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Show Iff ' "WONDER CAVE" IN AMERICAN Hi FORK CANYON IS PLACED WITH 1 i UTAH'S FOUR SCENIC WONDERS II I jll I ff Sunday's Salt Lake Tribune had a half dozen pictures of K'ffjjffl ;thc "Wonder Cave," with the following article by W. H. HBBfl .'Hopkins, which we believe will be of interest to our many WHi l,t readers. It shows that the cave is receiving recognition from BBUffl ffe t'10 ()U'K'(' a,u' ' properly exploited will become famous in Hj1 flH ; k a few years : BHK II "' wlmtovcr nnmo this cuvo may m PhM ftj eventually bo called, It Is quite cer- B IffiWl ; j toln that, through the combined cf. B Mjjjjn rl ' forts of tlio forest scrvlco, the I'uy- H Hl Vet sou Alpine club, the American Fork BbWuIi H Ccmmerclal club and the Wasatch ilBjlff 2 Mountain club, a new and wondrous WHlj m , scenic attraction In bclnfr opened to LwB'Bnlfl tn Iul1'c' lts uniqueness further HHrHjjlhftt adds to tho diversity of our scenic at. BH JllSf t tractions and, unltko some of tho HHjHH lijfj ' most noted of them, It Is qulto acccs- Ifjj elblo, being only about thlrty.tlvo RB lljil , miles from Salt Iako and about half jjlj a mile from tho well-known Hanson's EH lj cavo In American Fork canyon, Itself EH jjlll a major scenic attraction. EB mm Its chief beauty lies In Its wolrd HHjHl mw and falry.llko formations which adorn $ H Its celling, walls and floor, ranging HBHJIlln In color from crystal whlto to cream BbHiI un(1 ol1' lvor' II nns not toon fully BKbI HI ox pi 0 rod, but tho numerous known III rooms and chambers, with their pas- BHJHJ I j ' sngoways, oxtend perhaps for half a HHJHJ 1 j mile. Further explorations may do. BHHV BHJ Is I E vulop Inrgo caverns of romnrlcablo BHBJ 1 I and startling beauty through pasaugc- HHJBJ I I; ways now barely larj;o enough to per. BHlBjlll 1' mlt tho vntranco of a cat. Only one Eff n' opening to the cavo Is known, but tho HHjfljJIj . well-pronounced draughts and nlr KHh rurrcntfl dlscloso tho fact that othorn HHBBV tf Tlio forest service, as a protoctlon BHBVH' f against vondnllsm, has posted a guard BHBbJB J at tho cavo to protect and preserve Its HHHKB 1 valuable contents. Tho Hanson cavo, HBjHJJI I a short dlstnnco away and more dim. BBIr 8 ' cult of access, has been looted of Its BHJH treasures by curio seekers and van- HB1, dais, and this Btep Is for preserving HH' , this marvelous labyrinth from a like HL J fate- BK jj Some most Interesting formations j n.-n found upon entering tho nnto. HHJHJH j l room. On through tho TorrlWo gorgo (moro Intricate and more dollcato fen-- fen-- tures ar0 disclosed, Notlcoablo nj( $ among them nro tho Choco'.nto box, BHHb I A j tho Princess's boudoir, tiro Hall of HBJj 9 ' Two Hilar, 00x120x30 foot In dlmcn. HHHflj j ( slons, with Its row of 'dragon's tooth !" 1 suspended from tho ccllng, nnd Queon Ann's thronoroom, a galaxy of won- dorfttl Iclclo.llko stalactites and stal- , agmltes In tho centor of which Is a pjpjpjMM' ' gorgeous pillar resembling Atlas sup- JHk . porting tho world. HVHV , A, A. Lorenzo or tho Colorado K .; HocJcy Mountain club, who mndo somo BHHnl' I. special photograplia of tho Interior, declared It is so different from other envos that one Is bafflod to descrlbo tho wonders and beauty of tho for. matlons which have taken thousand of years to form. Mr. Ixrenzo said: "I have visited tho much-exploited Cuvo of the Winds at Manltou, Colo, rado. This has much the same formation, for-mation, very beautiful, but it is not as massive nor as largo a cavo as this ono ML American Fork. "I certainly hope It wlil be well protected, that we may add one moro wonder to our already long list of Utah's scenic attractions." Tho following statement from tho forest aorvlco bureau discloses some of the Incidents connected with tr discovery of this cave: THK .NEW CAVE. "For somo tlmo It had been rum. orcd that a now cave had boon found In American Fork canyon, but that tho ontranco way was blocked and hidden and u mining location filed upon It. Tlio claimant wan negotiating with museums In Chicago