Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 October 1895 — AMERICAN TORQUOISES. [ARTICLE]

AMERICAN TORQUOISES.

One ' m Which We are Mining Extensively. Although the United States cannot claim to be considered one of the great gem-producing countries of the world, almost every known variety of precious stone has been found within its limits. Few gems, however, are common enough to be of decided commercial importance, and systematic mining is rarelj' carried on. The only exception to this is afforded by the turquoise. The last edition of the “Mineral Resources of the United States’’ gives the value of the rough gems of all kinds produced here during 1893 as amounting to $264,041 —of which $143,136 goes to the credit of the turquoise mines. Almost all of the American turquoise comes from Santa Fe County, New Mexico, or Mohave County, Arizona. As in Persia, the turquoise, both in New Mexico and in /Vrizona, occurs in veins permeating volcanic rocks, a yellowish brown trachyte being the commonest matrix. The Pueblo Indians find them an easy way of making money, as they can be obtained with little trouble, and after being subjected to rough grinding, can be readily sold to travelers. Formerly, when the Indian was more unsophisticated, choice stones could be obtained from them at the outlay of a few cents, but of late years the sellers have begun to realize the value of their goods, and now few real bargains can be secured. The ancient inhabitants of Mexico mined the turquoise extensively, and the invading Spaniards found it largely used to incrust human skulls, and also to inlay mosaics and to decorate obsidian ornaments. Traces of the old mines can be found to this day, and rubbish heaps are common in the turquoise district. In the Arizona mines they tell how, on a tunnel being run through a turquoise deposit, the miners came across the remains of a more ancient tunnel, its top and sides rent and caved in as if by an earthquake, while in a small space, three or four feet each way, was the skeleton of the unfortunate Aztec, who had been imprisoned there by the falling in of the roof. In one hand the skeleton still clutched the handle of his old mine hammer, and at his side was a leather bag containing, as the discoverers found, several choice stones. It only shows that in the old days men would take as big risks in search of treasure as they will now. Another tale of turquoises drifts up ' from Yucatan. It tells of an idol in an ancient temple, around whose neck, arms and ankles are hung strings of magnificent turquoises, while each of its eyes is a single large stone. The narrator, a Mexican miner, claimed that these eye stones were about three inches in their largest diameter. There is something in this story irresistibly suggestive of Rider Haggard’s idols.