Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 289, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 December 1919 — ZION: Rival of Yosemite [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ZION: Rival of Yosemite

by John Dickinson Sherman

i _ j HE national parks will probably soon stage a contest in scenic love* U liness between Yosemite valley and * Zion canon. For the bill creating . f Zion canon a national park has . P' been passed by both houses of congress and at this writing is in conference over an amendment. always the best of boosters —have long contended that Yosemite valley is the supreme expression of scenic loveliness. They hold that there is nothing like it on earth. To them it la “the valley whose compelling beauty the world acknowledges as supreme." But—Utah- -enthiisiasts believe that when Zion’s beauty is known to the public Yosemite will be put in the second rank. Of course the new Zion National park will hardly rank with Yosemite as a national park, for the latter contains 719.G22 acres, while the former will have only 76,800 acres. But the contest in loveliness between Yosemite valley and Zion canon is likely to be close and interesting. Yellowstone National park in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, as everybody knows, was the first national park to be established (1872) in the -World. It is our oldest and largest and most famous scenic natural park. Its geysers and bears have made Its name a worldwide household word. Yosemite in California, established in 1890, is scarcely less famous; all the world knows of its waterfalls and its big trees —the oldest and largest living things in the world. And Yosemite valley. Its greatest beauty, is familiar to everyone through pictures. It is visited yearly by thousands; this season the attendance was 58,564. The proposed Zion National park lies in southern Utah, about 200 miles south of Salt Lake City. The state Ijas made it accessible to the tourist by building 100 miles of automobile highway from Lund on the Salt Lake route. The Arrowhead trail from Salt Lake City is also available. President Taft in 1909 created the Munnational monument of 15,840 acres to preserve the wonderfully scenic area of the canon of the Rio Virgin. In recent years other scenic canons were discovered, and in 1918 President Wilson enlarged the national monument to 76,800 acres and changed its name to Zion. In the debate over the Zion National park bill in the house Representative Welling of Utah said in part: “This region obtained its name Zion canon because of the devout reverence of the Mormon pioneers who settled upon the Virgin river more than 60 years ago. Its perpendicular walls presented an impassable barrier to hostile tribes of Indians, who infested these regions, and these people looked upon Zion canon as a convenient and hospitable refuge when threatened by attack from these troublesome Indian tribes. Zion canon is an extraordinary gorge cut from brilliantly colored sedimentary rocks by the north fork of the Virgin river. Its proportions are about equal to those of Yosemite, valley, in Yoaemlte National park; the walls are several hundred feet lower and the canon is considerably narrower. In the cutting of the gorge, however, the torrential stream and .wind and rain have carved domes, spires, towers, and other curious forms that strikingly resemble many of the features of Y’osemite valley. “More Interesting than the carving of Zion’s cliffs is their exquisite coloring. Red predominates, as it does in the Grand canon in Arizona, ‘black, and white colors with the red and with each other. White sandstone is-superimposed on the red strata, and other layers of the red rock lie in turn upon the white. The action of water upon the exposed surfaces of these rocks has produced a symphony of color that gives the canon its greatest charm. The finishing touches ere given by the forests of the valley floor and the trees on the rim and in the niches of the □early perpendicular canon walls.” Until recently Zion has been practically inaccessible, and scarcely tens have seen it where thousands have seen Yosemite. But Zion’s visitors have paid ( eloquent tribute. The Indians called it Munkuntuweap—Land of God—because It was so beautiful. The fierce Mormon zealot named it “Little Zion” because of its heavenly beauty. Away back in the seventies John Wesley Powell of Grand canon fame was tempted far out of his way by the exceeding beauty of a temple of rock “lifting its opalescent shoulders against the eastern sky.” It was the •vermilion body and shining white dome of the "West Temple of the Virgin at the entrance to Munkuntuweap. “Again we are impressed with the marvelous beauty of outilne, the infinite complication of these titanic buttes. It is doubtful if In this respect the valley' has its equal. Not even the (Grand canon offers a,more varied spectacle; yet tail is welded together in a superb ensemble.” F. *B. Dellenbaugh, topographer of the Powell party, wrote this on his second visit ’ - . 4 “Nothing can exceed the wondrous beauty of Zion canon,” wrote C. E. Dutton. “In its proportions it Is about equal to Yosemite, but in the nobility and beauty of its sculptures there is no (Comparison. It is Hyperion to • Satyr.” • '*• '

