Arianna Brown performed a Native American shawl dance for French visitors at the Navajo County Fairgrounds in Holbrook.
Arianna Brown performed a Native American shawl dance for French visitors at the Navajo County Fairgrounds in Holbrook. Photos by Linda Kor
French students traveled from their home in Salins les Bains to first Harvard, Mass., and Holbrook to learn more about the geologist les Marcou who published the first professional description of Triassic plant fossils and rocks found in the Southwest.
Professor Daniel Raichvarg presented Holbrook Mayor Kathleen Smith with gifts from France, noting his appreciation for the Native American regalia as his position also presented with regalia as shown here.
French Honorary Consul in Arizona Nathan Fidel addressed those in attendance, thanking students for attending and the city for hosting the event.
Cultural attaché in Los Angeles Benoit Labal made the long trek to take part in the visit by French students as they traveled from Harvard, Mass., to Holbrook to learn more about the work of geologist Jules Marcou.
Native America dancer Nelson Nez entertained guests by sharing his culture through dance at the Navajo County Fairgrounds.

A group of French students traveled to Holbrook last week, for and received a taste of the Old West. The students were part of a project to take a group of scholars from Salins les Bains, France where the geologist Jules Marcou was born in 1824 to Harvard, then to Holbrook where Marcou had participated in the Whipple Expedition.

According to Historical Marker Database, U.S. Army Lt. Amiel Whipple, surveying for a railroad route about one mile south of Holbrook along the 35th Parallel, passed a broad sandy wash in December 1853. Impressed with the deposits of petrified wood visible along the banks, Whipple named it Lithodendron (“stone tree”) Creek.

Although American Indians have long used petrified wood for projectile points, knives, scrapers, and other tools, Whipple was one of the earliest explorers to report its presence in this area. Jules Marcou, a geologist who accompanied the expedition, published the first professional description of Triassic plant fossils and rocks found in the Southwest.

In addition to the students, were Professor Daniel Raichvarg, French pedagogy and cultural attaché in Los Angeles Benoit Labal and French Honorary Consul in Arizona Nathan Fidel. The event was hosted by the City of Holbrook.