Two days of Awesome!

A day of driving- I cut through the tornado wasteland south of Joplin and through many of hwy 90's best little towns. A town of three churches and a one-room school building. A graveyard with only one rule: "Please contact board member before opening graves." And, of coarse, plenty of roosters and goats!

I drove through Ponca in search of some old lead mines north of town. Several websites tell about the mines and describe an abundance of good minerals- I couldnt find it. Stopped in Ponca's one store and asked one of the women behind the counter for directions.
She joked about similar inquiries and told me that the mines were on property that was owned by a tucson man. They are not marked for NO TRESPASSING, but she did not want me visiting the mines because of the danger there.
I visited nearby Lost Valley before leaving the area- it is where I planned to spend the night after visiting the lead mines. The area was flooded with people- guess a 70-degree day was a good one to spend here! Wondered through the ancient cabin on the property- I LOVE this old home. I noticed the lack of elk on the way out- this is my first visit with no elk!
The old cabin, near ponca, is on Federal land. There is a door, a stove, a single boot and the last shreds of wallpaper still in the cabin, but thats all. It stands only with the help of a pair of new support cables, but still seems to be falling over and apart. The boot has moved since I last saw it.

Wegner's Quartz mine on Owley rd, south of Mt ida, has an incredible collection of crystals from it's own property and around the world. I took a trio of clusters from the outside-tables and paid only $1.40 for them. The shop charges by the pound! One of the clusters is smothered by the mine's famous Magnesium "blue phantoms."

The crystals on the tables below are offered by Matt Price, Owner/Operator of the Arrowhead mine. The clusters and points are pricey, but Ive never seen such quality! The pieces are flawless-even the largest clusters!

Stopped by "Gee and Dee's" on brewster mountain. Dolores (Dee) is a kind woman. We yaked for an hour or so- Gee has been working in the mine for 49 years now! She told a story about a cop inspecting Gee's crystal-cleaning chemicals as illegal drugs and stubbed her toe in between two rows or crystal-topped tabled. "See that!?" she said. "That's the lord, there, punishin' me fer my sassy mouth!" THE LORD is involved in every few sentences and she speaks with a heavy country accent. I spent a coupla bucks and took a few points, several small clusters and a double-terminated wand with a faint phantom. Dee was sure to give a reciept for the Oxalic acid she sold me to prevent any unnecessary problems with the police. I dug on their mountain for a morning- its a nice spot, but the small crystals are a lot of work!

I came from an afternoon at the Arrowhead with a five-gallon bucket of rough material and a few larger plates of clear quartz. Even claimed a few of Matt's pieces- I bought a pair of hand-sized haystacks and a few large points for far less than he would have charged if the crystals were cleaned. I will clean only a few of them- the rainbow rust can be beautiful!

I found a wonderful church on 27, north of Mt Ida. Took some photos and explored around it. Turns out it was Montgomery County's own Sweet home church! I had to do some extra research on it, but Ive discovered a very cool story behind it.

The SWEET HOME Church existed long before the huge neighboring Lake Ouachita. Land was donated by the Hovell family when the need was realized; Hovell moved to the area in 1905 and decided that the school house which hosted their Christian Services was insufficient.

The church was built by Hovell and his friends and family with available lumber. Shingles for the roof were split by S.J. McCullar and David Music. Of all who helped to build the church, only Ed Benson and Hovell's son are alive today. The Sweet home Chirch was dedicated on May 17, 1908 when Dr. G.E. Cunningham, a Little Rock minister made the building's first sermon. The text was Luke 7:5 -For He so loved our people, He built them a synagogue.- He said it could be aptly paraphrased -For they so loved their people, they built for them a church-

Most of the homesteads were sold to the Caddo River Lumber Co. and the owners moved away. Hovell jr. moved to Norman, Ark. and services were not held at the church for several years. He moved back into the area in 1929. While in Norman, he developed a friendship with Dr. John Barr and persuaded him to preach and organize a church in the Sweet home building.

I searched for Wavellite at the huge County quarry, also known as Mauldin Mountain, and I thought I had collected some. It was Matt from Arrowhead who directed me here. Turns out it was brightly-coloured Planerite in unusually well-formed balls- it usually grows in yellow and green films on the host rock. I found this growth, too. Pretty, though!

(CLICK ON ABOVE PHOTO FOR COOL CLOSE-UP!)

Huge Clusters, and smaller, perfect examples of Arkansas quartz can be found on display and for sale at any of the area's mines. Gee and Dee's were of a poor quality compared to Arrowheads' and Wegners limited supply also seemed damaged and milky. Maybe I am just spoiled?

No matter what, it seems that you will get what you pay for here. The finest quartz is priced at near $100/lb and phantoms, inclusions and manifestations are always worth a bit more. Size matters, too; a larger cluster of crystals that are of equal quality to those of a smaller cluster will sell for more $ per pound. It works out for me, though- those clusters that are less than a few inches in diameter are my favorite. Clusters this size are easy to collect and are often more complex than larger ones.
WHAT A GORGEOUS DAY Monday! The air is so warm- even the spring peepers are out. I imagine they will be turned to frogcicles by the end of the week, but their screams put spring in the air!
Arrowhead mine- Sunny this time! Had a long conversation with the mines manager, Brian. We shared stories of collecting and some of our favorite spots. I learned a lot about the process of local mining. Thanks brian!