For over one hundred and eighty five years, the legends of a rich source of silver have brought prospectors and luck seekers to Wisconsin, and for over one hundred and eighty five years the location of this vein of native silver has remained a mystery. The mystery found it’s beginning in 1820 when an Indian told settlers of a vein of silver so pure and wide that chunks the size of a man’s hand could be cut from it. Other Indians, angered by the telling of the story, discounted it as a myth and settlers duly ignored the tale – for a time, anyway.

When the lands of the Lake Superior area were purchased in 1842 and digging and blasting for metals began with lust, the people became interested again this legend. By this time the Indians, who felt these actions were an affront to the Great Spirit, were not talking. The existence of a magnificent vein was confirmed by Benjamin Armstrong, the son-in-law of Chief Buffalo, who claimed that one elder of the tribe would be sent for silver and come back with it after a few days, but this elder had claimed that the Spirit was angry and had caused him to forget where the location was although he could still describe it somewhat.

In the late1880′s another Indian was credited with knowledge of the location of the silver. Old Ice Feathers, a hermit who lived on an island in Lake Namekagon and would later become known as Chief Namekagon, was known to have taken handsome caches of silver to three men in Ashland. Sam Campbell, a timber cruiser who lived a few miles from Lake Namekagon, had heard tell that the Chief had started out with these three men to show them the location but turned back when a black bear crossed their paths, an omen of ill boding according to Chief Namekagon. The chief was found dead, possibly murdered, not too long after that near Marengo Station. Whether the location of the silver had become known to another before his death has not been revealed. Many others have searched and some claimed to have known at least bits about it though. Unfortunately stories of silver always seem to place the mine in different locations.

One farmer named Johnson told of sheltering and feeding the Chief for a night during bad weather. The Chief had no silver with him at the time, but had silver with him when he got to Ashland the next day. The placement of the mine has resultantly been thought by some to rest between the old Johnson property and Ashland. Did the Chief hear Johnson approaching and hide silver he had in his possession, though, or did he actually acquire it on the way to Ashland from Johnson’s property?

Another story is that of a logger named Hoeppner who claimed to have found the mine and showed the proof, a chunk of silver the “size of a man’s hand”, to a friend. Hoeppner had claimed to have successfully tracked another man to the silver. He and his friend were unable to locate the place again, however. This story places the lost silver close to Copper Falls State Park, and north of Bad River Gap.

Many thoughts have been aired throughout the last century and a half about possible locations and there is no lack of rumors and legends of the knowledge of the silver. In a land so rich in mineral, there is also a possibility that more than one lost mine exists. The only detail that holds from one story to the next is that the opening of the mine is just big enough for a person to squeeze through, then widens into a cavern.

While people periodically turn up with caches of fine native silver and claims of knowing the location of the vein, for some reason the location still seems a mystery. Perhaps the Indians were correct in thinking that it was the anger of the Spirits that makes those who find it forget how to return there.

If you decide to take a trip to Wisconsin to look for this lost silver location, be ready to keep some foolproof notes on the location if you find it. Perhaps you will want to fill your bag with this fine silver as well, just in case you, too, find yourself confounded about how to get back to it again.

©2010, Sally Taylor

Tags: lost mine legends, lost mines, lost silver mines, rock and gem hunters, rockhounds, silver, silver prospecting

After the first dig, Jessie and I just couldn’t resist taking a second run back there right away. We had another person with us, too – she had seen Jessie’s cache from the first trip and was gung ho to try her hand at digging a few herself. This time the weather was warm but not as excruciating as the first time in.

I did some studying before this trip and found that our spot is in the Southern portion of a formation that runs all the way up to highway 26 and possibly even further North than that. Not having a lot of time to explore this time, we settled for just going back to the dig knowing that we’d find something. Something turned out to be a lot better than our first try at the pit.

Beginner’s luck doesn’t quite explain Jessie’s luck in finding a major pocket. She again had the biggest load to carry back to the car this time. While I had the biggest stone of the day – Jess once again topped me out with a spectacular green moss crystal. Her friend,Gina, was amazed and thrilled with her cache. While she came along expecting to find a few crystals, she was not prepared for the size of the stones she was finding. To tell the truth – neither were we.

For all Gina’s friends back home she said would never believe she actually found those herself — yeah, she did – and they were AWESOME!  I didn’t get pics of hers, but they are about the same trend as the ones in the pics below.

That said – we took some more pics for you all to enjoy.

