Its upper half is shallow and bounded by
low rolling foothills, but in the middle it suddenly deepens and
narrows into a box canon, which has high perpendicular walls of
solid rock like the Grand Canon. It is a long, narrow valley
sunk deep into the earth and has great fertility and much wild
beauty. It measures from a few feet to a mile in width and
drains a large scope of rough country. The surface water which
filters through from above reappears in numerous springs of clear
cold water in the bottom of the canon. In the moist earth and
under the shade of forest trees grow a variety of rare flowers,
ferns and mosses.
Where the canon begins to box a large spring of pure cold water
issues from the sand in the bottom of a wash which is the source
of the Aravaipa creek. It flows through many miles of rich
alluvial land and empties into the San Predo river. The valley
was settled many years ago by men who were attracted to the spot
by its rare beauty, fertility of soil and an abundance of wood
and water.
The land is moist and covered by a heavy growth of forest trees,
which will average over one hundred feet high. The trees are as
large and the foliage as dense as in any eastern forest. Being
sunk deep in the earth the narrow valley at the bottom of the
canon can only be seen from above. When viewed from some
favorable point it has the appearance of a long green ribbon
stretched loosely over a brown landscape. The sight of it is a
pleasant surprise to the weary wayfarer who, after traveling over
many miles of dreary desert road, finds himself suddenly ushered
into such pleasant scenes.
The canons of Arizona are unrivaled for grandeur, sublimity and
beauty, and will attract an ever increasing number of admirers.
CHAPTER XI
THE METEORITE MOUNTAIN
Ten miles southeast of Canon Diablo station on the Santa Fe
Pacific Railroad, stands the Meteorite Mountain of Arizona, on a
wide, open plain of the Colorado Plateau. It is two hundred feet
high and, as seen at a distance, has the appearance of a low,
flat mountain. Its top forms the rim of an immense, round,
bowl-shaped hole in the ground that has almost perpendicular
sides, is one mile wide and over six hundred feet deep. The
hole, originally, was evidently very much deeper than it is at
the present time, but it has gradually become filled with debris
to its present depth. The bottom of the hole has a floor of
about forty acres of level ground which merges into a talus.
This formation is sometimes called the Crater, because of its
shape, but there is no evidence of volcanic action. Locally it
is known as Coon Butte, which is a misnomer; but Meteorite
Mountain is a name with a meaning.
It is not known positively just how or when the mountain was
formed, but the weight of evidence seems to favor the meteorite
theory, which is that at some remote period of time a monster
meteorite fell from the sky and buried itself in the earth.
Mr. F. W. Volz, who has lived in the country twenty years and is
an intelligent observer of natural phenomena, has made a careful
study of the mountain, and it is his opinion that such an event
actually occurred and that a falling star made the mountain.
When the descending meteorite, with its great weight and terrific
momentum, hit the earth something had to happen. It buried
itself deep beneath the surface and caused the earth to heave up
on all sides. The effect produced is aptly illustrated, on a
small scale, by throwing a rock into thick mud.
The impact of the meteorite upon the earth not only caused an
upheaval of the surface, but it also crushed and displaced the
rocks beneath. As the stellar body penetrated deeper into the
earth its force became more concentrated and either compressed
the rocks into a denser mass or ground them to powder.
The plain on which the mountain stands is covered by a layer of
red sandstone of variable thickness, as it is much worn in places
by weather erosion. Below the top covering of red sandstone lie
three hundred feet of limestone and beneath the limestone five
hundred feet more of white sandstone. This arrangement of the
rocks is plainly seen in the walls of Canon Diablo.
The displaced strata of rocks in the hole are tilted and stand
outwards and great boulders of red sandstone and limestone lie
scattered all about. If the hole had been made by an explosion
from below large pieces of rock from each one of the different
rock strata would have been thrown out; but, while as just
stated, there are plenty of huge blocks of red sandstone and
limestone, there are no large pieces of white sandstone. After
the superficial layers of rock had been broken up and expelled en
masse, the deeper rock of white sandstone, being more confined,
could not reach the surface in the shape of boulders, but had
first to be broken up and ground to powder before it could
escape. Then the white sandstones in the form of fine sand was
blown skywards by the collision and afterwards settled down upon
the mountain. The mountain is covered with this white sand,
which could only have come out of the big hole as there is no
other white sand or sandstone found anywhere else upon the entire
plain.
In the vicinity of the mountain about ten tons of meteorites have
been found, varying in size from the fraction of an ounce to one
thousand pounds or more. Most of the meteorites were found by
Mr. Volz, who searched diligently every foot of ground for miles
around.
