M A G A N E - Desert Magazine of the Southwest

Trail to the Ginkgo state park. Photograph taken on U. S. Highivay 97 between Yakima
and Goldendale by Photo-Art Studios, Portland.
from some distant point, perhaps Canada,
washed in and laid down by high water.
The cypress may have been submerged,
overtaken and buried by lava and mineralized
where it rooted and grew.
In the Ginkgo park, vandalism is a
constant concern. Premeditated theft and
damage is attempted but usually the
wrong-doer is merely thoughtless or careless.
Simpson tells of one man who fitted
into none of the above classes.
About five o'clock one morning he was
awakened by a tap, tap. Opening the door
he saw a man vigorously hammering at
one of the logs.
"Say mister," he called, "You must
not chip the wood." The fellow was
surprised and resentful.
"It's against the law here in the park."
Simpson explained.
Back came the retort, "Well I'll be - -
- -. Then, what in - - - - are they here
for?"
Charley Simpson could spend days
telling stories about his specimens — and
those other specimens in the cabinets
labeled "MAN."
One slab of oak, cut and polished, attracts
more attention than any other wood
in his possession. In this specimen is a
perfect picture of twin squirrels. It often
takes emphatic explaining to impress
kindly, humane souls it simply is a picture
made by mineral stain. One old lady
GinKGO
was heard to say, "Poor creatures, couldn't
something jhave been done about
them?"
One day Simpson stepped into the
museum just in time to overhear an amusing
discourse on the subject of petrification
of — not wood — but quartz
crystal. A self assured young man was
telling a group of visitors it was petri-
is a subtropical tree, both coniferous and deciduous, according
to a letter from V. H. Hill of Salem, Oregon.
It is said to be the connecting link between the ancient
cycads and the modern conifers, dating back almost 160 million years.
Only six definitely identified fossil ginkgo logs have been found, these being
located in the Ginkgo Petrified forest state park in Washington. Ginkgo fossil
leaves, however, are widely spread, occurring as far north as the arctic circle.
This rare species, one of the most beautiful of trees, has survived to the present
time, although not known to be native anywhere. It is planted extensively
in the temple grounds in China and Japan. Thousands of ginkgo grow in and
around the city of Washington, D. C. and it thrives in the southern and Pacific
coast states.
AUGUST, 1940 19