Yuma, the City of Destiny

THE BIRTH AND GROWTH of a number of Arizona towns and cities, especially those of early territorial days, are dramatic and inspiring. Surely none can boast of a more desperate struggle for existence against odds such as are described in an optimistic report by a writer in Elliott's History of Arizona Territory, published in 1884. "The City of Yuma," says the writer, "no pen can portray, no photography can produce it; no painting can, by coloring, represent the sandy desert of its wide streets and irregular blocks and scattered houses; the Mexicans lolling around the grog-shops and gazing wistfully at their contents; the glare of the burning sun, the total absence of trees, shrubs, grass, or any green thing to vary the monotony of sand and dust. This is Yuma, the thriving city, with its wealthy merchants, its newspaper, its hotels, its courthouse, and school. This is Yuma, with its thousand inhabitants, the frontier settlement on the west of Arizona, situated at the confluence of the Gila and the Colorado, 150 miles from the sea by the course of the latter river, and 100 miles in a direct line. By and by, when it increases in wealth and importance as its opportunities indicate that it will, a more refined taste will change its present forbidding aspect. "A few thousand dollars will pay for abundant irrigation, avenues of trees will supersede the shadeless streets, elegant houses rise upon the ruins of wretched adobes, and churches and schools will take the place of saloons and gambling dens. and in ten years from this time, whoever may read this description will say that it could not have been true of beautiful Yuma." The writer of this early-day report certainly couldn't have missed by many years, the transformation of the barren, desolate Yuma, to the verdant irrigated empire of today. As early as 1902, the Reclamation Act, which provided for construction of Laguna Dam, fourteen miles north of the city, introduced irrigation on a large scale and indirectly provided the greatest stimulus to Yuma's growth to its present population of 5,300 inhabitants. The dam, which diverts water from the Colorado for irrigation of over 100,000 acres of desert wasteland, was completed in 1909. Since the construction of the Imperial Dam, about 18 miles northeast of Yuma, the water is diverted from this dam to the All-American Canal, which now delivers the water to the Yuma area. The Laguna Dam now serves only as a tailwater control for the Imperial Dam. The ultimate development of the Gila Project near Yuma will irrigate some 400,000 acres of mesa and 140,000 acres of rich valley lands with water from the Colorado River. Contrasting the Yuma of pioneer days, and far exceeding the optimism of the early-day writer, Yuma today is a beautiful and thriving city with fine homes, green lawns, a profusion of flowers, and, keeping stride with her sister cities, including Phoenix and Tucson, the summer heat is offset to a comfortable degree with the installation in most homes and busi ness houses of modern cooling systems, which, until a few years ago, were an almost unheard of luxury.

Much history has been written about Yuma from the year 1538 when Pedro Nadal and Juan de la Ascunsion, two Jesuit Monks, came from the interior of Mexico. They are believed to have been the first Europeans to have reached the junction of the Gila (Hee-la) and Colorado Rivers, which is the present location of the city of Yuma. In 1540 Hernando de Alarcon, the Spanish navigator of the Colorado, cooperating with the land expedition of Coronado, passed Yuma's granite bluff, coming by boat from the Gulf of California and ascending the Colorado River. Padre Kino made the first of several trips into this region in 1683 while searching for a route to California. A mission which he established here sometime prior to 1697 was destroyed that year by an Apache raid on the Yuma. Parde Garcés established two missions in 1779: one on the west bank of the river opposite Yuma, and another about eight miles down the river. In 1781 when the soldiers and 150 Spanish colonists were at mass, the Indians, angered because of the damage done to their crops by the soldiers' horses, attacked and killed Father Garcés and nearly all the men, holding the women and children as captives. Thereafter little effort was made by Spaniards to occupy the region. Many emigrants to the California gold fields came by way of Southern Arizona, crossing the Colorado River at the present site of Yuma. In the fall of 1849 Lieutenant A. W. Whipple, while employed by the United States Government in making a boundary survey. came into this region and found it "populated only with Indians." In the same year, a ferry service was established here to transport emigrants and their belongings across the river. Other ferries were later established, one operated by Yuma Indians. In the fall and spring of 1850-51 one ferry was said to have carried 60,000 people enroute to the gold fields of California, at two dollars a head. Not only was the Colorado ferried in the early years, but it was also used extensively as a means of transporting goods all along the river as far north as Hardyville, 337 miles north of Yuma. From Yuma up the river to Hardyville and return usually took from ten to twelve days, and at low water it sometimes took over two months to make the round trip.

