Petrified Forest National Park: Pages from the Past

PHOTOGRAPHS: NATIONAL PARK SERVICE The proclamation of President Theodore Roosevelt creating Petrified Forest National Monument in 1906 Whereas, it is provided by section two of the Act of Congress, approved June 8, 1906, entitled, "An Act for the preservation of American Antiquities, "That the President of the United States is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to declare by public proclamation historic land marks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or solentific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States to be National Monuments, and may reserve as a part thereof paroels of land, the limits of which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the object to be protected; And, whereas, the mineralized remains of Mesosolo forests, commonly known as the "Petrified Forest," in the Territory of Arizona, situated upon the public lands owned and controlled by the United States, are of the greatest scientific interest and value and it appears that the public good would be promoted by reserving these deposits of fossilized wood a National monument with as much land as may be necessary for the proper protection thereof; And, whereas, the mineralized remains of Mesosolo forests, commonly known as the "Petrified Forest," in the Territory of Arizona, situated upon the public lands owned and controlled by the United States, are of the greatest scientific interest and value and it appears that the public good would be promoted by reserving these deposits of fossilized wood a National monument with as much land as may be necessary for the proper protection thereof; Now, therefore, I, THEODORE ROOSEVELT, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the power in me vested by section two of the aforesaid Act of Congress, do hereby set aside the Petrified Forest National Monument, subject to any valid and existing rights, the deposits of mineralised forest remains situated in Gila and Apache counties, Arizona, more particularly located and described as follows, to wit: Sections 1 to 18 inclusive in tomship 16 north, range 23; sections 20 to 29 inclusive and sections 31 to 36 inclusive in township 17 north, range 23; sections 1 to 12 inclusive and section 18 in township 16 north, range 24; sections 2 to 11 inclusive and sections 14 to 36 inclusive in township 17 north, range 24; sections 5, 6, 7 and 8, in township ló north, range and sections 19, 20, 29, 30, 31 and 32 in township 17 north, 25, all east of the Gila and Salt River Meridian as shown map hereto attached and made a part of this proclamaThere is hereby expressly given to all unauthorized to appropriate, excavate, injure or destroy any forest remains hereby declared to be a to locate or settle upon any of the lands part of said monument by this proclamation.

TEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and ited States to be affixed.

Done at Washington, this day of , in the year of our Lord one thousand six and the Indepen-dence of the tes the one hundred and thirty-first.

By the President:

Secretary of S

Representative John Fletcher Lacey, May 30, 1841-Sept. 29, 1913. Congressman Lacey was born in West Virginia, but moved to Iowa at 14 years of age. As a long-time chairman of the House Committee on Forests, he helped to frame most of the legislation relating to conservation between 1889 and 1907. He was author of "An Act for the Preservation of American Antiquities" of 1906 (often called the "Antiquities Act!") which gave the President of the United States the authority to establish National Monuments by Presidential Proclamation. It was under this authority that President Theodore Roosevelt created Petrified Forest National Monument.

ZUNI AND COLORADO RIVERS.

valley destitute of timber, but covered with a thick growth of rank unnutritious grass. The hills bounding it on either side are of gradual slope, with here and there a rocky point of a conglomerate of gray sandstone and pebbles jutting out into the bottom.

September 28, Camp No. 5. Proceeding down the valley, it widens out into a broad plain, which the recent profuse rains had made soft and muddy. To avoid this we turned off from the river, and made our way across the high land, but gained little by the exchange, for the soil was so light and thinly covered with grass that the mules sank to their fetlocks at every step. The ground was strewed with pebbles of agate, jasper, and chalcedony, and masses of what appeared to have been stumps of trees petrified into jasper, beautifully striped with bright shades of red, (the predominating color,) blue, white, and yellow. The rocks were gray sandstone, sometimes of a slaty structure.

September 30, Camp No. 7. The river here runs through a deep and rocky cañon, which we skirted, and crossed below it to the south bank, finding the ground much broken by ravines, which were only visible when we came directly upon them. The surrounding scenery resembled that of the northwestern prairies, the country being bare of trees and the horizon unbroken, except in one direction, where a high conical peak, that had served us several days as a lankmark, varied the uniformity of its outline.

October 1, Camp No. 8. The river, winding to the north, gave us a straight course across the high land, soft and sandy, as usual, and frequently intersected by deep ravines, until we again encountered it, flowing now between bluff sandy banks fringed with cotton-wood trees, and presenting at length the appearance of a river, but still with little water in its bed. I remarked cropping out of the side of a bluff a seam of fibrous gypsum three or four inches thick. In the course of the day's march the San Francisco mountains became visible to the west, and to the north several singular volcanic peaks.

A page from "REPORT OF AN EXPEDITION DOWN THE ZUNI AND COLORADO RIVERS, BY CAPTAIN L. SITGREAVES, CORPS OF TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEERS," Senate Document, 32d Congress, 2d Session, Executive order, no 59, 1853. The Sitgreaves Report is the first known mention of the occurrence of petrified wood in the region of present-day Petrified National Park to have appeared in print.

