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On September 12, 1910, the Interior Department requested the Department of Agriculture to assume temporary charge of patrol and protection of this monument, in view of the better facilities at disposal of the Forest Service in the Manzano National Forest, inasmuch as the monument is remote from location of any field officer of the Interior Department; and this charge was accepted by the Department of Agriculture.

MUKUNTUWEAP NATIONAL MONUMENT.

The Mukuntuweap National Monument, Utah, embraces the magnificent gorge of Zion Creek, called the Mukuntuweap Canyon by the Powell Topographic Survey of southwestern Utah, Kanab sheet, and the same is of the greatest scientific interest. The canyon walls are smooth, vertical sandstone precipices, from 800 to 2,000 feet deep. These walls are unscalable within the limits of the boundaries of the reserve, except at one point about 4 miles from the southern and 6 miles from the northern extremity. The North Fork of the Rio Virgin passes through the canyon, and it is stated that the views into the canyon from its rim are exceeded in beauty and grandeur only by the similar views into the Grand Canyon of the Colorado.

At intervals along the west wall of the canyon are watercourses which cross the rim and plunge into the gorge in waterfalls 800 to 2,000 feet high.

SHOSHONE CAVERN NATIONAL MONUMENT.

The Shoshone Cavern National Monument embraces 210 acres of rough, mountainous land. The cavern entrance is located upon the north face of Cedar Mountain, about 3 miles east of the great Shoshone Dam in Big Horn County, Wyo. From its entrance the cavern runs in a southwesterly direction for more than 800 feet, if measured in a direct line. The route which must be traveled to reach this depth within the mountain, however, is so winding and irregular that at least a mile is passed before the terminus is reached. There are en route many dark pits and precipices of unknown depth and therefore of a special interest. The various chambers and passages are beautifully decorated with a sparkling crust of limestone crystals and from the roof hang myriads of stalactites.

SITKA NATIONAL MONUMENT, ALASKA.

This monument reservation, created March 23, 1910, under the act of June 8, 1906, embraces about 57 acres of comparatively level gravel plain formed by sea wash and by the deposits of Indian River, which flows through the tract. Upon this ground was located formerly the village of a warlike tribe-the Kik-Siti Indians-who, in 1802, massacred the Russians in old Sitka and thereafter fortified themselves and defended their village against the Russians under Baranoff and Lisianski. Here also are the graves of a Russian midshipman and six sailors, who were killed in a decisive battle in 1804. A celebrated "witch tree" of the natives and 16 totem poles, several of which are examples of the best work of the savage genealogists of the Alaska clans, stand sentrylike along the beach.

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FIG. 21.-Cinder Cone National Monument, within Lassen Peak National Forest, Cal., embracing part of T. 31 N., R. 6 E., M. D. M.; created May 6, 1907.

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FIG. 22.-Lassen Peak National Monument, within Lassen Peak National Forest, Cal., embracing part of T. 31 N., R. 4 E., M. D. M.; created May 6, 1907.

less than 2 miles south of the Salt River Reservoir constructed by the Reclamation Service in the valley of the Salt River within the Tonto Basin, and is about 5 miles southeasterly from the town of Roosevelt. The prehistoric ruin is situated in the high, flaring entrance to a large, shallow cavern, is three stories high, approximately 60 feet wide and 30 feet deep, and contains 14 or more rooms.

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FIG. 23.-Gila Cliff-Dwellings National Monument, within Gila National Forest, N. Mex., embracing NE. of sec. 27, T. 12 S., R. 14 W., New Mexico meridian; created Nov. 16, 1907.

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL MONUMENT, ARIZ.

A considerable portion of the area set aside by the proclamation creating this national monument is covered by three different proclamations, one of which created the Grand Canyon Forest Reserve, one the game preserve embracing that part of the national forest north of the river, and the third the monument proclamation. It is believed that the most wonderful portion of the canyon is contained within the present limits of the national monument and game preserves.

Steps were taken to create a national park of the Grand Canyon of the Arizona, and a bill (H. R. 6331) providing for such purpose

was introduced in Congress April 20, 1911. The bill, however, did not become a law. The Association of American Geographers has recommended that the above-mentioned park be designated as Powell National Park, and the Geological Society of America has approved the naming of the national park in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado after its explorer, Maj. J. W. Powell.

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FIG. 24. Tonto National Monument, unsurveyed sec. 34, T. 4 N., R. 12 E., Gila and Salt River meridian, Ariz., containing 640 acres; created December 19, 1907.

JEWEL CAVE NATIONAL MONUMENT.

Jewel Cave, which is located 13 miles west and south of Custer, the county seat of Custer County, S. Dak., was discovered on August 18, 1900, by two prospectors, Álbert and F. W. Michaud, whose attention was attracted by the noise of wind coming from a small hole in the limestone cliffs on the east side of Hell Canyon. In the hope of discovering some valuable mineral and the source of the wind, these men, in company with one Charles Bush, enlarged the opening. Jasper and manganese are found in the cave, but to what extent is not definitely known.

The prospectors have followed the main descending wind passage for a distance of 1 miles, which point the explorers believe to be from 600 to 700 feet below the entrance, and have explored numerous

with the expedition of the Verendryes, pathfinders of the French colonies of Canada, in 1742, utilized the tower as a landmark, and still later the military expeditions into the Sioux and Crow Indian country during the Indian wars of the last century carried on operations within sight of the Devils Tower or directed their march by the aid of its ever-present beacon, for the tower is visible in some directions in that practically cloudless region for nearly 100 miles.

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FIG. 18.-Devils Tower National Monument, Wyo., embracing sec. 7 and the N. NE., the NE. NW. , and lot No. 1, sec. 18, T. 53 N., R. 65 W.; the E. sec. 12 and the N. NE. sec. 13, T. 53 N., R.66 W., sixth principal meridian; created September 24, 1906.

PINNACLES NATIONAL MONUMENT.

There are two groups of the so-called Pinnacles Rocks, known locally as the Big Pinnacles and the Little Pinnacles. The general characteristics of the two groups are similar. Each covers an area of about 160 acres, very irregular in outline.

The name is derived from the spirelike formations rising from 600 to 1,000 feet from the floor of the canyon, forming a landmark visible many miles in every direction. Many of the rocks are so precipitous that they can not be scaled. A series of caves, opening one into the other, lie under each of the groups of rock. These caves vary greatly in size, one in particular, known as the Banquet Hall, being about 100 feet square with a ceiling 30 feet high. The caves are entered through narrow canyons, with perpendicular rock walls and overhanging bowlders. One huge stone, called the Temple Rock, is almost cubical in form. It stands alone in the bottom of the canyon and its walls rise perpendicularly to a height of over 200 feet.

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