CHAPTER VIII 



NATIONAL MONUMENTS SYSTEM A 

 SCIENTIFIC MUSEUM 



DURING the first years of the century tales con- 

 stantly reached Washington of the looting of 

 a great area of petrified trees in middle Arizona. 

 Gorgeously colored trunks were being gathered by 

 the wagon-load and shipped East by the car-load to 

 make mantles, table-tops, and other embellishments 

 for the homes of the rich. So beautiful was the ma- 

 terial that prices grew higher and demand greater 

 year by year. Some of this was semi-precious stone. 



The land being ordinary Public Domain, no law 

 could stop the taking, so John F. Lacey of Iowa, 

 Chairman of the Public Lands Committee of the 

 House and friend of Roosevelt, tried to protect the 

 area by making it a National Park. Failing twice to 

 secure passage, he wrote into the American Antiqui- 

 ties bill, then before his Committee for action and 

 sure to pass, the following : 



"Sec. 2. That the President of the United 

 States is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to de- 

 clare by public proclamation historic landmarks, his- 

 toric and prehistoric structures, and other objects of 

 historic or scientific interest that are situated upon 

 the lands owned or controlled by the Government of 



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