The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1903-11-05
BADGERS FIND RICH GEMS.



Deposit of Precious Stones Unearthed
by the Busy Animals.
The discovery of the ledge of pre-
cious stones on Yogo creek, Fergus
County, Montana, was made by the
finding of true blue sapphlres in the
earth thrown out by the badgers In dig
ging their holes. The ledge was traced
across the country for distance Of
several miles by means Of these badger
holes. These animals were numerous
In that section of the country, and, as
the limestone came very near the sur
face of the ground, the only place
where the badgers could dig holes deep
enough for their dens was in the soft
yellow clay which filed the lead at the
surface. The gems are pronounced by
experts to be equal to the true blue
oriental sapphires, and command as
good If not better prices from the lead
ing jewelers. Of London, Paris and New
York. The stones are found at the sur
face of the ledge in soft, yellow clay.
When depth Is attained on the vein 1t Is
found to be hard clay or shale, the re
suit of volcanic eruption and Identical
In appearance with the diamond de-
posits of Kimberley, in South Africa.
True blue sapphires are found in In
dia in the glacial gravels but never be-
fore have they been found In the origl-
nal matrix in which they were placed
by the volcano which created them.
The new gem fields are located about
100 miles northeast of Helena, on a
tributary of the Judith River, In Fer
gus County. The geological survey
took note of the deposits in its late re-
port The first shipment Of these stones
was a cigar box full, which was ship
per to New York jeweler, who bought
them for $3.50. He pronounced them
equal in every respect to the true orien-
tai sapphires. Jewelry concerns In
London have asked for all that can be
obtained, offering prices ranging from
So to as high as 500 per carat.
There are two companies mining sap
phires. One London concern, has all
Of its stones cut in London, while the
American company has a plant In Hell
ena, where the stones are cut. The
American cut stones, with the charac-
teristic skill of American workmen,
command better price, because of the
superior fire and lustre due to the more
skillful cutting. The American COM
pany has in addition to its claims in
Fergus County acquired large amount
of ground on Rock Creek, In Missoula
County, from which there are washed
every month several thousand carats Of
sapphires of all colors and tints, rang
ing from greenish blue, pinks, straw
colors and whites.
The Rock creek field also produces
among the sapphires number Of ru-
bies, some of them of the true pigeon
blood tint, which exceed many times
over the value of the finest diamonds.
These stones in Missoula County are
ApuhN ~ AAN SlhNC4 anu not III tue
matrix like the ones in Fergus County.
They have evidently been washed by
glacial action from some vein, the To-
cality of which has never been discov-
cred. These off-colored sapphires are
found in nearly all of the placer mines
in Montana, but until the YOgo fields
were discovered in 1895 very few of the
true blue sapphires were found. Many
Of these off-colored stones, as they are
called, are Of great beauty, the plnks
and straw cOlors being exceptionally
beautiful, and, while they have not the
stamp Of fashion the finer ones are pur-
chased at high prices by the lovers Of
fine gems. Both of these companies
are preparing to mine these stones on a
large scale.-Chieago Chronicle.