The crystal on the left was the biggest single of the day. It’s not the best crystal, however. It’s got a bit too many of the watery feathers in it to be clear at the size it is. The medium size crystals are much clearer than the larger ones.

Jessie  had the biggest cluster (top left) and a lot of beautiful medium sized clear stones. She also got a lot of so-so stones that will probably end up being the start of what I call “driveway rock” collection. Those are the stones you toss in the yard somewhere for decoration. Non-hunters seem to love looking at these piles and picking something out for themselves to take home. There’s always party favors somewhere when you visit a rockhound’s home.

Let’s move on to the real prize of the day – also one of Jessie’s finds:

I have never seen a true moss quartz crystal before, and perhaps that isn’t the right technical name for it, but one look at that picture and I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s about the best description to be had for this gorgeous stone. It’s close to an inch wide and there is a crust, as you can see, but promises to be a stunning pendant piece when the layer is removed.

We did explore around the rock formation above the dig up by the main road this time. The view was spectacular. Almost spectacular enough to make me actually like being in California for awhile.

And of course – Rickie had a great time and enjoyed a little more sun and hiking this time with the weather a bit cooler than last time. I think his smile says more about how the day went than anything else I can say.

Um….if anyone should make it out to Copperopolis and find a folding army shovel……..It’s mine. Could ya let me know it’s been located?   I’ll be back for it – trust me  on that one!

Tags: CA, gemstones, Geology, rock and gem hunters, rockhound field trips, rockhound photo gallery, Rockhounding Copperopolis, rockhounds

Finding an ancient stash of coins or metal relics has always been exciting, but if a coin was corroded enough, there wasn’t a lot of historical significance that could be tapped from that coin. Advancements in technology are allowing coins to tell tales we never had access to before with old methods of coin analysis.

Using new applications of X-ray fluorescence and isotope analysis, and specialized software and reference materials from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, scientists have at their fingertips a means of nondestructive evaluation analyze coins while extracting vital data about the coin which was previously unavailable to them using older and more destructive methods of analysis.

Coins can now be correctly attributed to the particular ruler when corrosion leaves questions about the origin of the coin, but using the new methods of calibration, scientists can also fingerprint the ores from which the coin was fashioned. Because metals differ from location to location, by fingerprinting the metal the coin is composed of, scientists are able to use the new technologies and methods of calibration to tell where the metal in the coin came from.

By putting together the rulers coins were minted under and location from which the metal originated archaeologists have a means to place the dates of mining industry and find out more about a culture’s commerce than they could ever uncover before. They can also do so with unprecedented accuracy. Tests run on coins have already shown that the mines of Arabia operational much earlier than presumed, although it is still a question whether the Romans had moved to the region earlier than presumed or or whether the mines were already running when they arrived. The interaction between Romans and Arabian culture was going on earlier than supposed.

Fingerprinting metal artifacts is likely to lead to some very startling discoveries about early mining and trade. Perhaps it won’t be long before we find which far away culture was mining the copper of Northern Michigan over six thousand years ago. Is the who-done-it novel about to succumb to a new breed of archaeological reports?

Tags: analyzing artifacts, archaeology, Geology, human history, RHS1 News, rockhounds

With rock hunting season in full swing in the Northern country, I’ve been getting a LOT of emails about jewelry making.   Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned jewelry crafter, you don’t want to miss this opportunity to get all those tools you’ve been asking about on sale. The sale is over on the 23rd, so act fast. Please do send us a picture of your finished work, though – we sure like to see them!

Tags: crafts, gemstones, jewelry making supplies, jewelry making tools, lapidary supply, rock and gem hunters, rockhound supplies

Sometimes it gets frustrating being webmaster. It’s a LOT of hard work to keep a site vital and valuable to its members and viewers. Many times the feedback and is next to nil from our side of the keyboard. Sometimes I wonder why I bother at all when I could just sit back and do my own research and continue becoming more informed on my own instead of spending endless days and nights doing the endless research, writing, creating, giving others a place to share, communicate, learn, and advertise their own related concerns.

Every now and then, however, a note arrives in my email box and let’s me know that my efforts are not in vain. Today I opened my email box to find this note:

Thank you for making it easy to use your site and all the info will keep me, the husband, and our 2 beautiful little ladies busy! We are so thankful for all the help you have given us. It was so easy to understand and so fun to learn all the history and search for all of these older not on the map places…it’s taught us more than to go get gold, but to learn our areas, our state history and how to really research what we are looking for. Links are great too!
– D’Anna

D’Anna – Thank YOU. It was awesome to hear that. You just picked a day that I really needed to hear it to write to us, too.