DRAWINGS FOR ARIZONA HIGHWAYS BY ROSS SANTEE

turn usually took from ten to twelve days, and at low water it sometimes took over two months to make the round trip.

To avoid the great Arizona and California deserts in those days, many emigrants would embark at Yuma, or some other river point, and go around Cape San Lucas after having come down the Gulf of California, and then up the Pacific coast to their destination.

In November of 1850, an army garrison was established at the junction of the Colorado and Gila rivers for the purpose of protecting the many thousands of emigrants, and three months later, the location was changed to the high ground on the west bank of the river and the post, formerly called Camp Independence, was renamed Fort Yuma. That summer, the generally peaceful Indians became hostile and killed a number of emigrants. They also attacked the fort. Following a siege of sickness and lack of supplies, the greatly under-manned troops and the ferrymen retreated to San Diego, abandoning the Colorado River to its savage proprietors. In forcing their way out a ferryman was shot through the arm with two arrows, and under the ear with another which pierced his head through to under the opposite ear; but he made good his escape with $600 in gold.

In the spring of 1852 six companies marched across the Colorado Desert, and after a terrible time in crossing, from rain and snow in the mountains, reached the present post of Yuma. At that time also, troops and supplies reached the mouth of the Colorado in a sailing vessel.

The ferryman heard of the reestablishment of the fort and returned, and again turned the tide of emigrants over this route. The Indians, however, maintained an active warfare until conquered in February, 1853, when under the protection of the fort, the village of Colorado City arose.

The village began to take shape in 1854 when Colonel Charles D. Poston, Herman Ehrenberg, and a party of engineers were returning to California from an extended exploring tour through the newly acquired Gadsden Purchase, whereby the strip of land of 45,500 acres between the Gila River and the present southern boundary of Arizona and New Mexico was purchased for ten million dollars. They reached the port without money and almost starved. Fares for the party to cross the river would have amounted to about $25. Having no money they camped near the ferry to hold a council over this unexpected turn of affairs, with the result that they decided to lay out a townsite in hopes that the ferryman would accept town lots for the fare across the river.

The entire engineering force began work with instruments, and amid a great display of signals and what not they soon had the city laid out in squares and streets, and represented in due form on an elaborate map. The ferryman, noting the great activity, his curiosity aroused, proceeded to learn of what was going on. On learning that a city was being founded so near to his own land, he became interested. As the great future of the place was unfolded in glowing terms, and the necessity of a steam ferry for the increasing trade dwelt upon, he enthusiastically began negotiations for several lots and agreed to transport the entire company across the river for one corner lot. Three years later, Colorado City, later called, Arizona City and finally Yuma, had a population of twelve, not counting soldiers and Indians.

The first stage service operated from San Diego to San Antonio, via Yuma and Tucson, inaugurated in 1857, was followed by the Butterfield stages, which operated until the outbreak of the Civil War.

More than ten years later, General J. F. Rustling wrote of this place: "... a straggling collection of adobe houses containing perhaps 200 inhabitants. Here, and at Fort Yuma, are located the government storehouses, shops, corrals: as the grand depot for all the posts of Arizona. Hence considerable business centers here. But it is chiefly of a military nature and if the post and depot were removed, the city as such would speedily subside into its original sandhills. Being a juncture of the Gila and Colorado itself, it hence would seem to be well located for business if Arizona had any business to speak of."

"In those days," according to Fish, "all roads led to Yuma where soldiers and freighters spent their money, and Charles Horner's blacksmith and repair shop was worth $200 a day to the proprietor."

"The great Yuma depot where supplies were received," says Lockwood, "was on the Arizona side, as was the post office, both for the fort and the depot. For a good many years before there was a permanent town on the present site of Yuma, the place was very importantfull of stirring activity."

In 1870 the county seat was transferred to Yuma from La Paz, now a ghost town. The furniture and fixtures were transported from La Paz to Yuma on the steamship Nina Tilden.

A year later Yuma was incorporated by the territorial legislature. This action was taken in spite of California's claim to the area and even though that state was collecting taxes from Yuma citizens. During its first session in 1864, the Arizona legislature had sent a memorial to Congress, asking for annexation of the Yuma territory. No action was taken however until 1873, when the Public Land Commissioners decided in favor of Arizona. The city of Yuma then sued San Diego county, California, for $40,000, claiming that it had illegally collected that sum in taxes; a compromise was reached and part of the claim was paid.

