| Show natural bridges among great scenic marvels of the intermountain west twenty nine national monuments established by presidential proclamations mat ions are administered as part of the national park system by the de of the interior through the national park service these monuments reserve to the people of the united states historic landmarks historic and prehistoric structures and other objects of historic or scientific interest this is one of a series of articles concerning the national monuments issued by the department three natural rock bridges of great size and beauty occurring within a fe miles of each other near the head of white canyon are included in this monument located in san guati county utah the OWan chomo rock mound bridge from the conical rock mound it locally called edwin bridge as provably ably the oldest for it ha been carved and chiseled until its span is a comparatively narrow strip of rock viewed at a distance one is surprised that it supports its own weight it is the smallest of the bridges and yet it has a span of feet being 35 feet wide on top but only 10 feet thick in the center it rises feet above the stream be of a unnamed canyon at its confluence with armstrong cannon three miles down armstrong can yon at its junction with white canyon the kachma or as it is better known caroline bridge is reached A symbol carved on this bridge recognized as that of the kachina the sacred dancers of the hopi indians gives it its name this is ohp midst massive of the bridges rough hewn it gives an impression of great weight and strength the huge fragments of rocks and piles of sand an gravel m the canyon in the immediate vicinity are in harmony with the bridge as if the master workman not yet having finished his work had n thought it necessary to clea uw the debris this bridge has a spar of feet a width of 49 feet and thickness f feet at its smallest part it rises to a height of fet above the stream bed about 2 12 1 2 miles above the ka china in white canyon is the sipapu of life all pueblo indians believe they come into this world from a lower world through a hole or opening called by the hopi sipapu Si papu after death they return through the opening to the lower where they remain a period before going to the sky to become rain the sipapu or as it is alao known augusa bridge is tia largest iti ass a span of feet is feet wide and 65 feet thick at its sar aUest part and rises to a height of feet above the stream bed it has been so carved ard smoothed and is so beamut fully proportioned that it is difficult to re alize its great size nature has car ned out the general scheme by providing a more beautiful setting than in the case of the other two bridges there are numerous arums rums of cliff dwellings in the vicinity of atu bridges perched in the canyon walls in almost inaccessible places the alo includes two large caves which are separated some little diance from the bridge region the larger cave is in ahr face of a cliff under the amrock of a canyon wall it is about feet wide 20 feet high and gracefully de creases to a terminus about 60 feet the entrance forming a sort of half dome there 13 a spring in tha further recess of the cave which fonnia stream that winds its way around the edge of the cave and sinks into the sand at its mouth the vista looking into the canyon from ahe depths 0 the cave is a magnificent one the natural bridges are the TC suit of eccentric stream erosion pro fessor byron cummings of the uni casity of arizona who has spent a great deal of time in studying th bridges and the county in which they are found gives the following explanation of their occurrence ag eago the great sandstone beds overlying this entire region must have been pushed upwards by the internal forces of the earth until in the places of their greatest elevation the var iou strata separated mountains were formed and large cracks open cd jip that extended in zigzag lines away through the elopes of this vast tableland this process of elevation was undoubtedly a gradual one and as the waters of the mountains sought a lower level they took their clursea through these irregular crevices searching for the ocean which was then not far away their rushing currents and surging eddies wore off the sharp corners sought out the soft places in the yielding sandstone dug out deep caverns and recesses in the cliffs and left behind them a series of graceful curves and fantastic forms that amaze and delight traveler at every turn aa the formation was pushed upward from time to time these rushing and surging estuaries kept on their work of cutting smoothing filling until they have produced deep box canyons so prevalent in this section which sometimes widen into small valleys of rich alluvial de posit and again narrow down to mere slits between huge masses of cliffo this elevation and opening of the Corroa tion often left a narrow bee hon of the cliff extending out inta ae gorge to rods around which the stream had to make its way as i rushed onward in its course th constant surging of the waters this barrier revealed a soft ilace in the sandstone where it ra dually ate out a half dome shaped cave in a few instances as the wa swirled around the other side of this barrier they reached the corresponding soft on the opposite side and ground out a similar half dome there when in the of time the backs of these two semi circular caves came together the waters found a shorter course through that opening enlarged the archway and smoothed off and rounded into graceful curves the sides of its mas sive buttresses thus a bridge was formed and became a mighty span of enduring rock whose foundations and graceful superstructure were aid by the ages all of the white canyon bridges and the great arch of evidently have been formed in this manner the natural bridges lie about 55 miles west of the town of blandina Blan diny utah and are reached from that point by trail A guide horses and sack outfit are necessary for the trip zeke johnson of Bland mg custodian of the monument is an excellent outfitter and guide the trail extends east across a series of canyons and then climbs elk mountain nd passes thru the bears ears alti feet above sea irvel elk mountain is heavily timbered with giant western yellow pine and makes an ideal camping country the trail descends the west face of elk moun tain to the head of white canyon where the bridges are located white canyon enters the colorado tiar about 38 miles west at dandy cress ing on the opposite bank is the town of hite which has one lone resident from hite it is 60 miles by trail to the nearest settlement hanksville Hanks ville utah from which point a road may be traversed by autove bile to the main road system of western utah the entire trip saros is one of unusual beauty and inter est the country bema rich in colora tion and forms blanding utah is reached by eu mobile to road from colorado paints via mega verde national park and from thompsons Thomp sons utah on the pike peak ocean to ocean highway and the main line of the denver rio grande western railroad there automobile stage service fram thompson to Bland mg which is about miles south of thompsons Thomp sons |