You see, RHS1 was becoming a vital resource for rockhounds. It took years to build and just after we really got into the swing of things with many contributors and members making friendships, sharing, having fun, and doing business here we were suddenly hit by a ruthless hacker, injected with some nasty virulent viruses, and generally had our whole php system wiped out…..for those that don’t know, that’s the system that allows us to build interactive programs such as our forums, photo gallery, and this gazette.

This all happened at a time we were losing our wonderful technician to real world concerns and health issues. It took major amounts of unpaid efforts and time to find another able and willing tech and to build this back to an interactive place again. Having to start all over with the slow process of building our community back, the frustrations sometimes become overwhelming. It’s very hard to be patient building the second time around.

All in all, an email like this one, a post in the forum, or a picture posted in the Gallery actually mean something to the staff here at RHS1. We enjoy our community and it makes all the time and effort worthwhile when we see others finding it a valuable and fun place to stop, learn, share, and make friends.

Your email just provided me with another month’s worth of patience for rebuilding our community, and we appreciate you, too, D’Anna. Thanks again. A further Thanks to all of our contributing members here at RHS1. After all – the bottom line is that RHS1 isn’t about us – it’s about YOU.

Tags: rock and gem hunters, rockhound forums, rockhounds, rockhoundstation1.com

Sure gold is “where you find it”. Anyone even thinking about taking up prospecting has heard that one. It’s probably the most frustrating answer any beginning prospector ever hears when asking where to look for gold. Where the heck exactly is “where you find it” located and why do people keep telling you that?

While that answer is a bit frustrating for the beginner there is a lot of truth in it. Gold can turn up in some pretty unusual places. Sometimes it has been sprinkled through areas by ancient glaciers or waterways. There are stories of people finding gold and thinking they had found a place to stake a claim, to discover later that they had only found the remnants of some unfortunate prospector’s lost cache. Trains and carts being wrecked while hauling gold to smelters have spilled loads of ore which might be found later in the streams downhill.

While you might run into bits of gold scattered by such events, you might also appreciate a word of where you might be more statistically inclined to make an actual strike of some good concentrations of “color”. It’s really not as mysterious as it has been made to sound.

When you get to a gold bearing region you must choose a spot to hunt. Your main concern is that you are not hunting on someone else’s property or claim. There are places you can still be shot for this, and some places where the claim owners take this right very seriously, so always make sure you know you are not “claim jumping” before you dig in.

The best place for the beginner to start is where you know that there are mines or claims uphill and upstream from your chosen location. Gold will wash downhill into a stream over time. If you can find a spot where a stream flowing downhill from known gold localities converges with the stream you are going to hunt, this is a terrific place to start.

Gold is heavy. It can be carried by a rapid current, but when the current slows down, the gold will drop to the creek bed. Start by hunting down stream from a converging creek or area of color uphill from you. Look for spots in the creek where fast moving water is impeded or slows down. The base of a small waterfall is always worth checking as are areas where the current is diverted by large rocks. Bends of the creek where water rushes in the middle but slows along the shore of the bend are another good area. Don’t be afraid to be creative. I know a man that swept a year’s living expense worth of gold from an old corrugated pipe that ran under a road where a creek passed through. The grooves of the pipe had served as a sluice to catch the grains and nuggets.

When panning, you will want to dig a bit rather than just scoop from the top dirt. You might find some traces of color just scooping the top of the creek bed, but because of its weight, gold will work it’s way down until it eventually hits something that prevents it from going any further. The smaller the grain or the more recently it has been dropped, the closer to the surface you might find it. The deeper you dig, the more you will find if you are searching a good area. Cracks and crevices in rock are also a great place to find grains of gold, but you may need special suction equipment to get it out. There are items you can buy very inexpensively that will help you do that.

Just as there are the right places to look for gold, there are also the right times of year. You will want to wait until late summer or early autumn which is when the streams are at their lowest and slowest. A good plan is to go look the creek over during it’s high season and take notes of the currents when the water is high. Returning later during the low season, you will already have an idea of good places to look for gold that has been spilled by the full spring currents.

Through practice you will soon become able to size up good spots on a creek to pan. When you take your cache and proudly show it off, if someone asks you where you got it, you can just smile and say “it was right where I found it”.