Jack Lait wrote a characteristic appreciation of Zion canon for a railroad administration booklet, in which he said I “Zion canon is an epic, written by Mother Nature in her most ecstatic humor, illustrated by Creation in its most majest4e-m an if estat published by God Almighty as an inspiration to all mankind. -Zion canon is the most beautiful spot -on this continent. I think I have seen all the famed show-places that the evolution of the earths formation has made. And of them all Zion to me stands first, stands alone.” Zion has’the double charm of form and color, and It is hard to say which is the more appealing. -The entrnncfr tQ lhe-reaimn is Rpaeious aad fmpresSite. The course up the Rio Virgin is tortuous and the variation of view and of formation of the lofty walls is great. At the end of six or seven miles of canon the wall narrows to the streamrx there is beyond is practically unvkmj.w'n. from the plateau above the visitor foay 1001/ down thousands of vertical feet into the ptffnted canon with its river. From the river bank he may look up thousands of feet with a changing view at every turn of the canon. The entrance to the canon is most impressive. To the west rises the West Temple (7,650 feet), flanked by the Towers of the Virgin. The guardian to the east is the East Temple (7,000), flanked by the Watchman (6,350), and Bridge mountain (6.650). Then come the Streaked Wall on the west side and the Brown Wall on the east sidp, .kQB-Jgd. llatriurejis and the Mountain of the Stra. "Extraordinary features of the wall formation Include El Gobernador. the Great Organ and the Temple Of Sinawava. The visitor finally comes to a point where the chasm is more than 2,000 feet deep and the walls so nearly touch that he looks up to see no sky. The walls are practically vertical and parallel and warp in and out. thus cutting off the blue above. Here is revealed the secret of the Making of Zion, as is pointed out by Dr.G.K. Gilbert of the United States geological survey. This chasm is an example of downward erosion by sand-bearing water, which acts like the marble saw. The cut is not vertical, because the current has carried the cutting sand to one side or the other, and the cut undulates both in its vertical and horizontal sections. . * , ’ The forms along the canon walls are extraordinary. And the colors are even more striking. The famous Vermilion Cliff of the Painted Desert here combines with the White Cliff and we see a thousand feet of white superimposed on two thousand feet of red. But this startling combination is but the beginning of a veritable riot of color. The Vermilion Cliff rests on tlie Painted Desert stratum —350 feet of a deeper red set off by purple and mauxe shales. Below this is a hundred feet of brown and gray conglomerate. The crowning touch is the coloring of the upper summits of the White Cliff. Here there are In places several hundred feet of varicolored shales and limestones whose seepage fantastically stains the glistening white. In consequence of the meeting of these many colors Zion is as gorgeous as a Gypsy scarf, and sunrise and sunset produce unbelievable effects. For example, take the West Temple. From • foundation of mingled reds,' yellows, browns,

grays and purples it rises abruptly 4.000 feet. The body is a brilliant red. The upper third Is white. The huge mass is so perfect in conformation that it suggests the work of a titan architect. And on top of the lofty central rectangle rests a squared cap of red above the glistening white. Across the cannon, and slightly to the north, rising between two peaks of deepest umber looms the great silvery dome of the Eastern Temple, clothed in colorings like to its western sister. This rounds to a broad summit upon which is mounted a symmetrical cap of that same

beautiful bloodlike sandstone formation. Just beyond the East and Wpst Temples ranged three cone-shaped mountains, wi y yug ged in their outlines and facing another court of totally different type from that which fronts the Western Temple, Here again has Bible history contributed the titles, for the three peaks are known. as the “The Patriarchs” and the- space at their base the “Court of the Patriarchs. • A little farther on is another trio which occupies the eastern wall. Of decidedly different formation and coloring, they are called the “Three Brothers.” A great white dome is known as the “Mountain n f th* breaks in both canom walls have brought about a most interesting effect, sor 4 this beautiful mountain catches the first glint of the rising and receives the last kiss of the setting sun. Still another feature of the “Mountain of the Sun” is the tint of the afterglow that changes its chalky summit into a rosy dome. Many intersecting canons and the tortuous course of the main canon give great variety to the formations. Possibly El Gobernador is the gem of them all. Standing at a turn of the canon, its mighty mass rises sheer 3,000 feet from the creek that skirts its base, this pile presents a picture unsurpassed. Gray at its base, it clears to a glistening white with a summit that terminates in a great table. Far up on one of its faces there hangs a wonderful natural bridge, the tob of which has never been pressed by the foot of man. . ..Beyaad turns until it widens out into the most weird of all its bizarre features. This is the Great Temnle of which occupies-a vast amphitheater shut in by wals of brillfSntly colored rock towering 2.000 feet above its floor. Here the rinnling creek horseshoes around a most remarknbiV formed sandstone object that closely resembles a Buddha seated on his throne. Legend has given this place as the locality where the prehistoric people of this southwestern land gathered to do reverence to Sinawava, their ruling deity. The place fills the bill. If ever there was a spot where weirdly mystic incantations and wildly impressive ceremonials would seem to accurately fit into the surroundings, it is this same rockbound pocket in the depths of Zion. Just bevond the prehistoric temple the canon enters Its narrows until the creek occupies every foot of the floor and feathery waterfalls dash down from moss, and lichen covered terraces. As if these were not enough, it is known that there are other beauties possibly of even more wonderful quality. Secretary Lane of the interior department, in recommending the bill, wrote: “I have dwelt particularly uppn Zion canon because it is now so readily accessible and because it is actually being used as a tourist resort, but there are other canons in the reservation that are bigger and even more beautifully colored. Still more remain to be entered and explored. In time they will all be open to the public. Furthermore, there are in the reservation mountains, waterfalls; natural bridges, ancient cliff dwellings, and numerous other features interesting to the tourist and exceedingly valuable to the scientist and student.” Yosemite the Beautiful apparently most look to its laurels.