The Bitterroot Conglomerate
Newsletter of the Bitterroot Gem & Mineral Society
Vol. XXVIi issue 4
Presidents Column
Hello members, the Spokane Show was a lot of fun and the bus was full. It’s a great show and more of you need to go. I have been working on our show, it is not far away now. We are going to need a lot of help to get the show going. Don and Joe Farley are doing a great job, so is Don Tibbs with the sign making. People who are on the show committees will you please make sure you are getting your jobs done. I am going to set up dates so we can meet weekly for progress reports and any problems that may arise. Please everyone start selling the adds for our programs, Chris has reported to me that it is hard going out there selling. Customers are a little shy in wanting to buy adds because of the economy so it will take everyone’s help. Members who live up and down the valley know the stores and can get the job done. This is important to the show and money for the club functions. Some of the members have asked for us to put on a bigger show next year, I can get the dealers, have turned down so many know. I will check with the Bitterroot Inn and see what their convention center would cost. This would be a excellent place because of location and facilities there. I will report to the club what I find out. Look forward to seeing you all at our next meeting.
Take care and START THINKING ROCK SHOW, OK! STEVE
Editors Notes
Penny and I were gone for two months so Wayne Farley took over the editor’s duties, for which I thank him very much.
We spent our time in Arizona but missed seeing many others there from our Club. We saw the QIA Show in Quartzsite and the Tucson Gem and Mineral Club Show in Tucson. Both shows were excellent. We joined the Quartzsite Club and spent a couple of days learning the basics of working with silver and cabbing. It was fun for each of us to make a silver ring. I believe that if Jo Farley gets set up she might teach silver-smithing next fall if we give her support and encouragement.
We spent a week with Joe and Gayla Kaiser in Eastern AZ. They volunteer at the Fort Bowie Nat’l Historic Site for a couple of months each year. Joe, Gayla, Penny and I spent some enjoyable time visiting and rockhounding together in their area.
Penny and I met many other rockhounds and spent a week helping two other couples become rockhounds. The excitement they exhibit makes the effort enjoyable and worthwhile.
I believe one of the things our members should spend more time on is rock identification. I know that I have great difficulty in that area, but in trying to help others in our hobby it becomes very important. Usually the first thing the other person asks is, what kind of a rock is this. We need several programs on this subject at our meetings. I believe Wayne, Don Tibbs and perhaps others will help us in this endeavor.
We visited with AJ and Claudia from the Spencer Opal Claim and have their summer fee dig schedule, if anyone is interested. The Opal Mine owners in Virgin Valley, Nevada also have a fee dig schedule for this summer plus those in Oregon with a fee dig area for sunstones. Ralph
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BGMS Minutes 03/08/2008
by: Secretary, Wayne Farley
The Bitterroot Gem & Mineral Society (BGMS) began its March meeting at 2:00 pm on Sat., March 8th with a pledge to the flag of the United States of America. There were 24 four members present and one guest. After the pledge, our program chairperson, Jo Farley, introduced Shirley Sylvester, who presented our program titled “Indian Rock Art”. The program covered Indian rock paintings and carvings (pictographs and petroglyphs) in the Pacific Northwest. Shirley said that she first got interested in Indian rock art after reading the book, “Indian Rock Art of the Columbia Plateau” by Archaeologists, James D Keyser. Shirley had a copy of the book at the meeting, which she passed around to the BGMS members to see. Several years after reading the book, Shirley said that she actually got to work with Dr. Keyser.
Shirley explained that Petroglyphs are images created by removing part of the rock surface by incising, pecking, carving, or abrading; whereas, Pictographs are images drawn or painted on a rock face. Petroglyphs were mostly made on volcanic rocks that over geological time had developed a patina of manganese dioxide, called desert varnish. Pictographs were made using paints made from crushing natural minerals and mixing with a liquid carrier. The mixture is called an ocher. Red, white, yellow, and black ocher’s were the most common colors; and rarely green or blue. Red was made from hematite, yellow from limonite, white from gypsum, black from manganese oxide minerals or charcoal, and blue and green from copper minerals. Common carriers were water, blood, animal oils, and melted bees wax. Most paintings were done with the artist’s fingers. Others were done with a roughed stick.
Shirley said that where organic materials were used in the pictograph paints, carbon-14 dating was able to date the time the paintings were made. In other areas, dating was done on carbon-14 from nearby fire pits. Some date back to several thousand years ago. Shirley showed numerous slides of petroglyphs and pictographs from Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington; many on private property not assessable to the general public. Shirley said that there are two Wyoming parks with Indian Rock Art that are assessable to the public. One is the Hot Springs Country State Historic Site near Thermopolis, which has over 800 images; and the other the Wind River Canyon on the Wind River Indian Reservation, near Thermopolis.