In this period Yuma's election officers attempted to exclude Indians from the franchise by ruling that if a man wore shoes he could vote. The officials were outwitted by the candidates, who lent shoes to each prospective Indian voter, recovered them when the Indian came out of the polling place, then promptly passed them on to another barefoot voter.

The Yuma Indians, living on the Colorado River at and above Yuma, numbered about 600 at that time. There were also a number of Cocopah Indians inhabiting the country bordering the Colorado River below Yuma. Scattered groups of both of these tribes still live in these vicinities. In the steamboat days these Indians cultivated some wheat, corn, pumpkins, and melons; worked about the landing at Yuma, and cut and prepared some wood for the river steamers at Yuma, and for a distance above. Oddly enough it is said the Indians along the Colorado River never attacked the steamboats. Perhaps they were greatly impressed with the mysterious crafts that plowed their way up the muddy stream belching forth fire and flame from tall smoke stacks and kicking out the river behind with their churning wheels.

An interesting newspaper advertisement found in the Arizona Sentinel states: "The steamer Gila leaves here next Monday morning the 24th, connecting with the Newbern, for San Diego and Mexican ports. Passengers had better be on hand Sunday evening, as the boat leaves very early next morning, and if you sleep too late you may be left behind. Fare, very low, only $40 a cabin and $25 steerage, and accommodations first rate. Persons who cannot afford to travel at these low rates, had better stay at home."

An exclusive right to operate a ferry across the Colorado River at Yuma was granted in 1877. The rates of toll, according to minutes of the Yuma County Board of Supervisors, were as follows: for a wagon with two animals, $5; for each additional animal, $1; for horse or mule with rider, $1.50; for a carriage and one animal, $4; for beast of burden, $1; for footman or passengers, 50 cents; for loose stock up to four head, $1; loose stock additional, each, 50 cents; hogs, sheep or goats, each 25 cents; trail wagons, each, $4.

The Southern Pacific arrived at the west bank of the Colorado opposite Yuma in the spring of 1877, and spent all summer building the bridge across the river. It was a long wooden draw-bridge, 187 feet in length, that could be pulled around by one man, and it was provided with machinery by which it could be opened and closed in less than three minutes. But when the bridge was finished after long delay, the Federal government, which had given the company permission to build the bridge, refused to allow trains to run over the Federal stream or across the military reservation on its east bank. The first crossing onto Arizona soil was made without authority while the garrison at Fort Yuma was asleep. Southern Pacific engineers, unable to resist the temptation of forbidden ground, took an engine quietly across the Colorado. When they were safely past the fort, the engineer tied down the whistle valve and used all the steam he had in celebrating the advent of the iron horse into new territory. The awakened soldiery soon chased the trespassers back into California, but Arizona had seen its first train. After the granting of the franchise, construction proceeded eastward, booming the little places along the way. At that time there was no town or settlement to speak of, and only stage stations between Yuma and Tucson, about 252 miles, excepting at a short distance northerly there were the cross roads, store, blacksmith shop, etc., now known as Phoenix, and the small villages of Tempe and Florence.

Aside from river transportation, stagelines, and, before the coming of the railroad, the Yuma territory had another medium for transportation purposes. Congress, in 1855, authorized the expenditure of $30,000 for the purpose of buying camels and taking them to the Southwest to be used for military transportation purposes. At Smyrna about 75 of the animals were purchased and brought to this country. Later they were used in transporting ores from the then rich Silver King mine in the area. However, it was found that the camels' feet would not stand the rocks of the Southwest, and also their presence was objected to by teamsters and freighters, and finally, the band was turned loose between the Gila and Colorado rivers. At that time they were reported roaming in the mountains and hills east of Yuma. Numerous legends have been told since about the Arizona camels, and they are a part of the rich lore of the American Southwest.

