716 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 





UPRIGHT AND PROSTRATE TRUNKS. 



WHILE THE TALLEST TRUNK NOW STANDING IS ONLY THIRTY FEET THE PROSTRATE TRUNKS INDICATE THAT MANY 



THE TREES WERE OVER ONE HUNDRED FEET HIGH. 



trunks standing upright among the 

 stumps and trunks of living trees, and 

 so much resembling them that a near 

 view is necessary to convice him that 

 they are really fossil trunks. Only two 

 rise to a considerable height above the 

 surface. The larger one is about 15 

 feet high and 13 feet in circumference; 

 the other is a little smaller. As the 

 roots are not exposed, it is impossible 

 to determine the position of the part in 

 view or the original diameter of the 

 trees, as the bark is nowhere preserved. 

 Above these standing trunks lie many 

 others, which the disintegrating forces 

 of nature break up into small fragments 

 and keep at about the same level as 

 that of their surrounding matrix. Some 

 of these trunks rise only a few inches 

 from the surface; others are nearly 

 covered by shifting debris. Their diam- 

 eter ranges from 1 to 4 feet, and they 

 are so perfectly preserved that the rings 

 of growth can easily be counted. The 

 internal structure is also in most trunks 



nearly as perfect as when the trees were 

 living. 



The forest that is next in size to the 

 one a mile southeast of Junction Butte 

 is on Cache Creek, about 7 miles above 

 its mouth. It is on the south bank of 

 the creek and covers several acres. The 

 trunks are scattered from bottom to 

 top of the slopes through a height of 

 probably 800 feet. Most of the trunks 

 are upright, but only a few project more 

 than 2 or 3 feet above the surface. The 

 largest one observed was 6 feet in height 

 and 4 feet in diameter. Most of these 

 trunks appear to the naked eye to be 

 conifers, but a number are obviously 

 dicotyledons that is, they were decid- 

 uous-leaved trees. The conifers, how- 

 ever, were the predominant element in 

 this as in the other fossil forests. 



The slopes of the Thunderer, the 

 mountain so prominently in view from 

 Soda Butte on the south, also bear nu- 

 merous fossil trunks. Most of them are 

 upright, but only a very few project 



