Hello, Foundationers!
This is an exciting time of the year, when the Holidays provide opportunities for fellowship with family and friends. This is also perfect weather for exploring Arizona s matchless beauty, and it begs us to rush out into the Boondocks waving hammers, trailing streamers of mineral wrap. Throughout the season, people from all over the world are bringing marvelous minerals to Tucson, Quartzsite, and Rockazona, as well as to our own Flagg Show at Mesa Community College (January 16th and 17th). What will we do? Rock Pick or Silver Pick? Do It All! Just don t sleep. Darrel says It doesn t matter if it s day or nite when admiring those treasures in a miner s light or with a mineral lover s eye!

Our display at the MSA Show in the Civic Plaza won First Place in the Club Competition this past November! We showed some of our nicest specimens, but we were still quite pleasantly surprised. Bob Jones remarked that few other groups could compete with the quality of our collection, which I think is quite a compliment!

The December 5th Work Day at our trailer at Lindco was a great success! Many of our members showed up to help, thank goodness, and we built shelves, unloaded the Ryder truck, and priced (and dmired) the nice things Les brought us from California. Thanks to your participation and teamwork, we got it all done, and it was fun!

We will need more helpers when we move the minerals from the Trailer to Mesa Community College on January 15th. We will meet at Lindco, 1219 S. 19th Ave, at 8:00 a.m., and carry the specimens to the college, where we will set them up for our Annual Meeting and pre-sale. On the morning of January 16th, more volunteers will be needed to move the specimens out to our tables for the Flagg Show. Get more info at the Remember, You have to have your dues Paid to participate in the Presale!

Upcoming Events

Arizona Mineral and Mining Museum Foundation Annual meeting
Mesa Community College
Science Bldg. - 7:00 p.m.
Pre-Sale Follows Meeting
20th Annual Flagg Show
Mesa Community College Sat. & Sun.
Jan. 16-17, 1999
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Lots of Lovely Minerals!
See the Map and Story on Page 4!
The Arizona Symposium of Minerals and Localities
Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum Saturday,
March 28, 1999
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.


Payson Geodes
By Ed Dunlap
Geode collecting north of Payson is an almost incredible experience. In spite of the area having been harvested for at least 15 to 20 years, geodes are still found lying on the surface for the picking up or by merely scratching the surface. Fossilized coral is also present in this area. The geodes, to me, have three shapes: the conventional round, the flattened ones resembling flying saucers, and the elongated ones I term Idaho potatoes. This last form often has a flattened end where it was fastened on to an underlying rock base or even to another geode. It is my finding that, overall, only about 25% or less will have a varied
size hollow interior and even these are usually filled with tan colored calcite. The Flying saucer type rarely if ever has hollow or filled cavities, the conventionally shaped type has a so-so chance, and the potato shaped has the highest percentage chance of being hollow.
Query: If there is no cavity, or a filled cavity, is it a quartz nodule rather than a geode?)
Crystals, when present are invariably small and fall far short of resembling the beautiful and exciting Keokuk, Iowa area specimens. One I found has a drusy quartz lining. Sizes range from less than an inch to seven or eight inches in diameter (At least that is the size spread that I have found). One effort to find larger ones by digging down a foot or so in
one area failed, but it is still is a possibility I like to think exists.The collecting area covers a square mile or so.

The best route to the site: Go to Houston Mesa Road at the west end of Payson and turn right (north). Go about one to two miles to a fork and take the Right branch (Forest Road 199). Follow this road to its dead end at Forest Road 94. Turn Right (east)and immediately cross a bridge. Go east one mile and park along the road edge. Collecting areas begin at the road edge on the Right Side and extend up a low hillside and beyond for several hundred yards. One can easily collect a hundred or so specimens in one to two hours. I have left that many lying around for anyone to pick that I dug up but did not choose to keep.

I am fortunate in having access to a 16 saw, so opening specimens is no problem. If a center exists that is filled with calcite, I dissolve the calcite so as to free up the quartz lining. It is always exciting at least to me to see what each interior contains.

Happy picking up or upping pick!

P.S. The best collecting tool is a four pronged potato hook.

Editor s note: A Tool especially effective on the elusive Idaho Potatoes I am sure!
Thanks for the Hot Weather collecting tip, Ed! I will be there picking up geodes this
Spring!

• 
  Annual Meeting of the Arizona Mineral and Mining Museum Foundation
  The Annual Meeting of the AMMMF will be held Friday, January 15th, at 7:00p.m. We have several important pieces of business for our Board s consideration. It is important for our Foundation Trustees to all attend, as there are some Bylaw changes proposed that will require the majority of our Board members to enact. We will also be choosing new Board Members, Foundation Officers, and filling a newly created office of Corresponding Secretary, who will help with the business and correspondence of the Foundation.
  
  We will preview the Minerals we will have on sale at 6:00 p.m. New minerals from Sarah Foster s stock and collection have been donated, and some will be on sale... This could be Good! The traditional pre-sale will take place for paid up Members of our Foundation immediately after our business meeting, at about 8:00 p.m., so be sure to get your Dues in early.
  The 20th Annual Flagg Show is coming January 16 and 17 to Mesa Community College! This should be a good one, I predict more lovely weather, good company, and some terrific buys on minerals (Notice how I hedge my bets...I am sure to bat better than .500).
  Arizona Silver
  By Les Presmyk
  
  (This essay first appeared at the Third Annual Minerals of Arizona Symposium.)
  