Most early Arizona settlements, at one time or another have had one or more devastating floods, and Yuma was no exception. There was a flood in September, 1868. In 1872 the levee on the Gila was broken. In 1884 the Colorado bridge was damaged and a part of the town was under water. The worst flood of all was in February, 1891. There were two distinct freshets from the Gila, four days apart, the first arriving on the 22nd. The Yuma Times has the following to say about the flood: "The sun of Friday morning disclosed a scene of destruction such as is seldom accorded to human eyes. A fringe of houses along the railroad track was all there was of Yuma. But 50 buildings remained out of 350. A single street only was left along the railroad from the bridge to the roundhouse. Many people have been compelled to move a second time. The large buildings of the quartermaster's department west of town were threatened by the rise in the Colorado and the refugees in them from the first flood moved to the hills. Household goods were scattered in the cemeteries and the living took refuge among the homes of the dead. On the high ground everywhere was piled all sorts of household goods, furniture and merchandise."

Today, about the only reminder of Yuma's early days are the weathered walls of the old territorial prison. In 1876, on an appropriation made by the legislature, a penitentiary was commenced, and later was enlarged of necessity. Though it had only seven prisoners at the time of its establishment, the penitentiary later received convicts from all over the United States, at one time confining 376. In 1909 Florence succeeded Yuma as site of the territorial prison. Since that time, within these old ruins, and perhaps unique in the annals of history, is the fact that the old territorial prison became Yuma high school until the new Yuma High School was completed. To this day athletic teams from this school have been branded, "The Yuma Criminals," and their football and basketball uniforms are black and white striped, to bear out the tradition.

Sunset Crater

This event has been written by Dr. Harold S. Colter, noted director of the Museum of Northern Arizona. It is not altogether fanciful for he based it on accounts of eye witnesses of other volcanic eruptions and on the results of archeological surveys, excavations, and tree-ring studies by the Museum over a period of many years.

It should be remembered that in the 800's A. D. only a few scattered families of the socalled Mogollon and Patayon Indian groups occupied the territory from the San Francisco Peaks west across the plateau to the Chino valley. Living in earth lodges they cultivated maize in tiny fields on alluvial sands close to the mountain. Their life was simple and peaceful. Then came a catastrophe. To quote Dr. Colton: "In the days when Alfred the Great was ruling England, about the year of our Lord 885, a young Indian whom we will call Itawa-a lived with his family in an earth lodge on an old lava flow which we now call Bonito Terrace in the San Francisco Mountains, Arizona.

"From the edge of the terrace, Itawa-a overlooked his fields of corn growing in a pleasant little park surrounded by a forest of tall pines. When the snow was melting on the San Francisco Peaks, a few miles west, and after heavy summer rains a stream of water entered the park, supplying a pond. Here Itawa-o's wife dipped water for household purposes into brown and gray pottery vessels which she carried on her back, with a tump line around her forehead.

"For a number of generations Itawa-a's people had dwelt on the terrace. Sometimes the pond failed and they had to go to a spring two miles away at the foot of the mountains for their water. There were summers when the corn crop was good and a surplus was gathered, but the corn was difficult to preserve for more than one season, because the earth lodge was damp and the stored corn would mold. Beans and squash were also cultivated and in the fall piñon nuts and walnuts added to their diet, The nearby mountains furnished game. Altogether there was a variety of food.

"One day when Itawa-a was working in hisfield he felt the earth shake. This movement of the earth was alarming and proved a subject of conversation with his neighbors for several months until a more severe earthquake disturbed their peace. From that time on earthquakes became more frequent and more severe, and seemed to center in the neighborhood about two miles south of his lodge. Fearing the wrath of the Gods and he knew not what, he and his neighbors decided to move away. So, abandoning their homes, they moved into Medicine Valley, some four miles north, where he fancied the quivering of the earth seemed less severe. There Itawa-a and his wife excavated a new pit house and removed the main timbers and palings from the old home.

field he felt the earth shake. This movement of the earth was alarming and proved a subject of conversation with his neighbors for several months until a more severe earthquake disturbed their peace. From that time on earthquakes became more frequent and more severe, and seemed to center in the neighborhood about two miles south of his lodge. Fearing the wrath of the Gods and he knew not what, he and his neighbors decided to move away. So, abandoning their homes, they moved into Medicine Valley, some four miles north, where he fancied the quivering of the earth seemed less severe. There Itawa-a and his wife excavated a new pit house and removed the main timbers and palings from the old home.

"After he had been some weeks in the new house, one night they were terrified by a particularly heavy shock followed by a continuous trembling of the earth. Then a shower of fine black sand rained in the fireplace through the smoke hole in the roof sounding like hail, and thunderous explosions came from the south over the ridge of cinder hills that bounded his valley."

