melted sand, et cetera, that formed on the logs as they rolled around in
the water."

"Water?" I certainly hadn't seen any water around the Petrified Forest.

"Yes, water. This country, at one time, was an arm of the Pacific Ocean,
and was drained by some disturbance which brought the Sierra Mountains
to the surface. These logs grew probably a thousand miles north of here
and were brought here in a great flood. They floated around for
centuries perhaps, and were thoroughly impregnated with the mineral
water, doubtless hot water. When the drainage took place, they were
covered by silt and sand to a depth of perhaps two thousand feet. Here
the petrifaction took place. Silica was present in great quantities.
Manganese and iron provided the coloring matter, and through pressure
these chemicals were forced into the grain of the wood, which gradually
was absorbed and its cell structure replaced by ninety-nine per cent
silica and the other per cent iron and manganese. Erosion brought what
we see to the top. We have reason to believe that the earth around here
covers many thousand more."

After that all soaked in I asked him what the beautiful crystals in
purple and amber were. These are really amethysts and topazes found in
the center of the logs. Formed probably by resin in the wood, these
jewels are next hardest to diamonds and have been much prized. One
famous jeweler even had numberless logs blown to splinters with
explosives in order to secure the gems.

The wood is very little softer than diamond, and polishes beautifully
for jewelry, book-ends, and table tops. The ranger warned us against
taking any samples from the Reserve.