Shirley said that aesthetic considerations of graphic images on rock appear to be less important than conveying information. Early investigators attempted to assign meaning to images, but now most archaeologists avoid that, as the images can simply not be explained or verified. Most rock art images are believed to be symbolic, so archaeologists do assign ascribed meanings to them. But many sacred sites are overlaid with images by successive cultures that may have completely different meanings for their symbols. Many images were constructed by Shamans (holy men) in altered states of consciousness. The Shamans entered the spiritual world by combinations of singing, dancing, fasting, sleeplessness, and psychedelic herbs. The images were what the Shamans’ saw in their dream state.
Shirley said that the most common motifs of rock art are the animals that the natives hunted; e.g., deer, buffalo, elk, antelope, and bear; and the weapon’s use for hunting and warfare. Animal tracks were also a common motif. Many other images were spiritual in nature, particularly in regards to the human body. The Dinwoody Tradition in Wyoming produced images of humans with elaborate headgear, and rectangular human bodies with animal like appendages. The Turtle and Thunderbird seem to have special spiritual significance to the Dinwoody and other tribes.
Notes from Wayne Farley:
1. Paul Moss, an Arapaho elder, calls the turtle glyph the "Creation Panel". According to Moss, any time a turtle glyph is part of a rock panel, it denotes creation. It was the turtle that dove down to the bottom of the ocean and brought up mud on his back to form the continents. In Native American teachings, the turtle is the oldest symbol for the planet Earth.
2. Though the giant Thunderbird myth varied from region to region and tribe to tribe, the Thunderbird was, in the eyes of the ancient Native Americans, a magical animal that was sent by their gods to protect them from the powers of evil. Riding on the wings of the storm, the Thunderbird embodied the power of the storm. Its eyes flashed fire, its cry was like the crack of lightning, and its mighty wings beat with the sound of rolling thunder, ever protecting its people from the powers of evil. A giant bird, the Teratorn, actually did exist several thousand years ago, based on fossil evidence from the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, California. It had a wingspan of 25 ft., sported feathers fully 5 ft. long, was 11 ft. in length from beak to tail, and weighed 170 pounds. The Teratorn bird probable accounts for the Thunderbird myth.
Shirley gave advice on photographing Petroglyphs and Pictographs. She said that in photographing the glyphs, an umbrella was handy for providing shade to the images, as bright light tends to wash out the image. Morning or evening side lighting may bring out images not seen in the bright midday sun. She does not recommend the old practice of wetting pictograph images with water or kerosene to bring out the image contrast, as this can wash away the ocher paint used for Pictographs. Also don’t chalk petroglyph images, as this practice can contaminate cation-ratio (CA) methods of age dating the petroglyphs. She said to be careful of rattlesnakes, as many glyphs are in rock shelters where rattlesnakes hang out. The snakes are attracted to bird’s nests in the shelters. She also said to be careful around gopher holes as rattlesnakes use them for shelter. Go around the holes instead of stepping over them.
Shirley said that many of the glyph sites were considered holy places for multiple tribe use, and traditionally, no warfare was practiced in those areas. This custom was also practiced at the Catlinite Pipestone Quarries at present day Pipestone, Minnesota that Shirley has visited.
Note from Wayne Farley: Following are some interesting facts on the Dinwoody Tradition Petroglyphs byLawrence Loendorf from web-site: http://www.arara.org/AIRAV25.html
“Dinwoody Tradition petroglyphs of Wyoming bear a striking resemblance to Coso Mountain petroglyphs of California. Some authors attribute this resemblance to a common Shoshone origin for both sets of petroglyphs. This hypothesis is complicated by studies that suggest Dinwoody petroglyphs are at least 2,000 and perhaps 5,000 to 6,000 years of age, a time that predates the linguistic estimates for the arrival of the Shoshone to Wyoming. Other archaeological data from Wyoming, however, suggest the Shoshone must have been in the north for a much longer period of time. In this paper, I reason that Dinwoody petroglyphs have a common Shoshone origin with Coso Mountain petroglyphs, they are both several millennia old, and there have been periods when contact between the regions was impeded by other archaeological manifestations.”
After the program, a break was taken for refreshments and treats supplied by Jo Farley, Sharlene Farley, Margaret Sharp and Pat Tibbs. Our refreshment chair-person Margaret Sharp, thanked those who brought in refreshments. To participate in refreshments at future meetings, call Margaret at 363-1590.
