Show ui V I r T f. f 1 r M 1 rl V J I I IS t arne I V. V J BY 1 r 1 14 V i 4 S M it f r rI I n r 1 of f f C Y YIA i 4 b r ti t r IA t 1 t Ep t r I t JL f fr r raLf i 0 i aLf I M 1 i N t 1 j jIt It r jC 1 l rf rt fV t Y f. f r aw w wt t f f t. t A t A 01 T Ty io c. A t. t 1 1 i. i Jr 1 4 r a St y f 1 t y t HI policy of or the tho government THY In setting aside great areas of or the country having or Interest In preserving f lug lab from vandal andal hands the tho great greut forests and natural beauties of the thelan theland ther r land lan is one that must commend Itself to 10 every man or woman who believes be be- h. h cs that the citizen of or today holds the time public domain in trust for the generations generations' gen gen- to come Thirty years ago the writer attempted to arouse Interest In hi J 7 f that tat section IS of or Arizona a now t known asthA as 9 th thA al forc forest t and nud to have It sit set aside by tho the government nt for all time I It al i in nl ms move mO slowly and it itis itis I is only recently that this section one one of oC the wonders of the world worM hay hns been included in a l forest re reserve cl c and van- van stopped d This interesting In t region now visited by thousands every eor lies In the thea it a a- a 1 t I t. t i.- i. I desert mites miles from the thc Navajo ajo reservation eighty eighty- a p 1 n DO t from the tie Grand Canon of or ofT T the Colorado and Hi iii near pro proximity to toa toa tou Mold pueblos a u number o of ancient which stand J perched on loft lofty mesas monument of a passing race ruce Ag Ages s ago tho 1110 nations uLlon front from far and near vis is UN this spot and collected the stone stono for Cor various purposes but it was not nol until liSl Wl that Col John Stedman told t the he story of or th the stone forests to 0 the civilized world and one of ot Its greatest marvels nUU became generally known We e can Imagine this section of Ari Art Arizona zona or 01 some Home higher region not tar far distant ago covered co with a splendid forest lofty trees massed In vust vast conclaves lr trees e of oC giant stature or of more feet In height singly or orIn orIn orin In growls groups S of verdure covering hill and dale l' l Few ew finer forests can be found In any land toda today suddenly seemingly seeming without warning some sonio Gorgon strode through the land casting basilisk basilisk- eyes cyus to right and left ana before and before Its glances the milted great eat forests faded away The Imagination can wall wll 11 picture such sucha a scene and und if we substitute for tor the stone turning glances of a Medusa the thu tier breath of ot possible le volcanic action over thousands of oC acres we wo can form some Idea a of the tho cause of or the depth death CU th of of- the Arizona Perhaps you have seen some fair Cull island or land driven to the wall vall and devastated l by bythe bythe bythe the sand nd that often orten creeps in from the sea Ant and buries s vegetation ant and earth beneath a n trickling ever er moving mineral mineral min min- eral sen sea that appears appear to have havo a u lIfo Ufa and Individuality of or its own Much deadlier was time the devastating de force toree that overwhelmed these ancient trees How lon long ago o the deforestation of oC this fart furt of or America occurred no 01 ono one It In the tru- knows lh The geologist places time several millions of years eurs ago but In the logs we wc have the Iho tangible tan ton glide gible proof monuments that life liCe once existed d hero her and noble trees waved In Inthe Inthe the the- soft Mort air For countless years cars possibly pos POS- I sibly there had hud been no change Forests Forests For For- IorI I ests had grown rown and fallen to ta decay But nut suddenly the earth was rent and arad out of numberless crevices and openings openIngs openIngs open- open Ings ru rushed hot wal water r. r gases steam and deadly fumes possibly some deathlike and nod sudden n combustion that fairly devoured devoured de de- the iho air ah us as in Martinique a power pow pow- er which overthrew forests orests crushed them out of all tIll semblance of ot life and covered Co thorn hunt in fu tombs of or ush ash and sand Kand such u a cataclysm ml might hl well be assumed and amI when whon It Il subsided the forests forests for for- ests may have been seen thrown to the l. l destroyed and anti covered with mud ash ush or su said d. d 41 gain Again searching for all e explanation for some seine reason the tho ruin rain may hu YO failed In this region and vast beds of hot sand tl flowed Wed in rivers upon the forest CorNil for for- Nil est nod earthquakes 8 threw them down down- Bo Ilo thIs thin aa ne It U m may the tho tr trees s lived during durIn during dur dur- In ing the Lice age ago They were destroyed destroyed de de- astro cd many of them washed washed- down downto to a n lower level le than that upon which 4 I F IT they stood originally and they are today to- to to to-j I day giants of or an 1111 ancient ng age far fur older than tho limo petrified forests of California I or the tho Yellowstone park nark of Wyoming They They- lie ed over a n vast area that is lis tho the wreck of oC an ancient plain I that pOlsi possibly y was a mile mUe and a u. half above the sea a u mesa meNU of or sandstone 1 J I which caps clay elny of or vivid colors The fhe j tr trees UK doubtless grew grow at some alom higher i level nn and wore carried down with