The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1926-12-10

ing to relocate the mine, he found all Of
his landmarks had disappeared, and his
long Journey to Montana was for naught.
Saphires by no means exhaust the. list
Of precious stones within our state. While
I was living in the Monarch canyon, my
children often brought in small dark red
stones they picked up from the canyon wall
east of our house. These were shown to
Professor Morrison, who pronounced them
garnets, and said that rubies, also, were
found in the Little Belt mountains. In an
article published in Montana illustrated of
1895, Professor Morrison writes:
Twenty-Five years ago the placer mi
ners Of Montana would often select some
odd looking crystals found in the sluice-
boxes, and stow them away in small boxes
or bottles, and If asked what they were,
Diamonds at the same time explaining
they had no ~pecuniary value. The writer
in the early seventies saw miners at Cave
Gulch, Ell Dorado and American Bar have
sometimes as high as a quart Of large and
beautiful SaphireS and rubieS, and when
the length of time is considered that the
placers were worked, how many thousands
of them must have been washed down the
Missouri river"
Concerning the quality Of the saphires
and rubies, the Professor adds In artifi-
cial light many of them are more brilliant
than by daylight, which increases their
value for jewelry. The rubies approach the
CeylOn color more than they do the Bur
mese and selected stones have now a high
market value in England. These gems, as
yet, are only known to be found abundantly
in Jefferson and Lewis and Clark counties
and in the gravels Of the Missouri river in
Cascade county. The writer has
seen several fine gems which were found
in close proximity to the city OF Great
Falls Rubies (bOth oriental and otherwise
are also found in Madison, Silver Bow and
Beaverhead countless"
When attending the Columbian EXPOSE
ton at Chicago, l was interested in the ex
| bsIsA % 1ionoondc apahoHdod Is. tho foru,o
ton in which they are found. I then re-
marked on the similarity of this formation
to that found in Montana, and ventured Il
] predict the future discovery of diamond
here, not knowing, until reading Professor
MOrtson's article, they had already beef
found in Deer Lodge county, near Black
foot.
Professor Morrison notes that "with thu
PAGES, rubies and amethysts, of the Orienta
variety, chrysiliteS, Spinels,
moon stones ~hyacinth, etc."
Another precious stone rivaling the dia
mOnd in value, is the emerald. Severa
small specimens Of these have been picket
up on the main range of the Rockies. Thel
there are tOurmalines, agates, carnelian
and many stones, comparatively unknown
to any but scientists, that are scattered
around over Montana, some day to adj
materially to her wealth.
When mining was being actively engages
in south of Butte, in the Highland noun
tains some 40 years ago, a mining man
who knew jewels, came across fragment
of a ruby, so the tale runs. He gathered u
the pieces and from them was led to believ
that they must have constituted, whel
united, the largest ruby ever known. Th
one who found the stone had evidentl
broken it to learn what was inside of il
Had he kept it, wealth untold would hav
been his.
Professor Morrison said moss agates wer
plentiful about fourteen miles from Whit
Sulphur Springs. This was in 1905. Sine
then they may have been fOund in Othe
localities. When polished and set, the
make beautiful jewelry.
From what was recently told me,
would well repay hunters to open the crop
of birds shot in the mountains. A hunte
having killed some grouse, actuated b
curiosity examined their crops, and frOl
them took five large saphires, ranging i
color from white, through yellOw-tinted [
deep blue. Now the question is, where di
those birds pick up the gems, or is theI
another in the Little Belt mountains?
Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, saphires, an
many other precious stones constitute
part Of MOntana'S wealth together with IL
gold in which to set them. In this Lar {
almost perpetual sunshine, with the blue
Of blue skies above our heads, and ge
incrusted earth beneath our feet, we dwell
) ers in Montana lave no reason to env
those Of other states, nor desire a res
dence elsewhere.