Generations of Rockhounds Part III
The Original “Adam’s Family” Part 3
Editor’s Note: This is a continuation of the series The Original “Adam’s Family,” which appeared in the August and September 2021 issues of Rock & Gem.
In 1952, I was born into this rockhound family in the house my father had built attached to the gas station in Laurel, Montana. My dad had planned to retire when he turned 50 years old and had quite a surprise when I came along that same year. This meant, as I was growing up, I had a Dad at home and we could travel as long as I was not in school. They said I would point out a good rock while riding on my dad’s shoulders before I could even walk. Some of my fondest memories are going rock hunting with my family. My obsession with fossils comes from the many trips we took in the area near Laurel, Montana.
Long ago, shallow marine waters had covered most of Montana through the early part of the Paleozoic (Cambrian), supporting a great diversity of algae, invertebrates, and some of the earliest vertebrates. Following the retreat of this sea, high rates of erosion removed most of the Silurian and Early Devonian rocks from the state. The seas returned in the Late Devonian, inundating nearly all of Montana. The fossils my family has always hunted for are crinoids, brachiopods, bacculites, cephalopods, belemnites, graphea, tuffa, cephalopods and my favorite ammonites. Our favorite spots are near the Blue Water Fish Hatchery in the hills southwest of Laurel near Fromberg, Montana in Carbon County. Farther into the hills we searched for coprolite, gastrolithes, dinosaur bones, and gypsum crystals. The layers of the hills we walked were the most beautiful colors due to the strata. We also looked for Montana moss agate and petrified wood along the Yellowstone River. We went into the Pryor Mountains for dryhead agate and arrowheads. My dad would take us to the Native American Indian medicine wheel and the Big Ice Caves. Just south of Billings is Pictograph Cave State Park, a fabulous place to visit.
An interesting fact about the local area is found seven miles north of Laurel, my hometown. The Chief
Joseph Statue in Fireman’s Park commemorates the flight of the Nez Perce Indians from Oregon, through Yellowstone Park, into Montana. They journeyed to the Laurel area where the Canyon Creek Battle was fought. For generations, the Nez Perce Indians used a series of routes known as the Nee-Mee-Poo Trail as a way to visit, hunt, and trade with other tribes. In 1877, it became a trail of sadness. On September 13th, 1877, the U.S. Cavalry, under the command of Colonel Samuel Sturgis, attempted to capture five bands of non-treaty Nez Perce Indians who had fled their homeland in eastern Washington and Idaho, rather than be forced onto a reservation there. In a military confrontation that lasted most of the day, Sturgis and his men failed to overcome the Nez Perce headed by Chief Joseph who used expert military maneuvers to escape the U.S. Army and retreat into the safety of the coulees and draws of Canyon Creek north of present-day Laurel. There is a monument at the location where three cavalry soldiers were killed and eleven wounded. It is unknown how many Nez Perce died in the battle. Many disappeared into the local coulees and are thought to have starved, or froze to death. A very sad event in our local past.
Another dark historic fact about Laurel is located at Riverside Park, just across the old southbridge over the Yellowstone River. This is where a Japanese prisoners of war camp was constructed during World War II. Many of the buildings located in the park were built by prisoners. Most were built of river rock collected along the banks. Yes, there are a few agates in the walls if you look closely. My mother, as a 50-year member of the Unity Garden Club, built planters in the park out of river rocks and participated in maintaining the flower beds until she passed. Just north of the bridge, heading into town, was an A & W Root Beer stand. I used to ride my horse down through town to get a cold mug. The
carhops came out, but since there is no place to put the tray, I would just park my horse in the stall and sip on my frosty mug. The tourists traveling to Yellowstone Park exited the freeway at Laurel and often took our picture. Sometimes on a Saturday night, my Dad would surprise us with an outing to the A & W for a banana split for dinner. That’s when you know you got good parents! Laurel is the home of a huge oil refinery, and at one time, was a huge railroad yard. When I was young, there were a few steam engines in use and one of the last roundhouses used by the Northern Pacific. Most of the men in town worked for these two businesses.
Every summer growing up we took a family vacation somewhere in the US. We had a camping trailer we pulled behind a pickup truck and my dad carried buckets of Montana rocks with us as his trading stock. You have to understand that, in the old days, most people didn’t buy rocks, they traded other rockhounds for the specimens of that area. We stopped at every rock shop we passed. Once, while in a rock shop in Texas, my Dad traded agates for a set of Texas longhorns. He carefully measured the top bunk where I slept to get ones that would fit. He placed corks on the tip of each horn and I had to sleep on the floor the rest of the way back to Montana. Some of my favorite places we hunted for rocks while we traveled were, garnets in Wyoming, petrified wood in Arizona, crystals in Arkansas, and fossils in Texas. We saw the Grand Canyon, Natural Bridge of Virginia, Carlsbad Caverns, Niagara Falls, Mammoth Cave, Ginko Petrified forest in Washington state, marble quarries in Vermont, the badlands of the Dakotas, volcanoes in Hawaii, and many more geologic features. My favorite non-rock-related places were Native American Indian Ruins and I insisted on going to all of them. I also took a cruise through the Panama Canal and saw a bit of South America and Puerto Rico, along with the Virgin Islands. Just a few years back, I met my goal of visiting all fifty states as well as thirteen countries.
