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Glimpses of our National Monuments

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  • OUR NATIONAL MONUMENTS 41 Thus the neck of the peninsula wyas undermined by the floods that surged against it from both sides. In time they broke through the neck and took the short cut through the hole thus formed. The end of the peninsula was left as an island, and the upper part of the neck remains as a bridge binding the island to the mainland. . The Natural Bridges lie about 55 miles west of the town of Blanding, Utah, and are reached from that point by trail. A guide, horses, and pack outfit are necessary for the trip. Zeke Johnson, of Blanding, custodian of the monument, is an excellent outfitter and guide. The trail extends wrest across a series of canyons and, climbing a high mesa, passes through Elk Ridge between two biittes called the Bear's Ears, altitude 9,040 feet above sea level. Elk Ridge is heavily timbered with giant western yellow pine and makes an ideal camping country. The trail descends the west face of Elk Ridge to the head of White Canyon, where the bridges are located. White Canyon enters the Colorado River about 38 miles west at Dandy Crossing. On the opposite bank is the town of Hite, which has one lone resident. From Hite it is 50 miles by trail to the nearest settlement, Hanksville, Utah, from which point a road may be traversed by automobile to the main road system of western Utah. The entire trail trip across is one of unusual beauty and interest, the country being rich in coloration and forms. Blanding, Utah, is reached by automobile road from Colorado points via Mesa Verde National Park and from Thompson, Utah, on the Pikes Peak Ocean-to-Ocean Highway and the main line of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad. There is automobile stage service from Thompson, which is about 130 miles south of Blanding. NAVAJO NATIONAL MONUMENT The Navajo National Monument is in northeastern Arizona, within the great but little known Navajo Indian Reservation. It was created March 20, 1909, and the area reduced by presidential proclamation of March 14, 1912, to three small areas totaling about 360 acres. Each separate trait contains the ruins of a remarkable prehistoric cave, pueblo, or cliff dwelling in a good state of preservation. These are known as Betatakin (the Navajo name of side-hill house), Kitsil (meaning broken pottery), and Inscription House. The latter ruin derives its name from an inscription scratched into the clay plaster of a wall. It reads, " S-hapeiro Ano Dom 1661." An intrepid early Spanish explorer or missionary, probably on his way to or from the Colorado River, must have entered the canyon in which this ruin is located and paused at the long-abandoned pueblo to scratch a record of his visit. It was not visited again until June, 1909.
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