A06_Specifications_Attachment_2_PEFO_Wayside_Exhibit_Panels_and_Pedestals_1-5.pdf

Petrified Forest National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

The Petrified Forest of the World Iowa Congressman John Fletcher Lacey strongly advocated the protection of public lands and the entities within them. Lacey is most prominently known by his namesake of the Lacey Act of 1900, which protected both plants and wildlife. However, he was also a major supporter and integral player in the establishment of the Antiquities Act by traveling to the southwest to observe firsthand the impact of artifact theft on public lands.

After signing the act in 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt immediately proclaimed several public natural areas protected and were given the title “National Monuments”. Petrified Forest was the second designated national monument because of the sheer abundance of prehistoric and fossil resources. Fittingly, Lacey Point, with its broad vistas was named in honor of this visionary conservationist.

“There are other petrified forests, but this is The Petrified Forest of the World”.

John Fletcher Lacey

Growth of the Petrified Forest

With Lacey’s initative, the Petrified Forest became a national monument in 1906. Through the years the park has grown significantly, notably in 1931 and 1932, which added the northern portion to the park because of the beautiful vistas of the Painted Desert and the dark fossilized logs of the Black Forest. National Park Status was conferred on Petrified Forest in 1962. Expansion of Petrified Forest continues today.

Transc on ti ne nt al

R ail road, 1883

To open the west to settlement, Lt. Edward Beale established a road between Fort Defiance and the Colorado River. As part of a military experiment, Beale used over 20 camels as pack animals in this tough, dry terrain. Even though the camels could carry more weight over longer distances with little water, they spooked the horses and mules making their use difficult. The United States Camel Corps was short lived, but integral to construction of the Beale Wagon Road.

NPS/WENDY PARRISH

The Camels are Coming

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This natural corridor was established by prehistoric peoples thousands of years ago.

Trails are still visible from the Hopi Mesas to Zuni Salt Lake, a route of pilgrimage as well as trade for salt and other items. Hopi artist Fred Kabotie painted a mural of the Salt Gathering Journey on a wall in the Painted Desert Inn (above).

Etching by expedition artist Heinrich Balduin Mollhausen, 1853

On his expedition west, Lieutenant Whipple passed through the Painted Desert. He named the seasonal river you can see from this viewpoint Lithodendron Wash, from the Greek words meaning “stone tree.” Whipple’s expedition was the first to document the abundant petrified wood deposits in the nearby Black Forest.Prehistoric Trade Routes

An Abundance of Wood

Fort Smith

LOS ANGELES

Hopi Mesas

PETRIFIED FOREST

NATIONAL PARK

Zuni Salt Lake

SAN

FRANCISCO

Fort Defiance

35° N

O ld Trails H ighw ay, 1912

Beale W agon Road, 1857

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CA

AZ

NM

CO

TX

OK

Ancien t Trade Route

Whipple Expeditio n, 1853

Petrified Forest National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

As a traveler to this spot, you are in good company. The Painted Desert offers a rich story of travelers, traders, and migrants passing near this location through the centuries. This natural travel corridor skirts the Rocky Mountains and other adverse terrain providing a direct route between the eastern and western United States. For over 13,000 years people, including Ice Age hunters, Spanish explorers, military and railroad expeditions, and automobile drivers, favored this path of least resistance.

Lt. Amiel Whipple, for whom this point is named, passed this way in 1853 while surveying a railroad route from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. Since then, this corridor has been part of the Beale Wagon Road (established 1857), the “Overland Mail/Star Route” (1876), a transcontinental railroad (1883 with sections still in operation), the National Old Trails Highway (1912), Route 66 (1926), and is presently crossed by Interstate 40 (1958).

…It is the shortest [route] from our western frontier [Missouri] by 300 miles, being nearly directly west.

It is most level…It is well-watered!…It crosses the great desert (which must be crossed by any road to

California) at its narrowest point.

Edward Fitzgerald Beale, 1857

Path of Least Resistance

U.S. Department of the InteriorPetri�ed Forest National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

You Are Here

“From the standpoint of the world’s biota, global travel represents a radically new phenomenon and at the same time a replay of the very old”.

-- Elizabeth Kolbert

During the Triassic Era all the continents were joined together as one landmass called Pangea.

Since that time they have scattered across the globe. Now our continents are joined together again by our intricate trade routes. Humans are spreading plants, animals, and diseases from one continent to another at a rate unobserved for millions of years.

Though trade routes are vital for our economic wellbeing, they are influencing the health of native species even in remote places like Petrified Forest National Park. Roads, rails, and flight routes accelerate the spread of exotic species while at the same time they hinder the movement of native animals trying to migrate and adapt to changing climate.

The New Pangea

ISLANDS ON LAND

Studies of radio collared pronghorn show that they do not cross the rail road tracks even when fences are removed. It is as if they are trapped on islands.

CLONE WARS

Native Plateau striped whiptail lizards have new competition from New Mexico whiptail lizards that were first found in the park near the traintracks in 1998.

They are both all-female species who reproduce by cloning. It takes a single female to start a whole new population.

THE ORIGINAL MELTING POT

Pangea during the Triassic (above, with the United States in yellow) was a supercontinent with few barriers to prevent a species from spreading across the globe.

Im age courtes y R on B la ke y

At the Oasis

U.S. Department of the Interior

Strong lines, flat roofs, smooth, unadorned wall surfaces, and asymmetrical facades are the main characteristics of the International Style of architectural design. In the United States, Richard Neutra was a top architect of this style. In a daring move, the National Park Service hired Neutra and Robert Alexander to design its new headquarters complex at Petrified Forest. Construction began in 1961, with the main buildings dedicated in October 1963.

Neutra gave the park a modernist twist on the traditional southwestern pueblo—a place for both business and residential life. He designed low buildings around a central plaza. He insisted on large windows to bring in the Arizona sunlight and high walls to keep out wind.

The Painted Desert Community Complex is a unique example of mid-century architecture, unlike anything in use anywhere else in the National Park System.

As you enjoy the amenitites here, imagine this as Neutra’s oasis in the desert.

Cover of Time, 1949

Plaza, 1962 (below and far right)

Balcony overlooking staff apartments, circa 1962

Dedication Day October 27, 1963

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