Northern Arizona State Teachers College - La Cuesta Yearbook (Flagstaff, AZ)

Page 169 text:

v-v'-'--'---r'-'M' .. I. ,.- . .' ' ' ' .-1-szibm . V Coconino County, Its Wonders George Wharton James, in his book, Arizona, the Wonder- land, says of Coconino county: In this county is Sunset Cra- ter, and the vast lava fields, which, with their outlying con- nections, are far larger and more wonderful than the classic lava flows of southern France, in these are found wonderful ice caves, and in prehistoric times Indians made their cave dwellings in holes which they found almost ready-made for the purpose. Nearby are deep clefts in the earth locally known as Bottomless Pits, made by the flowing of the acid-charged waters which disintegrated the limestone and washed it away to greater depths, and a few miles further on one's pathway is barred by another deep gash in the earth-Walnut Canyon- in which are many of the earliest cliff-dwellings. To the east is Black Mountain, from which one can carry away a mil- lion tons of disintegrated lava that, to the eye of the uninitiat- ed, appears exactly like coarse gunpowder, and still further east is Canyon Diablo--the Canyon of the Devil-doubtless so called by the early pioneers, who, with their slow-going ox- teams, felt it was an invention of the devil to retard their progress to the 'glorious land of Californyl' Slightly to thc east and south is Meteorite Mountain. To the north is the Painted Desert, in which, swimming like ocean birds in the blue of the pure Arizona atmosphere, are the Mogollon Buttes, remarkable basalt figures that tower 1000 feet or more into the air. Yonder, a little north and east, is the noted Spanish province of Tusayan-the home of the Hopi Indians, whose marvelous Snake Dance has attracted savants and sightseers from all quarters of the globe. Not far from this, the Navajo reservation, with its Monument valley, where are rock towers and temples that dwarf into insignificance the figures of the Garden of the Gods and Monument Park in Colorado. Within a few miles is Sage Canyon, with astonishing cliff-dwellings first seen by white men less than two decades ago. Close by, as distances are reckoned in this country of big distances, is Navajo Mountain, just over the line of Coconino County, in Utah, overlooking the Fourt Corners, where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona meet. The center of a waste half as large as the state of New York, that NO WHITE MAN HAS EVER EXPLORED, OR EVEN PROSPECTEDJ' One Hundred Sixty-Nine

Page 168 text:

wud-I9 -A .- ,,.' N ff- A-f' 'j y wa r - , g ,. l., V ,...f 5:9f'4 1- ' The Rainlbow Natural Bridge Other Scenic Points To the west of Flagstaff, eight miles away, is where Fort Moroni used to stand, a fortressbuilt by the Mormons to de- fend themselves from the Apaches when, in 1880, they were on the war path. Flagstaff is the natural starting point for a tour of the In- dian country, and there are several routes to it, each of great interest. Auto parties cross the Little Colorado river by way of Tolchaco and from there into the Hopi country. Arriving in the Hopi land the traveler may visit a dozen villages within a radius of forty miles, seeing something new and novel in each. For instance, in one village pottery is made as nowhere else in the world 5 in another blankets, while yet another excels in grass plaques and blankets. Each com- munity has a specialty and excels in its selected line. Another attractive trip is from Flagstaff to Tuba City, thence north to the junction of the Colorado rivers, where, 5000 feet below the rim of the plateau, the rivers join in a box canyon with almost perpendicular walls. From here, passing through scenic country at all times, one may go to Red Lake, Kayenta and Marsh Pass, thence to Keams Canyon and into the Hopi land again. One Hundred Sixty-Eight

Page 170 text:

'PIIII IIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlllllllllllllIlllllllllllllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlllllllllllllllllIllllIllllllllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllIlllllllllllllllllllllll IllllllIlllllllllllllllllllIlllllll IIIIIIIII Illllllll 'I' E E lIHIHIIHIIINIIIIIIHIIIlllIIIIIIillIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVIIIIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIlilIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHHIIIIHIIIIIIIIHIIHIIIIIHIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHHIIIIIIIHIHIIHIIIIHillIIIIIIIIINIIHIIINHHIHHHlllIIIIIIIIHlIiU IIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlIiIHIIHIIIi Swnimm i-P Seiflm imul lKlllHHlHlNIIlIIN5lII1lNIl1l!IQlIIllIlIillIIIlIIllllHllIlllllllllllllllllllllIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlllIIIIIIllllIIIIIIHIIlllIliiiIH!H!!!IHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIHIHIHIHIHNIHIIHIHIIII!!!IIHIIIIIIIIIIVQIIIIHIIIIIIIIIHlIIHIlIIlIIIIII ol- IIIIIIIIIIIIlllllllllllillllllllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllllllllll IIII I IH'