One of the rock legacies left by my father, to the town of Laurel, was his gift of making rock BBQs for all of the parks in town. He used local river rock and also made a fireplace for the Rod and Gun Club. Our family moved to a larger house just north of Laurel and my dad built a larger rock room for his collection. Each year, the seventh graders would come on a bus to learn about rocks and visit the displays. When I was in junior high school, my dad had just finished the construction of the two-story outside portion of a fireplace in our new home. We drove out to Pryor mountains and collected huge red sandstone slabs to get the rock he needed for the exterior portion. Many of the pieces had fossil leaves in them. He found a petrified gopher tunnel which I have in my museum. Just as he reached the top of the chimney my father went blind. He saw some of the county’s top doctors and was finally diagnosed with an extremely rare brain virus. He had limited eyesight, but could not open or move his eyes. He was told there was no cure and for five years he remained the same. My mother had to have someone install a brick interior on the fireplace which disappointed my dad as he had planned a magnificent stone one using choice pieces from his collection. One day after Church, I witnessed a miracle when suddenly his eye opened up and he saw light again. In the next few weeks, he regained most of the ability to move them and his lids opened back up enough that he could see again. There is no medical reason for this. Some of the best Doctors in the United States examined him and had no explanation for his recovery. He was eventually able to drive and go rock hunting again. He even took a few of the doctors out rock hunting! The
next summer we were on a tour, down inside Carlsbad Caverns, and the guide asked why it was so important to see the amazing calcite formations in the great room. Karl spoke right up and said he was overwhelmed by such beauty, and since had been blind and never thought he would see such rock wonders again.
When I was in junior high, we moved to another house north of Laurel(about a mile on a lovely rural lane). Out our back door and across the cow pasture is Cemetery Hill. The main road north goes up through a big road cut. One day I discovered gypsum rosettes embedded in the slope. A gypsum is a rosette mineral that crystallizes in a unique rosette growth pattern. Gypsum is an evaporate, which means its crystals form during the evaporation of water and form in arid sandy conditions. My friends and I spent many happy hours rockhounding in the hills nearby. Sometimes I rode my horse “Blue Boy,” and we could travel for miles searching out Montana agates. Walking back and forth to school I was always gazing at the gravel on the side of the road for good rocks.
When I was twenty-seven, I moved to Monrovia, California, and married the love of my life, Chris Duncan, and had two sons. My father had passed away and I inherited the family rock collection. My father was heir to half of his father’s, so it was quite a daunting task. I spent three weeks packing and labeling specimens. I spent a fortune on Rubbermaid containers, as you know how heavy rocks are (cardboard boxes are not the best way to transport them). We transported them to California in semi-trucks with a load of bagged wheat. It is worth mentioning as this was the least expensive method to move tons of valuable rocks across the country. Check local trucking companies, but be prepared to load and unload yourself. I had to sell a huge colorful petrified wood log that was almost four feet high as I didn’t have enough manpower to get it into, or off the truck. It had been in my family for years, but it is unknown if it came from Arizona or Yellowstone Park. My husband built cases and storage in the basement of our 101-year-old craftsman home. I was able to bring both of the vintage showcases seen in the picture with me. They had been in Roscoe before my Dad had them in the Gas station office in Laurel. Then he had moved them to our new home Rock Room and now I was able to have them in Monrovia, California in my museum. I named it the “Good Old Days Museum” as I also collected old farm tools and vintage items. It is packed to the brim with treasures. I continue to travel and rockhound as much as possible.
A few years back my family went to Florida on vacation; and I needed Florida and South Carolina to make my 48 and 49th states. We flew in late in the afternoon and checked into the hotel. The next morning, I got up early before my family, caught the shuttle bus to the airport, hopped on a flight to Columbia, South Carolina where I had a BBQ sandwich and flew back.