"When the pale dawn light came, Itawa-a crawled cautiously to the top of the hill andwas transfixed with horror. He saw smoke spouting from the ground along a line from his old cornfield to the base of Two Face Hill. The lake in the valley had disappeared and where it had been, a great mouth had opened which was throwing up stones into the air some of which were as large as a deer. A black cloud hung above and the roar from the vent was deafening. As a strong wind blew from the southwest, no fragments were falling on the spot where he stood, but soon the wind shifted so that he could not see the site of his old home because a black rain of falling ash was rapidly spread toward him. Itawa-a fled to his home and huddled miserably with his wife and baby about the glowing coals in his fire place while a rain of coarse sand trickled through the smoke hole and the light of day slowly faded.

"The earth continued to quiver like a wounded animal and the world was full of horrible noise. In Medicine Valley the day turned to darkest night and for hours cinders the size of a bean beat down and torrents of black rain fell from the sky. Finally the wind changed and the sun came creeping out. The terrified inhabitants of the valley crawled forth and fled to the west, abandoning their homes. Over Bonito park they could see a great cloud hang ing; it was streaked with lightning and at night it glowed with a reddish glare. As the wind carried the clouds off to the northeast, Itawa-a could see showers of ash reaching to the ground and even the Indians who dwelt in the Hopi mesas sixty miles away saw the smoke cloud approach their homes and fine sand rained down on their pit-house roofs.

"After a few days violent activity ceased and the watchers on the distant mesas were as tounded to see a new mountain tucked in among the familiar cinder hills. From the summit of this mountain smoke streamed away to the northeast and for a year or so this continued, until the people grew used to it and it slowly grew less and less and died away.

"After things had quieted down and no more activity was evident, Itawa-a cautiously visited the site of his old home in Medicine Valley to retrieve some of the belongings he had aban doned. He found the valley covered with a mantle of black volcanic sand about two or three inches deep, through which blades of grass were already pushing and when he kicked his foot into the sand he noticed that the underlying soil was quite damp. He decided to venture farther into the black desolation and set off toward the Little Colorado valley. All the familiar hills were covered by a black sand which the high winds gathered up in clouds of dust or drifted slowly along the ground. No vegeta tion showed above the surface except the orig inal sparse covering of juniper trees and many of these were dead. Most of the area was without vegetation of any kind; it was a black lifeless desert. To the southwest, out lined against the sky, stood the rosy top of the newly formed mountain, a tiny wisp of white steam floating from its summit in the clear air.

"As no further activity was shown by the mountain, Itawa-a, his family and companions, returned to the site of their old home in Medi cine Valley and when his pit-house was rebuilt and rotted timbers replaced with new, he planted his first crop of corn in the cinder covered fields. Now he discovered that the plants planted in the soil covered with the layer of black volcanic sand were better than the crops that he had grown before the erup tion, and he took courage.

"Some bold soul made the discovery that corn could even be grown on the black lifeless desert between Medicine Valley and the Little Colorado River where no one before the erup tion was able to grow anything. Even young pine trees were taking root among the damaged junipers on the cinder-covered fields. Now the reason for this was that all the rain water that fell from the sky was absorbed and held by the sandy layer. No longer did floods pour down the canyons to find their way to the Little Colorado River.

desert between Medicine Valley and the Little Colorado River where no one before the erup tion was able to grow anything. Even young pine trees were taking root among the damaged junipers on the cinder-covered fields. Now the reason for this was that all the rain water that fell from the sky was absorbed and held by the sandy layer. No longer did floods pour down the canyons to find their way to the Little Colorado River.

"Word spread about the country that thou sands of acres of good agricultural land were available for settlement; after all, the Gods had been kind. But Itawa-a did not live to see the people flocking into the cinder-covered fields, though in the years after 1000 A. D. his grandson did. He saw many families on the move, their backs bent under heavy loads because as yet they had no beasts of burden, only their little dogs trotting before them. It was a prehistoric land rush similar to those that occurred 800 years later in Oklahoma. Peo ple from the north, east, the west, the south and southwest came in ever increasing numbers until by 1100 A. D. a teeming population of over 4,000 souls, in groups of pit-earth lodges, occupied almost every well-drained ridge or rise of ground where digging was easy.

