The Crater of Diamonds.
I guess it’s been around two months ago that we were rockhounding at the crater of diamonds. The park is located in the crater of an extinct volcano at Murfreesboro, Arkansas. All though the volcano is now dead, during its lifetime, it acted as a giant conveyer belt. It transported all sorts of minerals, not just diamonds, from deep below the earth to the surface. Where they sit today. Just waiting to be picked up by some lucky person.
The crater hasn’t always been a state park. At one time it was privately owned by a farmer named JohnWesley Huddleston. In the early 20th century he purchased the land near Murfreesboro. In August of 1906 he discovered diamonds on the property. Before long he was known as Arkansas’ “Diamond King.”
It wasn’t long before Mr. Huddleston sold the farm to a commercial mining company for a whopping $36,00.00. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but remember it was the early 20th century. Regardless, once the word got out it created a diamond rush. The Conway Hotel, which is still there was said to have turned away more than 10,000 people in one year. They didn’t have the room to accommodate them all. A tent city sprang up, and it was called the Tent City of Kimberly. You will find no sign of it today.
The new owners of the property named it the Arkansas Diamond Company, but they had a problem. There was around forty acres of diamond bearing land that had not been owned by Mr. Huddleston. It was owned by a fella named Mr. M.M. Mauney, and he wasn’t giving it up.
Mr. Mauney attempted to mine his land on his own, but wasn’t successful. He eventually sold 3/4 interest in the land to a Mr. Horace Bemis. He eventually sold it to somebody else, and so on and so on. To save a lot of time here, I’ll just say that the Crater of Diamonds changed names and owners a few more times. Then in 1972 the state of Arkansas bought it for $750,000.00. The crater became a state park consisting of 37 1/2 acres of diamond bearing soil, and the rest is history.
My family and I have made the trip to the crater once or twice a year for the past twenty years. It’s always a good time, but let me go ahead and answer the one question that everyone asks, “Have you ever found a diamond?” The answer is, maybe, and even though this is already getting pretty long, I’ll explain that answer.
It’s hard for me to believe, but it was around fifteen years ago. My kids were old enough then that we didn’t need to keep two eyes on them, but it was a good idea to keep at least one on them. For that reason I wasn’t totally focused on locating a diamond. Actually, I had found a very nice amethyst. I was really looking for more of those. It was also our last day, and probably my fifth or sixth trip there. I had pretty much lost interest in diamonds by then.
I was sitting on the ground, in a place where a small stream flowed, and it had just finished raining. It was a light rain. Just enough to get you and the ground wet. It was a hot day, and the rain was welcome. It was welcome for more than one reason though, not only was it cooling, but the wet stones would glisten in the sunlight.
Not long after the rain stopped, the clouds parted, and the sun shinned down. I looked down and saw a brilliant sparkle. Totally expecting a nice piece of clear quartz, I wasn’t excited at all. Picking the stone up, I imeadiatly noticed that it was different from any stone that I had ever found.
The little stone was around 3 or 4ct, and it felt cool to the touch. It was as smooth as glass, and the mud wasn’t sticking to it. If you have never been there, believe me, Arkansas mud sticks to everything. Anyhow, everything I was seeing were all the things to look for when diamond hunting. There was just one thing that was causing me some doubt. There was a small rust colored spot in the middle of the stone.
After about a minute, I decided that the spot wasn’t important, and I was sure I finally found a diamond. After another minute, I learned a very important lesson about the crater. If you think you have found a diamond, never tell anyone. One guy walking by asked if I’ve had any luck. Without thinking, I showed him, and that was the end of my quiet place by the little stream. I had started a diamond rush.
Groups of people were following me around everywhere I went. If I stopped, they stopped. It didn’t take long before we called it, and decided to go back to Alabama. Before leaving though, we stopped by the rock identifiers. The geologist that looked at the stone put it through all the tests. It passed them all, but she told me that she couldn’t be sure because of that little spot. She said that it was iron, and iron couldn’t form inside a diamond.
When we got home, I arranged to see a geologist in Mobile. She looked at it, and gave me the exact same reason why she didn’t think it was a diamond. Like the first geologist, she wasn’t sure. I then took it to work with me. I worked as veterinarian technician then. I was holding it in my hand, showing it to the girls that worked there, when I dropped it. It hit the floor and was gone forever.
I moved the refrigerator, and everything else out of the room. It was just gone. There was about five other people in the room when the stone hit the floor. You can make your own assumption of what happen to it. That’s why my answer to the question is maybe. Nobody could say for sure.
During or trip last April, I didn’t waist time looking for diamonds. Don’t get me wrong, an average of four diamond a day are found. A large diamond is quite rare, but possible. The Crater of Diamonds is also the only place in the world that the general public can look for diamonds, and keep what they find. That in itself is pretty cool. I was looking for agate this time, and we found plenty. I’ve just started polishing some things, and they should begin to show up in the store before much longer.
Well guys, I better end this for tonight. Forgive me for any spelling errors. My proof reader has retired early tonight. As always, much thanks. Have a good evening, and I’ll write again soon.