Don’t forget folks — You can find everything you need for a successful gold season at: Black Cat Mining

Tags: Gold, gold panning, Gold prospecting, gold prospecting tips, prospecting equipment, rock and gem hunters

Idaho Silver Gem Act

We’ve heard it all before and will hear it again now. When the going get tough, the tough get going. Idaho is now showing itself to be tough, with legislators that are using their heads for more than just spinning idle rhetoric to keep their constituents entertained while they collect their handsome salaries. As the rest of the world struggles with the economy, Idaho is taking a lead in job creation and economic stabilization.

Since the mid 1800′s Idaho has been recognized as a leader in silver production. Known as the “Silver Capitol of the World”, over a billion ounces have come out of Silver Valley located in Shoshone County in the Northeast panhandle of the state since 1885, and in the South portion of the state, Silver city, located in the Owyhee mountains has also been a producer of the metal, as well as have a few other areas of the state.

Presently processing of the silver mined in the state is being outsourced to several other countries making processing expensive and taking jobs from the local economy. Technology also exists to process indium from 100,000 cubic yards of processed ore and smelter ash that has been left behind from previous mining eras, the value of which was over $100 million in 1991, and that was a lot of dollars value ago. Idaho is taking this situation seriously and is now offering an company or person who will build a processing facility in the state 10 years of exemptions from personal property tax and corporate income taxes.

Idaho will manufacture a silver medallion and silver bars designed by the medallion committee of legislators. Sale of the silver medallions and bars to the public by the treasury will be based on the daily market price of the one U.S. Mint troy silver (bullion) American Eagle. The state Treasurer, in turn, will accept the American Eagle as payment for fees and taxes.

This legislation is not only a great step backward to metal backed currency in the State of Idaho, but also will open much needed jobs in the state. The legislation and subsequent processing plant is expected to open up 400 to 800 positions in the local mining industries in Kootenai and Shoshone Counties, but another 132 other opportunities per every 100 mining industry jobs.

Where else but Idaho will you find legislators that can handle an economic crisis, job crisis, and profit from waste clean up in one fell swoop?

Note to ID Legislators:

Way to go guys — You ROCK!

Read Full Bill Information Here:
http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/legislation/2010/H0633Bookmark.htm

Tags: Idaho, Idaho legislation, metal backed currency, rockhounds, silver, silver mining

HAWAII TSUNAMI — (for general info about Tsunamis, please see my comments to the last post.)

USGS WARNING for HAWAII TSUNAMI
EVALUATION

A TSUNAMI HAS BEEN GENERATED THAT COULD CAUSE DAMAGE ALONG
COASTLINES OF ALL ISLANDS IN THE STATE OF HAWAII. URGENT ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN TO PROTECT LIVES AND PROPERTY.

A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF LONG OCEAN WAVES. EACH INDIVIDUAL WAVE CREST CAN LAST 5 TO 15 MINUTES OR MORE AND EXTENSIVELY FLOOD COASTAL AREAS. THE DANGER CAN CONTINUE FOR MANY HOURS AFTER THE INITIAL WAVE AS SUBSEQUENT WAVES ARRIVE. TSUNAMI WAVE HEIGHTS CANNOT BE PREDICTED AND THE FIRST WAVE MAY NOT BE THE LARGEST. TSUNAMI WAVES EFFICIENTLY WRAP AROUND ISLANDS. ALL SHORES ARE AT RISK NO MATTER WHICH DIRECTION THEY FACE. THE TROUGH OF A TSUNAMI WAVE MAY TEMPORARILY EXPOSE THE SEAFLOOR BUT THE AREA WILL QUICKLY FLOOD AGAIN. EXTREMELY STRONG AND UNUSUAL NEARSHORE CURRENTS CAN ACCOMPANY A TSUNAMI. DEBRIS PICKED UP AND CARRIED BY A TSUNAMI AMPLIFIES ITS DESTRUCTIVE POWER. SIMULTANEOUS HIGH
TIDES OR HIGH SURF CAN SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE THE TSUNAMI HAZARD.

THE ESTIMATED ARRIVAL TIME IN HAWAII OF THE FIRST TSUNAMI WAVE IS

1105 AM HST SAT 27 FEB 2010

Please note that this huge quake has sent shock waves headed for all Pacific coastlines. These waves have been measured between an inch and 7.3 feet. If you live in any pacific coastal area you should be taking precautions at this time. It is not the day to enjoy the beach – trust me on that one.