"This migration was not looked on with favor by Itawa-a's descendants, and dissensions arose. They feared this incoming herd and on their hilltops and other easily defended points they built rectangular forts with many loop holes through which arrows could be projected at an enemy. Into these forts they could re tire when the newcomers made life less secure. A pit-house which is entered through a hole in the roof is a trap to be avoided and many were trapped in their homes and killed.

"But the invaders were not wholly war-like and soon the forts fell into ruin and the old inhabitants and the new mingled and lived in peace. The newly arrived farmers brought with them their arts and crafts, beliefs and cus toms..

"After the first flood of immigrants life be came more secure and by 1125 A. D. the pit house had been abandoned as living quarters and little stone farmhouses dotted the landscape. The continual cultivation of the black sand cover brought the finer ash particles to the surface, exposing them to action of the wind. Thus the fine sand cover which had done so much to preserve the moisture of the soil was slowly gathering into dunes. In one place the sand was now too deep for the digging sticks to reach the soil beneath, or the corn planted in the sand failed to reach the surface.

"In another place the black sand cover was entirely removed and the mulch thus destroyed. Trouble and discontent arose among the fam ilies who lived in the small stone houses and they began to join with other families to con struct large masonry apartment houses to pro tect themselves against their neighbors. When the people crowded together, sanitary condi tions became increasingly bad so that each year many of the young children died.

"The population dwindled until by 1275 A. D. there were but three large apartment houses left occupied, with not more than 600 people. The drought which followed caused these last inhabitants to move away and join other groups which dwelt by the Little Colorado River at Winslow or at Chavez Pass, where there was a permanent water supply.

"By 1500 A. D. Itawa-a's descendants had left the San Francisco Mountains and the cycle of development initiated by the eruption of Sunset Crater was complete."

Although the above account sounds almostglib, any reasoning person immediately can de duce how scientists arrived at these conclusions. Archeological survey located all prehistoric sites in the area. Associated pottery types of known age and tree-ring dates from roof and wall timbers give actual dates to the structures. From the number of houses occupied at any given the population can be approximated.

glib, any reasoning person immediately can de duce how scientists arrived at these conclusions. Archeological survey located all prehistoric sites in the area. Associated pottery types of known age and tree-ring dates from roof and wall timbers give actual dates to the structures. From the number of houses occupied at any given the population can be approximated.

Excavation reveals the type of house, utensils, tools, weapons, foods, and from these the general idea of the tribal affiliations is gained.

Similar volcanic eruptions have been seen in historic times and they occur according to a pattern. Sunset must have given the usual warning, for the pit-houses are almost always empty, frightened Indians took their most precious belongings when they fled.

But the question most visitors ask in discussing Sunset's eruption is, "How was the date determined?"

This took the Museum staff much time and effort. In 1930 a group of excavators from Arizona State Teachers College in Flagstaff and the Museum dug a pit-house in the fill of which they found a layer of black angular cinders.

(Perhaps it should be explained that a pit house was merely a shallow excavation in which was built a super-structure of poles and branches covered with earth, eventually resembling a truncated pyramid. It was entered by a ladder through a hole in the roof.) Aha! Here was a find! Now they knew Indians had lived there before some eruption, the house had been abandoned, the roof fell in, weathering had partially filled the hole, a volcano had deposited a layer of cinders, and finally more weathering had covered the cinders.

The cinder fragments were clean and larger at the bottom of the layer than at the top, clearly indicating direct fall from an eruption.

But the house was not in the area now covered by Sunset cinder, for winds and erosion have greatly reduced the large expanse. So search was made in the main Sunset cinder area and a short time later Geologist L. S. Brady found broken pottery in the dirt on the roots of an overturned pine tree. Trenching in the neighborhood located a pit-house under the heavy cinder, and this house, too, showed the characteristic cinder layer or lens which proved it pre-eruptive.

Post-eruptive sites showed no layer, of course, for Indians had to dig through the cinder to reach earth and consequently destroyed the cinder layering.

Tree rings in roof and wall timbers or char coal gave exact dates of construction by the Douglass tree-ring method, which has been ex plained so often as to obviate its description here.

Study of many more preand post-eruptive pit-houses disclosed that the latest pre-eruptive building date was 860 A. D.; the earliest post eruptive date was 910 A. D. Some time in those fifty years Sunset Crater erupted, so it can be said the event took place at 885 A. D., plus or minus twenty-five years. Several ad ditional dates based on timber which is not perfectly satisfactory strengthens this conclu sion.