and New York for tho salo of tho beautiful specimens nnd Intended to ship them out of tho state. Fearing that tho pcopto of Utah would lose- this natural nat-ural beauty, the claimant of tho min. Ing location was visited; ho was ro-tlcont ro-tlcont In his speech nnd sold it would tttko $10,000 to mako him talk. "Humor had It that tho cava was blghor up tho mountain and farther up tho canyon than Hanson's cave, and tlfttt It was discovered sovoral yenrs ago by a boy whon a family party was visiting Hanson's navo. Tho boy had wandored away, but en mo back through tho rocks and called down to his family to como on, that ho had found a now cavo. After, ward tho cavo was located aa a mining min-ing claim, tho ntrdnco blocked and all evidence of It obliterated. "Acting upon tho meager Informn. tlon, Forest Ofllcors V. N. Wost and W. O. Mann decided to explore the rocky lodges nnd cliffs to find tho cavo. Thoy climbed to Hanson's cavo and decided that tho boy who first found tho caro had pono oast nrount' tho next point of tho mountain nnd that he had followed a cortaln narrow sholf of rocks. Thoy followed this Idea, and around the noxt point of ,tho mountain found n small opening In the faco of a perpendicular rock cliff. "A short tlmo previous Vcarl Mau-will Mau-will of Payson, and a tow others, had heard of tho cavo and decided to look for It. They had about tfrcn up the search when Manwill kicked a rock which foil Into the earth Instead of falling down tho mountain on the out. sldo. A fow more rocks wore removed and the cntranco was found. It was closed again, and later tho Payson Alpine club returned to explore it. "To got into the cave at present It Is necesHary to cinwl about twenty foot through a small tunnel beforo coming Into nn opening large enough to stand erect. The corridors ore winding, rough and rugged, 'and In many places It Is necessary to crawl over jagged surfaces to got from one room to another. Tho walls, celling and floors are covered with stalactites stalac-tites and stalagmites of fantastic shapes, varying from the most dell. cnte frosty formation to massive pillars. pil-lars. Tho color Is mostly white, but one room Is of n chocolate color and Is called tho Chocolate box. Accord. Ing to Professor Pack of the University Univer-sity of Utah, theso stalactites and stalagmites aro formed by the con. slant dripping of water. Ho Bays that It has probably taken untold years to create, tho formations as they are found In this cavo today. "Tho cave has not yet been thoroughly thor-oughly oxplored. Tho main passage, way extends Into tho mountain sovoral sov-oral hundred feet with numerous avenues aven-ues leading off, and nnrrowlng down to small openings. During the last few days Forest Suporvlsor Dana Parkinson has discovered a down shaft. Into which ho lot himself with a ropo some hundred feet, whero It opens Into larger rooms, as yet unexplored. un-explored. This whole mountain may bo honey.combed with passageways nnd stalnctlto formations, and 'it Is possible that a connection with Hanson's Han-son's cavo may bo found when all tho different leads nro explored. "At present tho forest sorrico has closed tho cavo to visitors. This Is done to prevent tho destruction of the delicate forms until such time as certain Improvements can be made. It is planned to Install n good en. trnnoo, with a stool gate, construct safety walks over some of the dangerous dan-gerous places, fenco off some of tlio walls and rooms to prevent the dell, cate forms from being brushed off, nnd Install a system of electric lights. .Whon these Improvements aro made jtho cavo will bo opened to the public, J ''No assesstont work had over been dono on tho mining location, so that jthcro Is no right or title whntover vested ves-ted In tho locators. Tlio cavo has boon withdrawn as a public sorvlco site, which reserves It from ontry undor any of tho public land luws It Is thorcforo reserved for all tlmo to tho people of Utah, nnd If New York or Chicago, wish to boo It. wo Invito them to visit Utah." This cavo has already bo!n visited by