When the Vikings discovered Iceland, and then Greenland, they pioneered the idea of the geographic lie. Iceland is an absolutely beautiful jewel of an island. ... Except for a few barren volcanic fields ... well ... more than a few ... and some glacier capped icefields ... well ... huge, empty, frozen icefields ... and almost no trees anywhere. Other than all that, Iceland is a lush, green, paradise. So, why is it called Iceland? The legend that many believe is that Flóki - a very early settler - gave it that name to keep other settlers from moving in because he wanted it all for himself. Later on, Eric the Red reversed the same strategy and named Greenland in a bid to convince settlers to go to that frozen block of stone. It's written right there in the Viking sagas.
So when Eden Valley, Wyoming (in "Sweetwater" County) was named, they were just following a long tradition. According to Wyoming 4 News:
Settlers were attracted to the area by pamphlets distributed by the Farson Company which promoted the advantages of farming in the area. Many of the claims in the pamphlet were exaggerated such as the ability to “Grow fruit orchards” and that “Corn will grow higher than a man’s head”.
In 1923 the Farson Company filed for bankruptcy.
I've been to Eden Valley with my dad. It's either bitter cold in "Winter" or deadly hot in "Summer". "Spring" takes place on the 2nd Tuesday in April between 10 and 11 in the morning. The winter snow never melts. It just blows around until it wears out. The mosquitos are as big as eagles and as bloodthirsty as vampires.
It's the West of the song ...
Where "seldom" is heard: A discouraging word. And the sky is not cloudy all day.
The sky isn't cloudy because it "seldom" rains. But occasionally, it does rain. Then there's a monster storm that floods everything.
There's a reason why Wyoming is the least populated state in the nation. In the 2010 census, 281 people were found in Eden, Wyoming. The census does not record how many were petrified.
But there are great rocks in Wyoming and that was enough to get my dad up there. Some of the finest come from Eden Valley. My dad and I both grew up in the south east Utah desert - a place even worse than Eden Valley. (Don't get me started. I can go on even longer about that.) So Eden Valley seemed a lot like home.
A famous variety of petrified wood called "Blue Forest wood" comes from Eden Valley and it's famous for good reason. The petrified wood found there is some of the best preserved that can be found anywhere.
50 million years ago, ancient Lake Gosiute was a crocodile-infested water body in a closed basin in central Wyoming. (For context, the Chixulub meteor killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.) "Closed" means that water goes in, but it doesn't go out. One result of this dead sea was "trona" - a mineral used in a variety of industrial processes. Lake Gosiute endowed Wyoming with enough to supply the world's needs for two thousand years.
In one part of this swamp, a forest of sycamore trees thrived. For some reason, the forest was flooded - possibly a massive landslide caused by a volcanic event that dammed a river. In my lifetime, Quake Lake near Yellowstone was formed exactly the same way. An entire forest was submerged and a thick layer of algae grew on some of the submerged trees. All manner of snails, worms, and bugs feasted on the decaying wood. The algae layer often protected the wood, contributing to the outstanding wood preservation. In other cases, the wood dried out again, possibly because water cut through the landslide, and the wood dried out and then split and cracked to provide spaces where the namesake blue agate could form. In stages, the wood was buried in sediment and volcanic ash and became what we call Blue Forest petrified wood today. The Gem Shop describes it this way:
Exquisite representations of bark both live and dried out have been preserved. Worm holes, insect borings, woodpecker holes, and other events have been observed in the petrified wood. Even very rare lichen fossils and small clam shells have been duplicated in the agate.
On reason Blue Forest wood is so highly valued is that a lot of people know about it. Quite a few own a piece. Even today ... when vast hordes of rockhounds have made Eden Valley look like the surface of the Moon ... all you really have to do is find an undisturbed place and dig like a gopher being chased down his hole by a badger. There's a whole forest about four feet under the surface.
My dad could dig like a backhoe burning nitro fuel. So I have a few pieces in the collection I inherited. Occasionally, I sell one. I don't have a piece listed all the time, but if you keep checking back, I'm sure you'll eventually get lucky.
For an exhaustively complete geology description ... try the official geological history provided by the Great State of Wyoming:
"'Spring' takes place on the 2nd Tuesday in April between 10 and 11 in the morning." - haha This is a fun post. Living in the American west (Arizona, Utah) I can relate to some of it... Blue Forest Wood looks like a nice specimen. I enjoyed the history lesson on how it formed!