|
Fire
Place Rock
After leaving camp
the morning of November 9, 1846, Emory and the advance party started
down the Gila River to break the trail. They surmounted the tip of a
small peninsula jutting out from North Butte, which causes the river to
form a horseshoe. West of this peninsula they found a striking
feature they named "Fire Place Rock."
Emory's comment:
Turning
the sharp angle of the promontory, we discovered a high perpendicular
cliff of calcareous spar and baked argillaceous rock, against which
the river also butted, seamed so as to represent distinctly the flames
of a volcano.
Editor's
note: This lithograph has fascinated me for several years but the rock
has been rather difficult to rediscover. After exploring the area
thoroughly, however, I believe that we have found the rock depicted in
the report. Here is a photo:
For a
description of our investigations in the area while searching for this
rock, and an explanation of why it looks so different from the picture
in the report, click here to visit the Finding Fire Place
Rock page.
|
|
