Fruitland Formation the Colorado-New Mexico state line, and is one of the most productive areas for coalbed methane in the United States. The Fruitland is underlain by the Pictured Cliffs Sandstone, and overlain by the more recent Kirtland Formation. The sequence of rocks represents the final filling of the Cretaceous seaway. The underlying Pictured Cliffs is a marginal marine sandstone, deposited in an environment similar to offshore barrier islands of the southeast United States. As the seaway retreated, the Pictured Cliffs was covered by the Fruitland Formation, which was deposited in near-shore swampy lowlands. The formation is dated to the late Campanian
Smith Rock State Park the Crooked River (elev. 2600 ft), making the cliffs about 600 feet high. The origin of the Smith Rock name is uncertain. One story, published the Albany "States Rights Democrat" in 1867, states that Smith Rock was named after John Smith, who was Linn County Sheriff and an Oregon state legislator in the 1850s and 1860s. The newspaper article credits Smith with "discovering" the rock. Another story claims the rock was named after a soldier named Smith who fell to his death from the rock in 1863 while his unit was camped nearby. The State of Oregon obtained the park