A bath does not affect all people alike; what will do
one person good may injure another. It is never wise to
prescribe a stereotyped treatment for every patient. The
disease, temperament and constitution of each individual must be
taken into account and the temperature and frequency of the bath
must be determined and regulated by the necessity and
idiosyncrasies of each case. The amount of bathing that a
strong, full-blooded person could endure would mop out the life
of a thin, bloodless weakling.
Locally, these springs have become famous because of the
remarkable cures they have effected, and are sought by many sick
people who have failed to find relief by other means. Before the
white man came the Indians used the water for curing their sick.
The water is curative in rheumatism, neuralgia, dyspepsia, blood
and skin disorders and kidney complaint. The water cure is all
right even if it does not always fulfill every expectation.
Hooker's hot springs is a pleasant place to visit for people who
are not invalids. It is off the beaten path of travel and is an
ideal spot for the tired man who needs a rest. It has not yet
been overrun by the crowd, but retains all of the natural charm
of freshness which the old resorts have lost. Here nature riots
in all of her wild beauty and has not yet been perceptibly marred
by the despoiling hand of man.
Aside from the luxury of the baths which the place affords the
visitor can find a great deal to please him. The climate is
healthful and the weather pleasant during most of the year. In
the near vicinity much can be found in nature that is
interesting. Never-failing mountain streams, deep canons and
dark forests wait to be visited and explored, while curiosities
in animal and vegetable life abound. Not far off is a place here
perfect geodes of chalcedony are found.
Mining and ranching are the leading industries of the country and
a visit to some neighboring mine or cattle ranch is not without
interest to the novice. But, if he starts out on such a trip he
must decide to make a day of it, as the country is sparsely
settled and the distances long between camps. If the
accommodations where he stops are not always luxurious the
welcome is cordial and the entertainment comfortable. The new
experience is also delightfully romantic.
CHAPTER X
CANON ECHOES
The Colorado Plateau, in northern Arizona, is the union of the
Rocky and Sierra Nevada mountains in their southward trend, and
forms the southern rim of the Great Basin. This depression was
once a vast inland sea, of which nothing remains but the Salt
Lake of Utah, and is drained by the Colorado river. The entire
plateau region is remarkable for its grand scenery - abysmal
chasms, sculptured buttes and towering cliffs, which are
"brightly colored as if painted by artist Gods, not stained and
daubed by inharmonious hues but beautiful as flowers and gorgeous
as the clouds." The plateau is an immense woodland of pines
known as the Coconino Forest.
The San Francisco mountains, nearly thirteen thousand feet high,
stand in the middle of the plateau which is, also, the center of
an extensive extinct volcanic field. The whole country is
covered with cinders which were thrown from active volcanoes
centuries ago. The track of the Santa Fe Pacific railroad, clear
across Arizona, is ballasted with cinders instead of gravel that
were dug from pits on its own right of way.
Near the southern base of the San Francisco mountains is the town
of Flagstaff built in a natural forest of pine trees. It is
sometimes called the Skylight City because of its high altitude,
rarefied atmosphere and brilliant sky. It is said to have been
named by a company of soldiers who camped on the spot while out
hunting Indians, when the country was new. It happened to be on
the Fourth of July and they celebrated the day by unfurling Old
Glory from the top of a pine tree, which was stripped of its
branches and converted into a flagstaff. Here is located the
Lowell Observatory, which has made many valuable discoveries in
astronomy. It is a delightful spot and offers many attractions
to the scientist, tourist and health seeker.
One of the many interesting objects of this locality is the Ice
Cave situated eight miles southwest of the town. It not only
attracts the curious, but its congealed stores are also drawn on
by the people who live in the vicinity when the domestic ice
supply runs short. The cave is entered from the side of a ravine
and its opening is arched by lava rock. How the ice ever got
there is a mystery unless it is, as Mr. Volz claims, glacial ice
that was covered and preserved by a thick coat of cinders which
fell when the San Francisco Peaks were in active eruption. As
far as observed the ice never becomes more nor ever gets less,
except what is removed by mining.
The region is unusually attractive to the naturalist. It is the
best field for the study of entomology that is known. But all
nature riots here. Dr. C. Hart Merriam, in his report of a
biological survey of the San Francisco mountains and Painted
Desert, states that there are seven distinct life zones in a
radius of twenty-five miles running the entire gamut from the
Arctic to the Tropic.[2] The variety of life which he found and
describes cannot be duplicated in the same space anywhere else
upon the globe.
[2] Results of a Biological Survey of the San Francisco Mountain
Region and Painted Desert of the Little Colorado, Arizona.
