New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-01-09
lSAPPHIRES IN MONTANA.
SMALL BUT WELL-COLORED SPECIMENS
FOUND IN RIVER GRAVELS.


Science.
The existence Of sapphires in the State Of Mon
tana has been known for some years past, and
has attracted considerable attention Several
localities are now known and several distinct
modes Of occurrence. They were first found In
transported grayels along the bars Of the upper
Missouri; then they have been found in the
earthly product OF decomposcd bikes. and lastly
further down in the unaltcred igneous rock
itself. The succession thus presents a close paral
lei to the history Of the diamond workings In
South Africa. The first published descrip tion
OF the Montana sapphires was by the late DR.. j..
Lawrence Smith in 1913. He said:
These pebbles were first found on the Mis-
souri, River near its source, about sixty one
miles above Benton. They obtained from
bars on the river. OF which there are some four
or five within a few miles of each other Consid
cradle gold is found on these bars. it having been
brought down the river and lodged there and
corundum Is scattered through the gravel, which
Is about five feet deep. upon the rock bed Oc
casonally it Is found in the gravel and upon the
rock bed in the gulches, from forty to fifty feet
below the surface, but it is very rare In such
localities"
In 1891 the first serious attention began to be
paid to the mining Of sapphires in this district.
The bars consist OF an aurferous glacial gravel
and in working them for gold sapphres were
obtained as n by-product. BY lN!b companies
began to he formed and claims taken up
ard examined with view to sapphire mining.
The region cXton ds for some six miles along the
Missouri River. the central point being Spokane
Bar, twelve miles east Of the city OF Helena.
Other names. such rs Emerald Bar, Ruby Ear.
French Bar and Eldorado Bar were given to the
different points Of the area. The gravel rests
on Il slaty bedrock, and the author found min
erals, besides gold ana saunhires Among these
are small crystals Of white topaz, garnets in
rounded grains often OF rich color and Iniscal!cd
rub.cs; cyanite. stream tin. chalccdony and
limonite. At Ruby Bar two facts Of great sig
nihcance were encountered bearing on the axe
Of the gravel and the source Of the gems. The
writer and M assured mas odon tusk three
feet long imbedded in the sapphire layer OF the
gravel. and dixie was found cutting the slaty
bedrock beneath.
Two years Differentiated. in iSS9-thc writer
had seen some specimens of trachytic rock
inclosing woll-deinod crystals Of sapphire sim
liar to those of EldoradO Bar. from n dixie fur
Their W the river. These facts. which
forred to in the Gems and Precious Stones If
North America" @. 40. and the Appendix
q. 3fD sufficiently showed the source Of the
gems as coming from the erosion of bikes Of
igneOuS rock
More recently sapphres have been found
throughout n considerable district lying some
sever ty-Gve 10 one hundred miles east of the
Missouri bars, the principal point being IGSo
Culch. on the Nogo fork of Judith River, near
It's headquarters. in Fergus county Montana on
the eastern slope Of the Little Belt Mountains.
The nearest town Is Utica. fifteen miles to the
northwest. in the same county. The sapphiros
occur over somewhat extended area. which is
being explored and laid out in claims. They are
imbeddcd in a yellow earthly material. from
which they may be washed out by sucing, rs
for gold the heavy crystals gathering at the
bottom. :. : IIobson. Of Great Falls. Mont,
the original discovcrcr 81 the gems at iogo
Gulch. states that ct that point there are two
veins tdikesO containing sapphres. which nave
been traced for distance of 100 to 500 feet
in east ndwest course, about eight nun
dred feet apart. one Of these is seventy-iive
feet wide and consists o. 4 yellow earth" ii. g..
completely dccompOsed). 1t has been found that
what WAS supposed to he the end OF the "Valn'
is really n ffty-foot fault and that the vein can
be traced very much further. In working down
to a greater depth the unaltercd Sneors rock
has been reached.
same state one of these is at Rock Greek, Gran
tie County. thirty miles from PhipsburS,
where the gems are reported Of good blue color.
with other tintG and some pale rub.cs. Another
is on Cottonwood Creek. eighteen miles from
Deer Lodge. the stones being OF varied cO0rS,
red, pink yellow. and occasionally blue. The
third has been recently announced in Choteau
County
We have here two distinct types OF crystalliza-
ton in the same mineral. from the same State,
and produced apparently under similar cOndi-
tons in igncous rocks. 1t viii be extremely in
tcrestlng to learn, by further exploitation and
study, whether these two types bear any fixed
or definite relation 10 the particular variety OF
eruptvc rock in which they occur. The accounts
thus far given OF the rocks examined seen to
suggest such possibility.
AS to the value Of the early Montana saprhres
in jewelry. ii Is hardly possible yet to predict
how far il may be really important. Much beau
tiful material has already been obtained. but
little Of high value. Those from the Missouri
bars had a wide range Of color. light blue. blue
green green and pink. Of great delcacy and
brillancy but not the deep shades Of blue and
red that are in demand for fine jewelry As
semi precious or fancy" stones, they have
value, however.
The Yogo Gulch-Judith River region is more
promising the colors varying from light blue TO
quite dark blue. !ncudins some II Ia tue
''corn1ower" tint 50 much priced in the
sapphircs - C,.ylon. Others incline t. anne
thystine and almost ruby shades. Some Of them
are peacock blue and some dichroic. showing
n deeper tint in one direction than in another:
and some Of the corn1ower gems are equal 20
i.b 81 rCp