Slowly the fingers of time, tipped with wind and rain, broke through the heavier sandstone above, and tore away the softer layers of shale and marl. Bit by bit, the covering was lifted from the buried logs, and one by one, the gem-like wonders saw the light of day. And what a glorious resurrection it was! As the support was plucked from about them, they left their sleeping places in the sandstone and marl and rolled to the levels below. Frost tore at their vitals; rain fell into the crevices and freezing there, expanded, until many of the finer logs are now merely heaps of gleaming jewels, opaline and rose, lavendar and mauve, deepest brown and softest yellow, black and purple, blue and red. In their range of color they leave the beauty lover breathless. And these colors are permanent, too, having endured through the aeons. [Illustration: Courtesy Mrs. Adam Hanna The most noted tree in the whole reservation. The Natural Bridge. About four feet in thickness this 111 foot log measures 44 feet between the sides of the arroyo.] How? When? Why? “How did it happen?” That is usually the first question asked of the rangers in the Petrified Forest. In contact with eighty thousands or more tourists each year, there are certain questions asked so many times that one learns what the average person is most curious about in connection with these petrified trees. Here are the most popular of these questions, together with the answers, shorn of technical terms: Why are none of the trees standing? This is simply an exposed deposit of petrified logs that came here from a distance, as driftwood. How were they brought here? Probably by rivers in flood periods. This region might have been the mouth of a large river as is indicated by the crossbedded sandstone. Why are they piled up in particular spots? This was at one time an inland sea. The trees floated here, and were swept by whirlpools or strong currents into eddys where they became waterlogged and sank. How long ago was that? Men who have made a lifetime study of it, say it was from ten to forty million years ago. What became of the sea that was here? Gradual upheaval of the country, aided by earthquakes and volcanic action, raised this area and drained it. The Sierras were probably brought to their present height during these disturbances. What kind of trees are they? Mostly an extinct species of cone bearing tree. (_Araucarioxylon Arizonicum._) How big were these trees? Some of them are now a hundred feet long, and six to eight feet in diameter. The Natural Bridge is one hundred and eleven feet long. The height of some of these trees while standing was doubtless two hundred feet or more. Why did they turn to rock? They did not really turn to stone. Silica and minerals in solution were forced into the wood, dissolved it, and replaced the wood cells with their own substance. How is it polished?