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Page 32
In many of the canons where water flows continuously, effects are
produced that are exactly the opposite of those ascribed to water
erosion. Instead of the running water cutting deeper into the
earth it has partly filled the canon with alluvium, thereby
demonstrating nature's universal leveling process. Even the
floods of water which pour through them during every rainy season
with an almost irresistible force carry in more soil than they
wash out and every freshet only adds new soil to the old
deposits. If these canons were all originally made by water
erosion as is claimed, why does not the water continue to act in
the same manner now but, instead, completely reverses itself as
above stated? There can be but one of two conclusions, either
that nature has changed or that scientists are mistaken.
The Aravaipa in southern Arizona is an interesting canon and is
typical of its kind. 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.
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