I was not going all the way across the US to not count my 49th state. It was an anniversary present from my husband. I have now been to all 50 states, with Alaska being my last; where I was able to observe some of the most magnificent geologic structures. At this time, I was recovering from MRSA and had spent a year in a wheelchair. I was so fortunate to be able to travel to Alaska. I highly recommend the little rock shop in Wasilla. I bought Alaskan Jade, Almandine garnets, agates, as well as some other specimens native to Alaska including fossils. Around the Copper River are shops if you are looking to buy some gold to take home. There are two rock clubs in Alaska to check out. One more thing - I always try to eat the food of the area I travel to. I do not recommend the halibut pizza. I joined the Monrovia Rockhounds and spent 25 years participating in the club holding most of the offices. I won second place as small bulletin editor and won an award for a poem I wrote. In 2012, I was chosen as Monrovia Rockhounds Club Member of the Year by the CFMS. My specialty is children’s education and speaking to groups. I am known as the “dinosaur lady” and it’s not even my age. I have worked with Boy Scouts for thirty years and helped thousands of boys earn rock and geology badges. I developed my own 30-page workbook to go along with the Boy Scout manual. I have been honored by receiving the Boy Scout District Award of Merit from the Lucky Baldwin District. I bake core sample cupcakes and do a geology strata demonstration with a boba straw as my drill. Treats and a science class all in one. I also work with Girl Scouts and schools. I have an extensive bead collection, a button collection, and do public speaking. One of my favorite specimens is a piece of coal that had been on the Titanic and was carried up from the bottom of the sea in Ballard’s submarine. I did a case in our rock show and asked if it was okay to only put one rock in? Everyone said you can’t do that. Club members all said the liner needs to be neutral. Grey, beige, black or white. That is not me. Do what makes you feel good. My case was bright orange with only one little piece of coal along with a book, a model, and a complete timeline of how the coal was formed and the journey of its existence. It was a huge hit at the rock show! My advice is to be creative. “Stones of the Bible” and “The Rockhounds Dinner” complete with rocks for food, have both been very popular cases. Years after I relocated to California, I returned on a special mission to find the elusive tiny ammonite south of Billings, written up in a book by Robert Feldman “Rockhounding Montana.” My sister contacted the The Billings Gem and Mineral Club which is part of
the Northwest Federation of Mineralogical Societies. They said the members had gone many times to the spot, but had never found the small ammonite and had given up looking there. My brother-in-law David was up for the adventure and we set out early in the morning. We found what we believed to be the spot and starting splitting the shale with a rock hammer and a chisel. We looked all day. Thank Goodness my sister had packed a lunch. About 4 pm, Dave started hollering. He had found an ammonite about a half-inch across. By the time we left he had three and I had two. It is amazing how happy you can be over something so tiny; but for me, it was like hitting the jackpot! Carol contacted the club and showed them what Dave had found. Currently, I belong to the Pasadena Lapidary Society, one of the largest Rock clubs in the CFMS. I volunteer for the Education committee and do school visits, kids education at rock shows, offer personal visits to my museum, and rock and jewelry workshops at my home. I fabricate my own children’s handouts. I bake ammonites in a blanket (hot dog pieces with a biscuit) for club refreshments. I design jewelry and do wire wrapping and sell at a few venues as Janie’s Jurassic Jewelry. I am busy as Co-Founder of Foothills Kitchen, a nonprofit organization that helps those in need in my town of Monrovia, California. We have served over 6,000 meals in the last six years and I have cooked most of them. Our charity is based in the Methodist Church and we do a variety of functions including a clothing ministry, toiletries, medical supplies, referrals for housing and shelters and belong to the Monrovia Housing Advocates organization. I also manage the Thrift Store inside the Church, which also helps many people in need. Three years ago, I received the recognition of Distinguished Woman of Monrovia for my charity work. I accepted the award so I could stand up and advocate for public bathroom access in the local parks. My favorite other charity is my annual cookie exchange for the local multiple sclerosis group, which I have hosted for the last 21 years. It started in my living room with PTA moms and now we are up to around 4,000 cookies, and are the main financial source of fundraising support for this group. Seven years ago, I was contacted by a National Geographic Television show “America’s Lost Treasures.” I was chosen to be a contestant with my dinosaur bone, along with a few other rockhounds such as Jim Brace Thompson from the Ventura Club and Mathew Daugherty from Long Beach. This was my big chance to find out what kind of dinosaur bone my father had found. We knew it was a femur bone, and it was a large dinosaur, and for seventy-four years my family mystery was: “What kind of dinosaur bone was it?” My husband built a special box to help me transport it to the Museum of Natural History in Los Angeles where the show was filmed. You have to be mighty careful with something 150 million years old. My rockhound buddy, Jim Lloyd, went with me and we spent two days there. Dr. Louis Chiappe, Head of the Vertebrate Paleontology Department, examined my bone. Dr. Chiappe is an Argentine paleontologist who is best known for his discovery of the first sauropod nesting sites in the badlands of Patagonia, and for his work on the origin and early evolution of Mesozoic birds. Having the Dr. examine my bone was like a dream come true. Through the years the femur had broken into three large pieces. I had actually tried to glue it back together, following the museum instructions, but it was not meant to be. The Dr. told me that it was only because it was broken, and he could see the bone density of the morrow inside, that he was able to finally identify it for me. We were filmed in the great dinosaur hall. Curt Dousett, the host, and I were under a huge skeleton of a dinosaur. Across the room, I could see the producers listening and watching us. He asked me if I was intimidated to finally find out what kind of dinosaur bone I had. I burst out “I am as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rock’ in chairs!” I could watch the crew bust’in up across the room. The host, Curt, reached over and gave me a peck on the cheek and said your bone is a stegosaurus. Golly Gee Whiz! It was then that I looked up as saw we were standing under the huge skeleton of a stegosaurus. He showed me the back femur bone, on the dinosaur skeleton behind me, and it looked just like mine. Not only did I have the answer, but it was my favorite dinosaur since I was a kid! I didn’t win the competition and I really didn’t want to.