Professor Frederic J. Pack of tho University of Utah, who gives the following excellent description nnd explanation of Its geological forma, tlons: . "With senrcely an exception all cuvvb belong to ono of two types, those occurliiK In lava rocks and thoso occuring in llmcstonos. Tho groat cavo Just discovered In American Fork canyon belongs to the Intter class. "Tho llmestonea of Amcrlcnn Fork canyon nro In th0 main gray, and In places almost black. Tho dark color Is fundamontnlly duo to tho presence of small quantities of Impurities, as It will bo recalled that this rock is mndo up principally of tho snow-white snow-white material termed calcltc Tlio mineral calclto or calcium carbonate Is rather easily uolublo In wntor charged with carbon dloxldo, whllo, on tho nthor hand, tho Impurities aro either Insolublo or soluble only In small quantities "It Is clear, herefore, that whon water, charged with carbon dloxldo, porcolntca through llmestono It will dlsflolvo, In tho couse of its passage, pure whlto calcium carbonate, and leavo tho residue behind. "Then, furthormore, It is equally (rue that If, for any cause whatsoever this water Is deprived of It carbon dioxide, It will Immediately throw down Its load, at times as u perfectly perfect-ly whlto deposit and at other times a moro or less colored one, depending upon tho presence or absence of a coloring Impurity. Iron, commonly In very small quantities, constitutes the chief pigment or most of the cavo deposits of tho world. "It Li not difficult to understand, therefore that tho action of porcolat. Ing water may bo either destructive or constructive. If conditions nro favorable to solution tho wntor will pick up a considerable load of llmestono llme-stono nnd carry It away, whllo, on tho other hand. If the wntor Is deprived of tho carbon dioxide. It will drop Its load and build up formations at times of tho moBt 8ectacular type. "Now, as to the history of tlio Utuu. tlful cave In Amorlenn Fork ennyon. At a somowhnt remoto geological period per-iod tho Wasatch mountains wero ele. voted from tho ocean floor During this long period of uplift tho rocks wero more or less contorted nnd In many places highly fractured. In the Immediate vicinity of whore tho cave is now situated, the rocks wero broken brok-en by a number of nearly vertical fractures, along which water hns subsequently percolated. This moving vntcr slowly dissolved tho llmestono through which It was passing, and thus gradually wldoned Its course. In places tho cavity, which originally was probably measured In Inches or fractions of nn Inch, was enlarged to a width of more thnn a hundred feet, whllo In other places, whero tho dls. solving action was not so Intense, the orcnlngs are not largo enough to permit per-mit the human body. Just how long this enlarging process continued Is lmposslblo to state, but wo may bo sure that It extendod over many thousands or years. "Then tho processus of tlmo rung up another change, conditions favor, able to the solution of limestone were replaced by thoso favorable to Its deposition. de-position. In other words, tho samo agent, wntor, that formerly mndo tho cave, now began to fill It up, and It will bo recalled that this condition Is primarily duo to the presenco of car. bon dloxldo In tho water In ono caso and Its atisenco In tho other. "Thus for long periods of time tho water entering the cave has been bringing In Its load of calcium carbon-nte. carbon-nte. As It trickled down tho wall or dripped from tho roof It slowly built up great friezes and pendant of In. descrlbable beauty. In places the deposits aro heavy and massive, and In others they nro so dollcato as to bo destroyod ulmost by the human brettlH' Not In tho main, tho deposits are punH iiTtnlt whlto. In a few cases thoy are ddl-H puce. catoly colored with a small quantity too m1 of iron. tt,Cj. "If the processes of nature wen to H fun go on uninterrupted, tho cave wooll BJ md p eventually bo filled and the gmt I tot tti wound in nature, now In court oil t (01 mending, would be healed " I more ill 1 vtlA |