The business meeting started at 3:30, chaired by Vice President Chris Ponder, as our President Steve Vieth had business in Missoula and was unable to attend. The first order of business was the reading of the treasurer’s report by our treasurer, Betty Hodge.
Larry Jones said a lady at Conner is giving wire wrapping classes. Check with Larry at 821-7638.
Larry then told us about his trip to the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show. He was quite impressed by the size of the show. Besides the main show there are dozens of satellite shows, and dealers set up in most of the motel rooms in Tucson, probably in the thousands. Larry brought in some specimens he had purchased at the shows. One was a 1x10x12 inch reconstituted amber chunk with embedded modern insects. In reconstituted amber, small amber pieces are melted, insects added, and the amber solidifies after cooling. Most of the reconstituted amber is made in China. Buyers beware !!!!! A second specimen was a1.5x2.0 x1/4 inch cabochon blank of stabilized Turquoise. A lot of stabilized Turquoise also comes from China. The third specimen was a 2x3x5 inch of Rainbow Cal-Silicate from Mexico. I, Wayne Farley, told Larry that the material was artificially produced. I Googled Cal-Silicate when I got home to make sure that what I told Larry was correct. Following is what I found.
Rainbow Cal Silica
“This material is a new discovery from Mexico and has many layers of different colors: red, brown, green, tan, blue, yellow, white and others. It has been verified as a natural stone not man made. It is composed of Calcite-Allophane (Blue and green) and silica with various trace metals that cause the other colors. It has been stabilized the same as Turquoise. This makes it very stable and easy to cut and polish. Be the first on your block to have some of this unique stone. There is controversy whether this stone is natural or manmade. Here is what I know as of 4/2/2003: The original Geologist who did a scanning electron microprobe study of an untreated piece with rhyolite matrix attached, maintains that it is a natural stone and he could not detect anything that would suggest this is man made. GIA has published an article in Gems and Gemology stating that they tested a treated piece obtained in France, using Raman Laser Spectroscopy and it was found that the blue and yellow colors matched a man made pigment. They also said it had polymer and a paraffin-like substance. Since this article the source has sent treated and untreated samples as well as a piece of the acrylic they use to stabilize it, to a Geologist/Chemist at a University Back East and he has faxed them his preliminary findings which I saw today and they clearly show that the blue and yellow does not match any man made pigments and no traces of paraffin were found. I will continue to post updates on my webs@%$ (see my "about me" page) as I know more and will obtain a copy of this report very soon. I cannot guarantee this is a natural stone since I am not an expert, but it is now looking like the GIA testing was incorrect at best and there is no solid evidence that it is manmade and much evidence that it is natural. If it is manmade, it's one of the best yet. The stone is beautiful and I like it whether if it is natural or not.”
John Simonds showed an eyeglass attached loop, with 3 powers, that he used to identify termites in amber he purchased at the amber workshop. To find out where to purchase, contact John at 363-2867.
Jo Farley reminded everyone that the bus trip to the Spokane show was one week away, and for participants to pay Betty Hodge their $25.00 bus fare. People were to catch the bus at the Harvest Food Store in Lolo at 7:00 am, or the K-Mart in Missoula at 8:00 am.
The 50/50 raffle took in $35.00. Pat Tibbs won the drawing for $17.50, with the other half going into the BGMS general account.
The door prize, supplied by Yvonne Fox, was donated to our guest speaker, Shirley Sylvester, by unanimous vote from the BGMS members present. Larry Jones volunteered to bring in the next door prize for the next meeting on April 8, 2008.
The club was reminded that the second meeting in April, the 22nd of April, is a Potluck-Auction meeting, which will start at 6:00 pm.. Please bring in items for the auction.
Chris said that Steve Vieth would call a show meeting in a couple of weeks.
The meeting ended at 4:15 pm.
Spokane Show Report:
There were 16 members from the BGMS and 17 members from the Missoula rock club that went on the chartered bus to the Spokane Gem & Mineral Show. We picked up participants at the Lolo Harvest Food Store at 7:00 am, and at the Missoula K-Mart at 8:00 am. On the way over, we had a pit stop at the Silver Dollar Bar & Restaurant, and arrived at the show at the Spokane Fairgrounds at about 12:00 noon Montana time, or 11:00 am Spokane time. There was a lot of snow in the passes, but the roads were bare, and the trip was uneventful. Upon arriving at the show, we were told that we would leave on the bus at 4:00 pm Spokane time, 5:00 pm Montana time.