An early-day tour of Petrified Forest (circa 1910). The scenery was interesting at that time.

Specimen of a petrified log on exhibit in the U. S. National Museum, Washington. This specimen was collected and sent to Washington by Lt. John F. C. Hegewald under orders from General Sherman. Lt. Hegewald's expedition was authorized under Ft. Wingate Special Orders No. 24 under date of April 30, 1879, to "proceed via Navajoe (sic) Springs as far as the Lithodendron, for the purpose of collecting the pictured specimen for the National Museum."

PERSPECTIVE

at all not were things little the small SO looked things big the there Up seek a I mind of peace the found peak mountain a climbed I day The

YOURS SINCERELY CHRISTMAS ISSUE:

For many years we have been given a subscription to ARIZONA HIGHWAYS as a Christmas gift. It is one gift that we look forward to from month to month. It even seems as if each issue is better than the last. Our December issue arrived-and after our employees had read it-we brought it home and read it ourselves. Instead of putting it away we propped it up in a chair where we could admire the cover picture. The enclosed snapshot is the result. Our puss cat seems to like the magazine as much as we do! The picture was not posed at allit just happened and our copy will go in our album as a memory of Christmas 1962. Thank you for many, many years of good reading. Mrs. Joe W. Reed Santa Maria, California

NEW HOTEL AT GRAND CANYON?

Several years ago I read that a mining company having property on the South Rim of Grand Canyon proposed to build a hotel there. Did anything ever come of that proposal? A. M. Doldmann Ithaca, New York

Marred in any way will be glad to know there will be no hotel hanging over the South Rim of Grand Canyon. Western Equities, Inc., formerly Western Gold Uranium, Inc., late last year deeded its 20.64 acre patented mining claim on the South Rim to the Federal Government. Under the terms of Public Law 87-457 and the deed of conveyonce, the company has the right to remove, for a period of twenty-five years, ore underlying park land adjacent to its claim. Ore so removed is subject to the payment of royalties, which, according to the National Park Service, may exceed $600,000. All mining operations will be conducted underground so as not to disfigure the scenic park terrain. The company also has the right to operate its inn and related cottage and guest facilities through 1966. On termination of the Company's mining operations, the claim will be cleared of developments and returned to its natural state.

ARIZONA HIGHWAYS: CUMULATIVE INDEX, 1952-1961

I have been a subscriber to ARIZONA HIGHWAYS since 1955, and needless to say I find it most enjoyable. I have a complete file beginning with the first issue I received and I often go back to old copies to refer to some subject or photograph in which I am especially interested. Have you ever thought of putting out an index? I am sure many school teachers, such as myself, would find an index invaluable.

Lucy C. Stearn Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

OPPOSITE PAGE

"MARKS OF TIME AND WEATHER" BY JOSEF MUENCH. Photograph taken on the Blue Mesa in Petrified Forest National Park. This photograph dramatically demonstrates the way in which the ancient petrified trees of Petrified Forest are broken as time and relentless erosion wears away the earth in which they were deposited aeons ago. The massive logs, with support gone, form jumbled masses of stone as they roll down the sides of Blue Mesa. 4x5 Linhof camera; Ektachrome; f.16 at 1/25th sec.; 6" Xenar lens; May.

BACK COVER

"GOLDEN WATERS IN PETRIFIED FOREST" BY DARWIN VAN CAMPEN. Taken along the main road in Petrified Forest National Park near the turn-off to Blue Mesa. The photographer says: "We were driving through the Petrified Forest in the early evening looking for a suitable spot to photograph the coming sunset when we discovered this little stream, formed apparently by melted snow from the Blue Mesa area. It made a handy little mirror as it trickled its way through the sand." 4x5 Graphic View camera; Ektachrome; f.18 at 1/5th sec.; 127mm Ektar lens; February; Weston Meter reading 25; ASA rating 64.

-MILDRED N. HOYER

BILL FOR THREE DOLLARS

Pietro helped around all day, With errands small and large, Then smilingly came to collect With reasons for his charge.

"For groceries I made three comes; On three goes I was sent; And these all add up to six gones At fifty cents a went."

-OLIVE BREED

APRIL GAME

In springtime every breeze delights in flying sky-high white cloud-kites.

ELEORAL LOVELL

BOISTEROUS MARCH

March with its swaggering bluster Is a restless boy Bottled up with mischief, Wild with joy!

March is noisy laughter Flung against the sky; Lines of grey geese winging Swift and high.

A gay-eyed shouting gypsy Strutting down the hills, Urging spring to waken And don her frills.

March is bulging nature Bursting out her seams; Happy water rushing Down singing streams.

Kites with white tails bobbing In tumbled skies of blue; Anemone and crocus Thrusting through.

Colts turned out to pasture, Eager eyed and wild; March is rugged winter's Audacious child.

-EMILY CAREY ALLEMAN