PETRIFIED FORESTS OF ARIZONA. 305 



I also wrote to Mr. Thomas Bunch, of Flagstaff, member of the 

 legislative committee of Arizona, .vhom I did not meet there, but 

 who, as I learned from a friend of his,- Mr. George W. Sturtevant, of 

 Chicago, had taken a special interest in the Petrified Forests. Mr. 

 Bunch also replied promptly and his letter is altogether to the point : 



Flagstaff, Arizona, November S8, 1899. 



Dear Sir: Yours of 23d instant received. I would like to see the Pretrified Forest 

 preserved. If it can be preserved by setting it aside as a national park I hope it 

 may be done at an early date. I have known it and been there often for the past 

 sixteen years, and every time I go I can see the traces of the vandal. Inside of 

 twenty years from now there will be but little left of interest. However, I would be 

 pleased to see some of the best specimens placed in our public institutions, and for 

 that purpose I would permit a limited amount to be removed. I desire to have 

 brought here a nice section and to place it in the Northern Arizona Normal School, 

 and for like purposes I think it advisable to allow the removal. I hope the Govern- 

 ment will see that it is not further made the place of amusement with explosives 

 and that no more is blown up with powder. 



Yours, truly, Thos. S. Bunch, 



Member Legislative Commillee of Arizona. 



Lester F. Ward, Esq., United States Geologist, Washington, D. C. 



From all this it will be seen that leading citizens and prominent 

 public men in Arizona are sincerely desirous of preserving this inter- 

 esting spot from vandalism and wanton destruction, and that many of 

 them think that this can best be done by making it a national reserve 

 and appointing the proper guardians to take charge of it. As they 

 show, the expense of this need not be large. A single mounted ranger, 

 such as now patrol the forest reserves of the Colorado plateau, would 

 probably be adequate to this purpose for some time to come. 



As nearly all tourists and visitors must approach the Petrified For- 

 ests by way of the Santa Fe Pacific Railroad, it is clearly to the inter- 

 est of that road that they be made as attractive as possible, and there 

 is no doubt that the officers of the road will gladly cooperate with the 

 Government in this matter. A few 3'ears ago the nearest railroad 

 station was Corrizo, which is some six miles west of north of the upper 

 forest. The inconvenience of this was apparent to the railroad authori- 

 ties, and they have recently established a station due north of the for- 

 ests, only 7 miles from the nearest margin and about 8 miles from the 

 Natural Bridge. This is the station of Adamana, the name })eing 

 modified from that of the only person living there, Mr. Adam Hanna, 

 upon whom now falls the duty of conducting parties to the Pet- 

 rified Forests. Mr. Hanna derives considerable revenue from this 

 source, especially as it is usually necessary for parties to stay over 

 night, and he takes care of them. But his house is not convenient to 

 the station and is not adapted for a hotel, and as the number of visi- 

 tors increases it will become necessary to provide more ample accomo- 

 dations. There will need to be a hotel with civilized conveniences, and 

 8M 99 20 