The theme of the show was Jade. At the entrance of the show, there was a special exhibition, in a glass case, of a green jade Statue of Liberty about two feet high. There were also several show cases with jade carvings or specimens, and several dealers with jade for sale. There were probably about 100 show cases and 50 dealers, in total. There was a good mix of displays and dealer material, and a good crowd. Spokane always puts on a good show. I saw one case of Bruneau Jasper freeform cabs with the best polish I have ever seen on cabs. The case had taken first place for cabochons. While my son Daniel and I were admiring the perfection, the artist arrived to put his first place trophy in his case. We asked him how he got such a perfect polish. He said that he uses a Genie for the first stages, but then finishes with three stages of finer grit diamond paste on a phenol wheel. The final grits are 50,000, 125,000, and 250,000. There is only one place that he has been able to purchase 250,000 diamond grit. It’s at the Abrasive Sales Co., Littleton, Massachusetts, at 617-486-9461. The artist also said that Bruneau Jasper is one of the hardest jaspers, which also accounts for the good polish.
My big purchase at the show was a 2” diameter by 3” long rutilated quartz crystal specimen from Novo Horisonte, Bahia Brazil; which I purchased from Bolivian Minerals, one of the dealers at our BGMS 2007 show. I will bring it in for show & tell at our next meeting. I also encourage all others who were at the show to bring in their prize specimens for show & tell.
The trip back from the Spokane show was also uneventful. We stopped at Coeur D’Alene for dinner, and arrived at Lolo about 10:30 pm.
End of show report by Wayne Farley
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For Sale. An ore car from the Betty O’Neil Mine near Battle Mountain, Nevada. In good shape. $500.00. Contact Posey at 961-4116
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Article VII. Code of Ethics
The code of ethics for the conduct of field trips presented by the American
Federation of Mineralogical Societies, as indicated below, shall be adopted by the BGMS;
with the addition proviso, that in the interest of safety, no person shall carry a
firearm on any field trip without the expressed consent of the field trip leader
AFMS Code of Ethics
* I will respect both private and public property and will do no collecting on privately owned land without the
owner’s permission.
* I will keep informed on all laws, regulations of rules governing collecting on public lands and observe them.
* I will to the best of my ability, ascertain the boundary lines of property on which I plan to collect.
* I will use no firearms or blasting materials in collecting areas.
* I will cause no willful damage to property of any kind - fences, signs, buildings.
* I will leave all gates as found.
* I will build fires in designated or safe places only and will be certain they are completely extinguished before
leaving the area.
* I will discard no burning material - matches, cigarettes, etc.
* I will fill all excavations holes which may be dangerous to livestock.
* I will not contaminate wells, creeks, or other water supply.
* I will cause no willful damage to collecting material and will take home only what I can reasonably use.
* I will practice conservation and undertake to utilize fully and well the materials I have collected and will
recycle my surplus for the pleasure and benefit of others.
* I will support the rockhound project H.E.L.P. (Help Eliminate Litter Please) and will leave all collecting areas
devoid of litter, regardless of how found.
* I will cooperate with field trip leaders and those in designated authority in all collecting areas.
* I will report to my Club or Federation officers, Bureau of Land Management or other authorities, any deposit
of petrified wood or other materials on public lands which should be protected for the enjoyment of future
generations for public education and scientific purposes.
* I will appreciate and protect our heritage of natural resources.
* I will observe the Golden Rule, will use Good Outdoor Manners and will at all times conduct myself in a manner
which will add to the stature and Public Image of rockhounds everywhere.
SAVE POSTAGE STAMPS FOR CANCER REASERCH!!!
GIVE A HOOT – DON’T POLLUTE! KEEP MONTANA GREEN
BGMS 2008 FIELD TRIPS & SPECIAL EVENTS |
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to be announced |
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Anyone that would like to plan and lead a field trip on any of the open dates please call Wayne Farley to set it up and have it announced to the group and also put on the web-site for all to see.
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A fool and his money are soon elected.
Will Rogers
America is becoming so educated that ignorance will be a novelty. I will belong to the select few.
Will Rogers
BITTERROOT GEM & MINERAL SOCIETY is a member of the Montana State Council, Northwest Federation and American Federation. We support State and Federation projects and goals. We are guided by the AFMS code of ethics:
I will respect private property. No rockhounding without permission.
I will use no firearms or blasting material in rockhounding areas.
I will take all garbage home, or dispose of it in proper receptacles.
I will leave gates as found.
I will cause no willful damage to materials or take more than I can use.
I will build fires in designated or safe places only.
I will not contaminate wells, creeks or other water supplies.
I will appreciate and protect our heritage or natural resources and wildlife. I will always use good outdoor manners.
SAVE USED POSTAGE STAMPS FOR CANCER RESEARCH!
GIVE A HOOT - DON"T POLLUTE! KEEP MONTANA GREEN
