About 200 million years ago silt and volcanic ash covered the logs and water seeped in to the wood, carrying silica. Eventually, the wood becamed saturated with minerals — petrified. Today you can see this amazing transformation at Petrified Forest National Park near Holbrook. The park receives thousands of visitors a year. Unfortunately, some of them disregard the rules and sneak pieces of petrified wood out of the park.
Somewhere along the line, the myth developed that pilfered rocks will bring bad luck to the pilferers. No one knows how this got started. The park estimates it loses about 12 tons of petrified wood a year to theft. But park rangers receive several letters or packages every year from guilt-stricken visitors who made off with petrified wood and lived to regret it.