some vast vust flood and became embedded In I sandstone or gravel cl which h formed u a apart part of ot their original surroundings If H those trunks could speak oIlIe what u story they thoy would oula tell toll Hurled down blasted they covered for ages then thc the crust sank and moI mo- mo I j Bozic seas lowed flowed In III and they were HU submerged Jn r c for ages with suc-cc suc successive sh I oceans Another scene steno was then staged staKed and tho the forest deep In tho sUmo out of or orsea sea mUll mud f was ars lifted high in the air all a n mile or 01 mot mo e by y i t tu mu o rise In th the post- post crot cao J time time I Since then nearly 1000 foot feet of or tho ancient sea bottom ottom i ihas has been washed away by rain eroded cut ut Into gullies and the hu huge o trunks carried hll hither her an and yon broken and spread over o I thousands of oC acres It is difficult to realize rN that these stone stono trees feet In length lens and five or soy soy- soy soy- on across were wore once alive But nut the chemical a agents of or millions of ot years turned them thorn to stone and as they fall apart we wo see sec the thc glistening interior Inte inte- Interior 1101 chalcedony amethyst topaz cornelian cornelian cor cor- nelian and Ilg agate tc as though some somo Midas l hand had touched the living tree and changed It Into to these pseudo gems Tho Thu forest of Arizona Arazona is reached from folD Holbrook on tho the son Topeka and Santa Fe 10 road roud u IL near point Is 18 from frum which a n part of ot tho thu forest rl reserve can be ho found after a 0 rIde of or six Ix miles There aro are virtually the remains of or three forests f visible lorhe lo The rhe first when approached shows show broken trunks and sections lying allover all nIl allover over tho time surface or embedded In a fine it H t uS to moat mat wo We sow see tho the famous oulI Chalcedony Bridge on one l of or tho limo i 1 largest and finest of the hc lr trees es If 1100 feet In length now agate agall or Jasper spanning spanning span span- feet teel fifty ning a IL little ravine or 01 canyon which watch men and horses wide wale across I pass This wonder of or a lost age has been secured by the th government which has built two Vo stone piers beneath It H as Supports This rack park or what we eb ma may en call forest No I 1 is littered with broken brok deposits deposits de de- en fragments and und doubtless vast ast posits of trees lie He beneath the sandy sand soil soH of ot the old aId m mesa SD A few miles to the Iho southeast sire are five o or sl six hundred acres constituting a second fossil forest forest for for- est est differing In many respects from the former The trunks bunks ire are larger lIlt and broken up into hll huge c logs not so badly shattered as In the first filSt A third forest is known as Chalcedony Chalce- Chalce Chalcedony Chalcedony Chalce Chalce- dony Park Parle which occupies s a t wide de canyon about six miles across the This is In Indeed indeed In- In drainage of or a u large mire area deed u a forest foreRt of or gems us as here her in the fierce sun time the broken pieces of or trees and atHI gleam glearn- gleaming urn aro scattered about slashing Hashing ing in the sunlight sending out a n scintillating blaze laze of colored colore lights lights that at times seem m to vie 10 with the i spectrum hi In color Thousands of or logs fus are seen Icen hors here and anti tons of or thousands lie He beneath the surface to be weathered out In time to come Some are arc so o complete that the tho bark can cau be ht seen but ut few roots or limbs ore are found round tho the logs breaking into great Sections as I though they had been cut into seats three or four our feet high More words describe the beauty are arl Inadequate to e I of or color presented ted by these sections which arc aro red blue green yellow Ilin tonic pink Ie I chalcedony chalcedony chalcedony chalce chalce- I rt representing amethyst Jasper The Tho dony topaz and many minerals government has hUH secure secured this great natural natural natural nat nat- ural wonder none too soon Already Aheady commerce and trade trudo havo ravaged tho time forc forests ts and some of or tho the best trees treos have havo been cut cul up into table tops and anti sold as Mexican e on onyx while another company to grind up the trees and make them Into a substitute for These forests of oC stono are aro found Cound in various parts of ot tho the United States In Wyoming a side of a vast mountain has s worn away awa showing not ono one but several several layers layer The forests r It r t. 1 F 0 In vast areas alla oC of grew rew lied died down own and mind time were covered with debris In Which ot other her forests grew and antl so 80 on un until t II numbers were wen piled one ne upon another t then thou the entire fabric which held them was eroded eructed or cut cat away awn leaving the several layers layel's to tell ell the stor story One sec see specimens of this great rent Anzona Art An- can zona zofia o a forest In the Smithsonian placed ll there by General Sherman One Onu Is from front ron cret creek k twenty miles mile tram froth Navajo Sprin Springs s. s Ariz When hn the s' s told taken the Navajo herders were the men that they were the rb mAS oH or oHa a giant that had been killed b by b their out the and they thoy pointed ancestors blood lood pf pt the the tho lava 10 beds as ns r monster to prove tho time star story |