So Sunset Crater took its absolutely unique place among the world's craters: it is the only prehistoric accurately dated eruption known to science. Moreover, the crude little pit-houses under the black cinders assumed significant proportions. Where else did a volcano erupt on people in what is now the United States? The pit-houses in their modest little way con stitute the United States' only known claim to a Pompeii.

ARIZONA HIGHWAYS Of course, visitors to Sunset Crater National Monument learn nothing of this intriguing yarn unless they have consulted a library before hand. A permanent National Park Service custodian has never been stationed at the area, and the only explanations to be found are a few carved wooden signs pointing out major geological features. Scientists, lacking adequate preservational techniques, covered up the pit-houses to save them until some future time when development will boost Sunset Crater into its rightful place as one of the most pop ular and interesting attractions of the South west.

President Herbert Hoover created Sunset Crater National Monument, 3040 acres, May 26, 1930. It is 16 miles northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona, and four miles by a graded but some times rough road east of paved U. S. Highway 89. Unimproved conditions of the monument makes it imperative that drivers stay strictly to the graded road, or pay the penalty of be coming hopelessly stuck in deep cinders far from aid. There are no supplies or water avail able. This should not frighten travel away, however, for some 10,000 motorists reach the monument each year, enjoy it, and depart safely. What visitors see is an amazingly con torted and fantastic landscape which is surpris ing to most of them who do not possess volcanos in their backyards.

Sunset Crater rises to a height of about 1000 feet from its base, and its summit has an un breached crater about one-fourth mile in dia meter and 400 feet deep. The upper portion of the cone is covered with tinted cinders and lapilli (little stones). The mountain has re ceived its name from the Sunset effect, where the color of the cinders grades downward from the summit of the cone through the various Shades of yellow, orange, and red into the black material of the lower slopes. There is practically no evidence that the cone has been shattered by explosions and the fact that erosion has not produced any noticeable change of from attests somewhat as to its recent age.

Basaltic lava is exposed around the rim of the crater. It has been altered and bleached to tones of yellow and pink by fumarole action. Hot spring minerals may be found in this zone. Sulphur crystals, gypsum, and limonite are present. Fragments of sandstone and lime stone which have been ejected from the crater are found around the rim. Some of the speci mens of sandstone have their stratification pre served in part but the edges have in most cases been well altered due to the action of heat. Most of the limestone has likewise been meta morphosed so that it is now classed as marble.

The eastern rim of Sunset Crater is 150 feet or more higher than the western rim. This characteristic is common among the cinder cones of the locality, explained by reason of the prevailing westerly winds during the main eruption when ash, cinders, and lapilli fell in this direction, thereby building up the eastern rim to greater heights.

A trail leads to the summit of the crater and the round trip can be made in one hour if a person is rushed for time. It is best however to spend at least a half day on the rim and in the event that the interesting details of the mouth of the crater fail to hold one, there is the magnificent panorama of the Painted Desert, San Francisco Peaks, and the Bonito lava flow below with its many interesting features.

The Bonito lava flow is probably the second most important feature of the monument and is almost entirely contained within the boundaries. This lava escaped from a vent opened through an older flow and spread out quietly into an intercone basin. As the lava could not flow far it is probably piled up to depths of several hundred feet.

A badly disrupted cone known as Yaponcha Crater is located in the central portion of the flow. The exact nature of this cone is not known. It is possible that it has been the source of some of the lava and that it was disrupted at the time of the flow. Another explanation is that it may have been more or less floated on the lava and thereby disintegrated.

Along the surface of the Bonito flow to the west of the above-mentioned cone and extending in a northwest direction is a large vent or fissure which has been termed an "anosmon" or "squeeze-up." After the surface of the flow had solidified, the fissure tore the surface, and semi-plastic lava was squeezed upward. In places the lava has been forced some ten feet in the air and frequently crumpled under its own weight. This type of flow seems to be rather unique among volcanic phenomena and it has been suggested that there may be some relation to the fact that the main lava was damned.

The Ice Cave immediately west of Sunset Crater on the Bonito flow seems to be a popular attraction to a great many people who visit the area during warm summer months. The cave has been explored only a few hundred feet. It is likely that the roof has collapsed in places and it may well be rather extensive. This cave is typical of lava flows where the lava has drained away, leaving the solidified roof stand ing. It is most unusual to enter the cave in summer and find it filled with ice. The details as to the method of the formation of ice caves are not fully understood. Lava is a poor con ductor of heat and the cold air which settles to the bottom portions of the cave is protected to a certain extent.