They would have given me money, but they also wanted to take my bone back east to display in the Nation Geographic Museum for a year and I was much happier showing it off in my basement. A few months later I was filmed again for a segment of an online education series for AOL called a “Million Year Old Mystery,” and the paleontologist told me that there is only fifty almost complete Stegosaurus ever found and that my bone was a significant find. Only one hundred back legs in the world and I have one of them! Hot Diggety Dog! There was a book in the Laurel Library that I had checked out so many times growing up that they had to buy a new copy. It was called the “Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek” and the dinosaur in the book was named George, my maiden name. Maybe that was why stegosaurus was always my favorite dinosaur. My husband managed to find a copy of the original book for me, and it is one of my most prized possession. My dad would have been so happy to know what kind of bone he had found.
Currently, the JG is owned and operated by my cousin Tommy George and his son. The old ranch house and most of the outbuilding are still standing vacant but there are still cattle and hay on the property. What a rich history of fond memories for our family. On a side note, this is another interesting family tidbit. Tommy’s sister Delores’s husband is one of only four people in the United States to die of Mad Cow Disease (Creutzfeldt Jakobs disease). He had shot and killed an elk who had eaten contaminated beef products in Canada at a feedlot and crossed the border illegally (illegal alien) down into Montana where it was killed and eaten by my family. He was the only one in the family to be stricken.
Now that I am in my “golden years” I am grateful that my sons have promised to keep a couple of the showcases from my Museum in the family when I am gone. We all enjoy showing guests the “Good Old Days Museum” in the basement including the stegosaurus femur, huge ammonite, and a piece of coal from the Titanic. I have thousands of specimens of a wide array. I collect glass paperweights, Roseville pottery, little golden books, ceramic elves, and armadillos to name a few. My husband collects robots, Star Wars, and Star Trek memorabilia. My son Cody grew up as a MOROKS pebble pup and attending many meetings and outings, so I think it is in his bloodline too. My older son has helped me with rock-related tasks all of his life and now enjoys making artwork with rocks, glass insulators, woodworking, making dream catchers, and sage sticks. I have hope that the family tradition will carry on. My nephews, on my brother’s side, are both collectors. Together they own the oldest car manufactured in Alabama, the Keller. A few years back Jay Leno came to see their rare car. Vance George is an avid automobile collector following my brother’s footsteps. He has a 1950 Jaguar XK120 roaster that belonged to Gary Cooper. He also owns two 1953 Packard Caribbeans. One was owned by Randolph Scott and the other was a favorite of Rocky Marciano, the undefeated World Champion Heavyweight boxer. Vance is interested in many things including rocks, gasoline memorabilia, classic cars, and vintage comic books. He has a complete set of Classics Illustrated which he spent years completing. Lance George has acquired a massive collection of vinyl records and has an amazing skill of being able to name almost any song after the first few notes are played. He can tell you the label and usually what is on the flip side. Lance hosts a historical website in Huntsville, Alabama where he lives, and is very interested in vintage road maps and radio memorabilia.
I hope you all enjoyed my rambling and maybe I encouraged you to enjoy your rock hobby a little more. I think rock hounding must run in our family’s veins. I pray that the generations after me will continue the George Rock Legacy.
Well, nɫ itɔ tiǷ to say goodbye to Jandz and all my kin. And I would liǴ to thank yɨ folks fɈ kindly dropping in. You’re all invited back next month to this locality To have a help’in of Rock & Gem hospitality Rockhounding that is. Set a spell. Educaǻ yourself. Y’all come back nɫ, y’hear? So Remember: “Old Rockhounds nevɇ ddz, they just slowly petrify.”