This is the third of seven articles concerning the History of the Club. 

Joel Johnstone

Field Trips 

Many wonderfully pleasant Club sponsored Field Trips have been conducted for mineral specimen additions to our collections. The Club has long insisted on a program of proper field trip etiquette that has gained many a return invitation. During the first two years of the club’s existence, field trips were somewhat limited due to transportation difficulties. However some trips were made then, and after the end of the war numerous trips were made up of large and small groups and by individuals, with many an interesting gem or mineral specimen being brought back. 

The first trip made by the club as a group was to the San Pedro mine, shortly after the organization of the club. Transportation was in trucks supplied through the courtesy of Jack Nichols. We continue this tradition by holding our annual picnic there. 

Some of the early group trips were to the Rio Puerco region both west and southwest of Albuquerque; to the Coronado monument near Bernalillo and southward along the Rio Grande back to Albuquerque; to Bernardo Bridge and the surrounding region; to Golden, N.M.; to the old Tonque ruins; to Bland and tent rock; to the ice caves near Grants, and El Morro monument. 

On one early trip a group of about thirty got caught in a severe and totally unexpected hailstorm, and were thoroughly drenched. As everyone came straggling back to the parking area, wet to the skin, some concern was expressed for a visiting couple from New York City, who were unaccustomed to this rugged western terrain. Just as a search party was about ready to start hunting them, they came strolling in, quite dry. They had driven some sheep out from under a pinon bush and crawled under it themselves. Everyone else was so wet than the men built a huge fire in order to warm up and dry out, and some of the feminine members of the group removed certain unmentionable garments and hung them near the fire to dry. 

One member of the club, on a two week trip into the Florida mountains near Deming, collected an assortment of agates, including banded agate, plume agate, moss agate and also carnelian, which he cut and polished into most attractive gem stones and cabinet specimens. He reported that near Grass Lake in the southern part of the St. Augustine plains there was a belt of banded agate and quartz crystals and casts of all descriptions. This deposit was estimated to be about five miles wide, and at least 40 miles long. 

A good deal of very nice turquoise had been collected by various people in areas around Cerrillos, Tyrone, and near Alamogordo. 

A trip by a small group to the northeast shore of Elephant Butte Lake netted them some valuable limb sections of opalized wood of gem quality, which were cut into gemstones and some highly fluorescent specimens. Also, some exceptionally fine feldspar moonstone was brought back from the southern part of the state. 

Club members were among those collecting some of the finest Smithsonite in the world from the old Kelly mine near Magdalena. However, this mine is no longer in a safe condition for anyone to go into. 

Specimens collected in the region up and down the Rio Puerco from Albuquerque have been sheet selenite, petrified wood, fossilized shell as well and gem quality red jasper. 

State Fair & Gem Show 

From its formation the club participated in the State Fair with mineral displays, though initially they were not competitive. By 1947 the club had a large pyramidal case that was displayed in the Industrial Building in conjunction with the NM Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources exhibit. In 1955 the Club started actual judged competitions at the Fair. By 1965 there were 72 displays that took over almost a third of one of the Fair’s major buildings. 

In 1963, after long and arduous efforts by the executive committee, a significant opportunity was presented. The New Mexico State Fair Hobby Department permitted our club to have a sales booth adjacent to the annual gem and mineral exhibits. This sales booth continued from 1963 to 1969. Thousands upon thousands of minerals were collected, labeled, and packaged for 25¢ grab bags. Thousands upon thousands of mineral specimens, gems, slabs, and lapidary ornaments were collected for the booth. Beyond-the-call-of-duty efforts by a few hard working and zealous leaders ably and willingly assisted by many other members and friends made the sales booth pay off. This was probably the precursor for the NM Rock Fiesta Gem Show that started in 1970 which eventually became the Treasures of the Earth (TotE) Show of today. 

Part Four: Finances & Scholarships 

First Published: AGMC News Nuggets Vol 63 #11 November, 2016