three days will be required for this last and most difficult diffi-cult part of the trip. A minimum of 18 days should be allowed for the round trip, whether the start be made from Gallup or Dolores, and the journey may be accomplished at any time during the year save in winter. The trip is an extremely arduous and toilsome one, and would be fraught with danger to art inexperienced inexpe-rienced traveler, but under competent guidance guid-ance may be accomplished with no special hazard, though hardships and inconveniences, and many of them, must be expected. The government has already made of this natural wonder a national monument, thus preserving it for all time against vandajism and commercialism and consei ving it for the enjoyment of all. |