Review by Ed Quillen
Geology – April 1994 – Colorado Central Magazine
Colorado Rockhounding – A Guide to Minerals, Gemstones, and Fossils
by Stephen M. Voynlek
Published in 1994 by Mountain Press Publishing Co.
P.O. Box 2399, Missoula MT 59806
ISBN: 0-87842-292-7
ROCKS — whether they form soaring scenic peaks or impediments to digging a post hole — are the dominant natural feature of Central Colorado.
Beyond the fact that we’re in the Rocky Mountains, there’s the human element. The Indians were rockhounds — how else to find the right flint or obsidian for arrowheads? — and the Euro-Americans who displaced them were looking for another rock, placer gold.
Even though there are now a host of regulations and complications that never bothered the Utes or the pioneer prospectors, many humans still like to look for rocks, and if you’re one of them, you’ll find good guidance in Colorado Rockhounding.
It offers a full explanation of all pertinent restrictions, ranging from common courtesy to the Archæological Protection Act of 1979, and Voynick has a refreshing view of safety.
Rather than just repeat the familiar preaching about “don’t ever go into old mines,” he devotes several pages to explaining all the things that can go wrong underground — methane, carbon monoxide, fire, explosion, cave-in. And if you insist on descending, and you do get trapped and rescued, your “legal difficulties may be just starting,” since you were trespassing and you’ll be liable for your rescue costs.
There’s not much point in going down anyway, since Voynlek can send you to so many nearby spots on the surface: the garnets of Ruby Mountain, the famous aquamarines of Mt. Antero, Fossil Ridge in the Gunnison Country, geodes from Houselog Creek above Saguache, gleaming pyrites from Silver Cliff, placer gold on Cache Creek — just to name a few of the many rock-hounding locales in Central Colorado.
COLORADO ROCKHOUNDING is organized by county, and though it contains the requisite technical terms, it’s not hard reading for the non-expert, perhaps because Voynick celebrates the human element.
For instance, an alcove of the Gunnison Public Library honors Ande Anderson, who mined lapis lazuli on North Italian Mountain near Taylor Park until he sold out in 1979.
Anderson wore a hog-leg revolver and posted his claim with “This Property Belongs to a Madman — He’s a Dead Shot — No Digging.” But on his visits to town, he enjoyed the library and often listened in on the children’s storytelling hour.
After his death in 1981 the Gunnison Library received a bequest of $70,000 from his estate; it built a 1,500-square-foot music and reading room, wherein you’ll find the Anderson alcove, along with his portrait and displays of lapis lazuli from the Blue Wrinkle Mine.
There’s the observation from Arthur Montgomery, who collected atop Mt. Antero: “Life is worth living for such moments alone, for it is in such a high mountain world as Antero’s … timeless and separate from outside things, that one can put in each proper place bad weather, bad luck, hard work, and even mineral collecting. If we had not collected a single mineral, still it all would have been very much worth-while.”
Good attitude, and it pervades the book. We shape rocks, and rocks shape us, even if we don’t find what we thought we were looking for.
Colorado Rockhounding is good reading even if you’re not a rockhound, and if you’re thinking about taking up the hobby, it will get you off to a good start.