TllF, OLDKi; MKSOZOIC OF AKIZONA. 31 



of all the early exploring part ios that passed through that region, alt lioiigli 

 it is next to certain that none of these parties ev(M' saw what is now called 

 the Petrihed Forest. They all jiassed within a few miles of it, hut either 

 kept in the bed of the Kio I'uerco oi' els(> some distance to the northwest 

 of it. Lieutenant Whipple's pai'ty crossed that sti'eam at Na\ajo S|)i'ings 

 and followed it down at considerat)le distance from the vall(\\- on its I'ight 

 bank, crossing a munhei- of hi'oad washes, which tiiey named. The first 

 of these washes that tlie>- ci'ossed aftei' leaving Xavajo Springs is now 

 called Bonito Creek on nearly all maj)s. It joins the Pvio Pu(M'co about 

 6 miles below Xavajo Spi'ings. The next wash that the party c]'os.sed 

 they named Carrizo Creek. The third of these valleys or creeJcs was the 

 one in which they found such a great quantity of beautifully colored pet- 

 rified wood, and from this circumstance named it Lithodendron Creek." 

 There are, of course, vast quantities of petrified wood on the slopes of all 

 these streams or valleys. The range of me^sas that skirts the northern 

 flank of the Petrified Forest trends here considerably to the north and 

 reappears on the northwest side of the Pio Puerco only a few miles below 

 Carrizo, to the northeast of which these mesas are worn away much as 

 they are in the Petrified Forest, leaving the petrified wood strewai over 

 the valleys and ridges, so that the conditions obtaining on Carrizo Creek 

 or Lithodendron Creek are very nearh' the same as those of the Petrified 

 Forest. The wood is not so abundant there and is not generally so bril- 

 liantly colored, but some of it is jasperized and is very beautiful. The 

 two great logs that were brought to the National Museum in 1880 or 1881 



"In my report on tlie Petrified Forests of Arizona (p. 10), I pointed oiil tlie fact tlmt Lithodendron Creek 

 coidd not by any possibility pass tlirough the present pi^trilied forest, although a numlier of writers have 

 alluded to tlie valley in whicli that forest is located as Lithodendron Creek. And in the Twentieth Annual 

 Report, I't. II, p. 321, I a<jain mentioned this fact and stated in a footnote that Lithodendron Crock was 

 probalily what is now called Carrizo Creek on the Land Olfice map. and wliicli joins the Kio I'uerco at what 

 wa.s Ions Carrizo station on the Santa Fe Pacific Railroad, now abaiidon<'(i. I have taken the trouble to verify 

 this conjecture, which proves to liave been correct. On consulting; in tlic ICngineer Department of the .Vrmy 

 a map pulilished in 1,88.3, en'itled "Map of tlie Territory of the United States West of the .Mississippi River, 

 prepared in the ofiice of the Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., under the direction of Brig. Gen. H-. O. Wriglit, 

 Chief of Kngrs., Bvt. Major-GeneraljU.S. A., by W.W Winship, D. Callahan, Louis Xell, and •'. R. P. .Mechlin, 

 1883," I find that Lithodendron Creek is the name given to the wa-sh that joins the Rio Puerco at Carrizo, 

 whicli is called Carrizo Creek on tlie Land OfPice map. Its course and character are identical on the tvio maps, 

 and are correct, as I have myself taken occasion to prove by actual observation. On the ma[) above mentioned, 

 liowevcr, the next stream above, which is called Dead Creek on (he Land Ofiice map, is named Carrizo Creek, 

 but is made to join the Rio Puerco at Billings instead of .5 or (i miles below, as Dead Creek is represented to 

 do. Their courses are very <iilTerent, and I have not personally verified the accuracy of either of these maps. 

 It is, however, no longer a question that Lithodendron Creek is the dry wash whicli unites v. itli the Kin Puerco 

 at Carrizo. 