  Although Arizona s mining history is synonymous with copper, the metal that first supported mining in Arizona was silver. Arizona has produced over 525,000,000 ounces of silver, mostly as a by-product of copper mining. In 1991, for example, Arizona ranked fourth in the United States for silver production and there was not one operating silver mine. The mines of interest to the collector are the high-grade, bonanza type deposits with limited production. Most of these were mined from 1875 to 1920 and did not have the benefit of geologic and mineralogic examinations. There are two notable exceptions; those being the Silver King mine, near Superior, and the mines of Tombstone. This presentation will deal with the general history and importance silver mining has played in Arizona, as well as a cursory glance at some of the more notable specimen occurrences.
  
  The exploration of Arizona began with tales of riches of silver and gold. Like the believers of the Peralta gold and Lost Dutchman today, the Spanish followed the legends of the Seven Cities of Cibola into Arizona and New Mexico some four hundred years ago. As the Spanish influence diminished, and without finding any of the legendary riches, very little mining took place until the mid 1800 s. At that time, most of the attention was focused on California with the gold rush of 1849. Only after miners, prospectors, and explorers realized their fortunes lay elsewhere, did they begin to examine the Arizona territory in earnest.
  
  The territory was pretty much the domain of the various Indian tribes, including the Apache, Papago, and Pima. As settlers moved into Arizona and New Mexico, conflicts and transgressions were inevitable . It was not until after the Civil War that the United States could send manpower and resources into the Arizona-New Mexico territory to subdue the Indians.
  
  Ajo has the distinction of being the earliest exploited mineral deposit in Arizona. The rich outcrop was certainly inviting but what the prospectors mistook for silver glance (acanthite) turned out to be copper glance (chalcocite). Once they became better educated, they moved on to deposits that actually contained silver. The first area of real silver mining activity, about 1855, was south of Patagonia in Santa Cruz county at the Mowry mine. Colonel Sylvester Mowry, discoverer and owner of the mine, was suspected of being a Southern sympathizer and the rich silver mine was confiscated by Union troops. Additional mines in this region include the Flux, the Trench, and the Harshaw.
  
  By 1875 the various Indian tribes were subdued, thus allowing miners and prospectors to begin diligent work. The rich, near surface deposits they discovered included the Silver King and Silver Queen (Magma) mines in Pinal county, Richmond Basin north of Globe and McMillanville east of Globe, Both in Gila county, the Tip Top mine in Yavapai
  county, the Cerbat mountains area in Mohave county, and the Santa Rita mountains in Pima county. Each of these mining districts had their heyday but none lasted for much more than fifteen years as a silver producer.
  
  One additional area that deserves mention is the Silver district in Yuma county. Even though this is some of the harshest and most inhospitable terrain in Arizona, a water supply and the ability to ship supplies and concentrates was assured due to the proximity to the Colorado River. Today these mines are much more famous for secondary minerals, such as wulfenite, vanadinite, and cerussite. Due to the richness of the ores, there were certainly a multitude of fine specimens produced. Unfortunately, the remote nature of most of the mines did not allow for access by persons interested and very few pieces have survived .
  
  Some of the more notable localities for native silver are the Silver King mine, the Stonewall Jackson mine at McMillanville and Mineral Park. While silver sulfides and sulfosalts have been reported from a umber of mines, only one crystallized acanthite specimen is known. Stromeyerite was an important, massive ore mineral at the Silver King and Magma mines. The most noteworthy oxidation minerals are wulfenite and vanadinite from the Red Cloud and Melissa Mines.
  
  Dear Members,
  
  In this issue s Chairman s Corner, Les has told us about his friend and mentor Doris Benham, and the special relationship that will be a part of him as long as he picks up rocks. I think that every one of us know people much like her, those who helped us see how much there is about this Earth that never shows at first glance. Our next issue will be dedicated to those terrific folks, both living and those no longer cracking bolders beside us. Please join me in writing about these people. I would love to print an eighty-eight page Newsletter, with a page for everyone of your personal Guides into this great Fieldtrip.
  
  The deadline for our next issue will be Thursday, February 18, 1999. Please get the stories to me earlier if you can! If you start thinking about how much you owe these folks and their memories right now, by the end of January you should all have a book of your own written. Talk to your friends that enjoyed these people with you when you see them at the Shows this year. Then Share them with us, so we can cherish them, too.
  
  And for those of us who do still walk the trails of Arizona together, this is my chance to tell you how special you are to me. May the path rise to meet us together!
  
  Happy New Year!
  
  Steve
  
  
  Foundation Trustees
  Ron Blackstone 1999
  Darrel Dodd 1999
  Doug Duffy 1999
  Genie Howell 1999
  Lois Splendoria 1999
  Marc Watson 1999
  Harvey Smith 2000
  John Lucking 2000
  Jim Warne 2000
  Tom Edwards 2000
  Robert Jones 2000
  Doug Lindsay 2001
  M. J. Benham 2001
  Raymond Grant 2001
  Les Presmyk 2001
  Steve Decker 2001
  Jan Walls 2001
  Lavone Archer 2001
  Paul Harter 2001