Besides the above-mentioned important points in connection with the Bonito flow, there are several others worthy of attention. There are a number of fumaroles at the base of Sunset Crater and vicinity where gases escaped during the last active stage of the crater. Hot blobs of lava were ejected, building up a rim around these vents, giving rise to the local name of "spatter cones." When in action they must have resembled the bubbling of a pot of corn meal mush. A sinkhole, where the lava flowed out from under the crust, is just east of Yap oncha Crater. A considerable portion of the Bonito flow is covered by a more recent ash fall. Examples are numerous illustrating this feature and it has been noted that consider able more ash fell on the southern than on the northern end of the flow. Cooling cracks, con-tacts of the different flows and other fascinat ing features are prevalent, and the inquisitive visitor can find many points of interest while clambering around the extremely rough lava. although at great expense to shoe leather. The Hopi say a long crevasse in the Bonito lava flow is the home of their Wind God. Yaponcha. A stream of air is always percep tibly issuing from it and its bottom is not vis ible, while a stone dropped into it can be heard for a long time fainter and fainter as it falls to a great depth.

The legend is that long ago the Hopi appealed to their Elder and Younger Brother War Gods to appease a crop-destroying series of wind storms. The impish little fellows caught the Wind God in the crevasse and sealed the entrance with sacred corn meal mush. But the weather waxed too hot and the Hopi almost smothered. So the pair returned and took out some of the mush "enough to let him breathe through, but not large enough for him to come out through, altogether." Immediately a nice cool wind came out and a little white cloud appeared and went across to the Hopi towns. Ever since then prayer offerings have been made to Yaponcha in the windy month of March by the chiefs and high priests of the three villages of the Hopi Second Mesa.

Vulcanism of the San Francisco Mountain area has a long geological history. During the Pliocene (late Cenozoic) transpired the First Volcanic Period of the San Francisco Mountain area. Huge fissures gave vents for the pouring out of sheets of basaltic lava, from 50 to 300 feet in thickness, covering a wide area and ex tending from the Tonto Rim to Cedar Wash.

Following in the latter part of this period the uplifting continued when great north-south faults cut the earth's crust and the Second Volcanic Period began. As tremendous quan tities of lava were poured forth on the surface. such prominent peaks as Bill Williams Moun tain, Kendrick Peak, Sitgreaves Peak, the San San Francisco Peaks, and O'Leary Peak (near Sun set Crater) as well as others were formed. A variety of different types of lava was extruded at this time, but in general they were more acid, contained more quartz, and were therefore lighter in color than the basalt of the first volcanic period.

As the plateau continued to rise the erosive agencies became more severe and great canyons were carved on the surface. Several thousands of feet of volcanic rocks were no doubt removed from the crests of the San Francisco Peaks as is indicated by a projected profile of their surface.

With physiographic features of the plateau much as it is today the Third Volcanic Period began. To this last general period of volcanic activity, covering a considerable interval of time, the four hundred or so basalt cones and lava flows over twelve hundred square miles belong. Sunset Crater is one of the cones formed at this time.

Long ago Dr. Colton began deducing the relative ages of the lava flows and volcanic cones by studying the stratification of flows, the amount of oxidation of the extruded ma terial, and the amount of erosion. The phe nomena seemed to arrange themselves in five stages, and eruptions seemed to have occurred periodically. With the actual dating of Sunset Crater, Dr. Colton obtained a time yardstick.

He comes to this startling conclusion: "A study of the volcanos of this region may indicate that since the Pliocene perhaps at regular in tervals of time volcanic activity has manifested itself. We do not dare prophesy when the next cinder cone will rise, but we can say with some confidence that the event will take place between the San Francisco Peaks and the Lit tle Colorado River. We make this statement with some confidence because it is evident that in the San Francisco Mountain area the most recent activity has all been in the eastern por tion of the field.

And thus we find we have not been dealing with a dead subject after all. What happened at Sunset Crater may occur again in the future. At least it is comforting to be assured the eruption will give warning and will break out in a relatively uninhabited part of Arizona. When and if it occurs won't it surprise the sheepmen and Navajos who live there! But the Hopi and the Kana-a Kachinas won't bat an eye, they'll just be seeing history repeat itself.