William A. Kappele - Rockhounding Colorado

ROCKHOUNDING

Colorado

ROCKHOUNDING

Colorado

Third Edition

WILLIAM A. KAPPELE

REVISED BY GARY WARREN

An imprint of Globe Pequot

Falcon and FalconGuides are registered trademarks of Rowman & Littlefield.

Distributed by NATIONAL BOOK NETWORK

Copyright 2017 by Rowman & Littlefield

Maps by Melissa Baker Rowman & Littlefield

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Information available

ISSN 1546-6590

ISBN 978-1-4930-1739-3 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-4930-1740-9 (e-book)

The author and Rowman & Littlefield assume no liability for accidents happening to, or injuries sustained by, readers who engage in the activities described in this book.

In Memory: Keltsie Lynn Mansfield (19952015). As we were approached to revise this book we were excited about the prospect of visiting and photographing the rockhounding sites in Colorado. We planned on leaving for Colorado in June of 2015 to start the revision of the book. On April 15, 2015, we tragically lost our granddaughter in a horrific act of domestic violence. To suffer such a loss was a devastation to our family but after a while we found it necessary to begin the work on this book. Though it was difficult to begin, we found it to be an enjoyable endeavor and because Keltsie enjoyed going rockhounding with us, we decided to dedicate this book to her and donate part of the money from the book sales to a fund to support domestic violence awareness. It is our hope that through this maybe another family can be spared the heartbreak we have experienced.

Gary and Sally Warren, 2016

Contents

Overview

Acknowledgments

I t is impossible to thank all those who helped make this book a reality. So to all the fine people to whom we talked in stores, motels, town halls, gas stations, ranger stations, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) offices, and even a hospital, we offer our deepest thanks.

I must thank W.R.C. Shedenhelm, editor emeritus of Rock & Gem magazine, who first made it possible for me to write about having fun and even getting the writing published. Thank you W.R.C. I am grateful that after all these years, I can still have fun writing about having fun.

Without the help of Darlene and Joe Reidhead of Durango, Colorado, a lot of the pages in this book would be blank. They introduced Cora and me to four-wheeling many years ago, and the virus has taken up permanent residence in our systems.

Thanks, too, to Connie Bishop of Bloomfield, New Mexico, who told us of trips in Colorado, including the one to the picture stone in La Plata Canyon, which we had walked past without seeing on numerous occasions.

A very special thanks goes to Gary Curtiss, a geologist with the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and a major resource for this book. Gary performed above and beyond the call of duty in putting real ite names to the pretty stuff we had picked up.

Also in line for special thanks are Mary Amelotte, geology technician; Peter Borella, professor of geology and oceanography; and Jim Repka, assistant professor of geology, all of whom are from Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California. These good folks also helped with mineral identificationparticularly the beautiful piece in the cover photo.

Finally, thanks to my wife and coauthor, Cora, without whom not only this book, but nearly everything I have ever done would not have been possible. She visited every site in the book, and her eagle eye turned up a lot of the material described. Cora can sit down on a log and find more rocks, minerals, and artifacts within a 3-foot radius than I can by hiking for miles. When I return with an empty bag and sore feet, she just smiles and shows me her treasures. As if this were not enough, when we get back to the task of writing, she assumes the thankless task of proofreading every word. I guess Id better buy her a quarter pounder with cheese and a vanilla shake.

William A. Kappele

I also need to thank all of the people that helped with the revision of this great book.

Some of my great friends helped by going with my wife Sally and me and helped explore and verify the sites in this book. Larry and Marsha Christophersen who helped verify sites in the southeastern part of the state, and Dave and Kathy Farnsworth who helped us verify sites in the northeastern and southwestern parts of Colorado.

We had many good times with them and it helped us get through the long days and many miles we traveled in preparing to rewrite this book. I would also like to thank the people at our new site in this book, at Last Chance Mine (Site 52). The owner, Jack Morris and his staff were very helpful in not only giving us information about this site but also in helping us understand the area around Creede and the many mines within this area. In Del Norte, Colorado, on Twin Mountains (Site 53), we have to say that we were confused as to where to go and stopped at the home of Mark Boyd and he put aside his work and took us to the sites listed in Twin Mountains. He also showed us where there were ruins of an old Frenchyes, French fortification in this area and also a wall where the French hid from Indians until all but two were killed off and they left the area. This happened many years before the Spanish came into the area; so, there is really a history in this area worth exploring.

There were many other people who took the time to talk with us and help us find sites, and though we cannot name them individually, we are grateful to these people also. The people of Colorado were very courteous to us and were always willing to talk and help us. My thanks go out to all of them for their help and kindness. And finally I want to say a big thank you to my wife who put up with me on these trips and has helped me revise this book. Without her help this would not have been possible to accomplish.

Gary Warren

Map Legend

About This Book

A nyone who has followed the rockhounding hobby for more than a few years has undoubtedly encountered the two most common types of guidebooks. First is the one that simply lists the material to be found, gives brief directions to the sites, and provides a map that may or may not be accurate. The second type is more a treasure house of adjectives than a guidebook. Although the material to be found at the site may look as interesting as a piece of broken sidewalk, it will invariably be described as containing fiery reds, deep, rich purples, breathtaking oranges, and so on and on. Many rockhounds (including the two of us) have driven down miles of dirt roads and hiked over hills and through valleys only to be disappointed because the enthusiasm of the guidebooks author outdid the actual beauty of the find. We will not so mislead you in this book. If we are describing a site where red agate can be found, we will call it red agate even if we might think it is fiery. You will have to be the judge, since beauty certainly is in the eye of the beholder.