A FOREST OF STONE 



711 



trated. On the raised floor of the basin, 

 after a time, the next forest came into 

 existence, only to be in turn engulfed as 

 the first had been, and so on through 

 the period represented by the 2,000 

 feet or more of similar beds. The scries 

 of entombed forests affords a 

 means of making at least a 

 rough estimate of the time 

 required for the upbuilding of 

 what is now Specimen Ridge 

 and its extensions. 



During the time this 2,000 

 feet of material was being 

 accumulated, and since then 

 to the present day, there has 

 been relatively little warping 

 of the earth's crust at this 

 point; that is, the beds were 

 then, and still are, practically 

 horizontal, so that the fossil 

 forests, as they are being grad- 

 ually uncovered, still stand 

 upright. 



When the volcanic activities 

 had finally ceased, the ever- 

 working disintegrating forces 

 of nature began to tear and 

 wear down this accvmiulatcd 

 material, eroding the beds on 

 a grand scale. Deep canyons 

 and gulches have been trenched 

 and vast quantities of the softer 

 materials have been carried 

 away by the streams and again 

 deposited on lower levels or 

 transported to great and un- 

 known distances. 



The fossil forest that was first 

 brought to scientific attention 

 is on the northern slope of 

 Amethyst Mountain, opposite 

 the mouth of Soda Butte Creek, 

 about 8 miles southeast of 

 Junction Butte. The follow- 

 ing account, by Dr. William H. 

 Holmes, the discoverer of these 

 fossil forests, shows the im- 

 pression first made by them: 



As we ride up the trail that meanders 

 the smooth river bottom [Lamar River] 

 we have but to turn our attention to the 

 cliffs on the right hand to discover a 

 multitude of the bleached trunks of the 

 ancient forests. In the steeper middle 

 portion of the mountain face, rows of 



ujjright trunks stand out on the ledges 

 like the columns of a ruined temple. 

 On the more gentle slopes farther down, 

 but where it is still too steep to support 

 vegetation, save a few pines, the petri- 

 fied tnmks fairlv cover the surface, and 



Courtesy of E. C. Alderson. 



A Well Preserved Trunk 



ONE OF .\L\NY IN THE GALL.\TTN .MOUNT.MNS, .MONT.\NA, WHERE THE 

 FOSSILIZED FO.'ijISrS COVER 35,0JJ .\CRES 



were at first supposed by us to be shat- 

 tered remains of a recent forest. 



These trunks may easily be seen from 

 the road along the Lamar River, about 

 a mile away. They stand upright — as 

 Holmes has said, like the pillars of some 

 ruined temple — and a closer view shows 

 that there is a succession of these for- 