Since my last post there have been 8 more 5.2 – 5.5 mag quakes in Chili. Only one of the 5 mags quakes so far today have been in another location – which was the Rukuyu Islands of Japan where a 7.0 magnitude quake was experienced just yesterday (2/26). One of the subsequent 6 magnitude 6 quakes was also in Argentina rather than Chile, but is most probably resultant from the Chili occurrence.

IN OTHER NATURAL DISASTER NEWS — VOLCANOES

There are at the time 25 Volcanoes at Code Orange, alert level 3 are active globally at the time

There is also one Volcano at Code Red, Alert Level 5 is now active — Chaiten on the Gulf of Corcovado has been code red since the 18th of February.

About Alert Codes and Alert Levels:

ORANGE = Volcano is in eruption or eruption may occur at any time.
OR Alert Level 2
Alert Level 3 = Significant local eruption in progress.
Alert Level 4 = Hazardous local eruption in progress.

RED = Significant eruption is occurring or explosive eruption is
expected at any time.
OR Alert Level 5

It seems that the current crustal shift is playing some havoc. Those in volatile areas may want to start keeping track of what scientists are saying about prospects for disasters in their own areas, and start learning to prepare for them as well.

Tags: Chile Earthquake, earth science, Earth Watch, Earthquake watch, Earthquakes, Geology, Geology events, Natural Disasters, Tsunami Warning

If you are new to gold prospecting, here’s a head’s up for you. You have probably heard a lot of tips about how to prospect gold, but rarely have I seen anyone mention gold trapping, although I know many prospectors practice trapping.

During run-off season water is rushing too fast to do any panning. You can however set “traps” in areas you think might produce gold. By doing so you can save much time later in deciding where is and where isn’t a great place to pan. As any experienced prospector knows, just because a spot on a creek looks good to prospect doesn’t mean it is, and knowing which ones are productive ahead of panning season is a great help.

To set a trap you will still want to find areas in the waterways that current is slowing down enough to drop small particles of gold. Just under small waterfalls is a great place to put a trap. A sluice box is a good item to use for a trap under a small waterfall. As the water flows over the edge of the fall and into the sluice box, the gold which would have usually fallen onto the streambed and worked it’s way underneath will be caught at the bottom of your sluice box instead. Later you can just pan through your sluice box to see if it contains gold. If it does, you know where to pan for all the gold that has been dropped in that area before you got there to check things out.

If you see an area in a creek that a rapid current slows significantly enough to drop gold particles, you will want to place the trap right where the current begins to slow. a ribbed sluice will do the trick for many areas. You will want to put something at the front of the trap that will will slow the water hitting it and redirect the current around it. A sheet of metal or a rock will serve this purpose. Gold will hit the blocade and fall into the trap as the water is slowed. Later in the season as water levels fall and slow down you can pull that trap out of the water and check it for gold particles.

When panning season comes around you will only need to pull your traps to find which areas will be productive places to begin your panning or dredging. You get to spend your time panning the gold instead of searching for places that you might find gold if you pan. You should place at least three or four traps in varied locations. The more you place, the more likely you will be to find a productive location to begin prospecting later. Check your traps periodically and if you find they are not producing any gold, move them to a different location.

A last note about placing traps, though, is that you want to place them where others are not likely to run across them before you get back to them. Find spots that you can monitor with ease. Whenever possible, set the trap in a way it won’t be noticed by someone just walking by the trap. Your aim is not to help someone else locate the mother lode.

To find the best gold prospecting equipment at prices that won’t claim your whole cache – CLICK HERE.

Tags: gold panning, Gold prospecting, gold traps, rock and gem hunters, rockhound supplies, rockhounds

Hey folks.  I know this is off topic for a rockhound forum but, whether you knew it or not – I have another website with some product I made and right now I’m sending 25% of the proceeds to  Relief to the victims in Haiti.

I’m asking all the members here at RHS1 who have businesses of your own to set aside some of your income from your customers for a few days to help with Disaster relief for the victims of that 7 mag quake that just hit them.

Here’s my offer everyone — Post your own offer in comments if you have one you want people to know about:

If you’ve been looking for Organic Skin care or trying to figure out why it’s so hard for you to lose weight – please go check the organic skin guide and my weight contol guide out and if they are what you’ve been looking for, the people in Haiti thank you for swift action.  You can see them HERE

I now return you to your regularly scheduled Rockhound activities.

Tags: Action for Haiti, aid to Haiti, benefit for Haiti, Haiti disaster relief, Organic Hair care, rock and gem hunters, rockhound calendar, weight control