Crow Springs Turquoise: Field Guide to the Tonopah Mine of 1909
Part of the Turquoise Mines field guides and The Southwest Jewelry Guide.
Oscar Branson’s 1975 book placed the Crow Springs mine, also called the Anjax and the Bluebird, near Tonopah, Nevada. Every statement below is quoted or paraphrased from that book, with page numbers, so you can check each one. Branson wrote in 1975; anything he describes as current describes 1975, not today.
What Branson recorded
According to Branson (1975, p. 25), the Crow Springs Mine was also known as the Anjax and the Bluebird. [1]
Branson (1975) gave its history in two sentences:
“The Crow Springs Mine near Tonopah, Nevada was discovered about 1909. And worked at intervals ever since.”
— Branson (1975), p. 25 [1]
As of 1975, Branson (1975, p. 25) did not count it among the big producers, and described its colours as running from pale to dark in both green and blue. [1]
Branson (1975) added a buyer's tip:
“The interesting silver band across a large stone usually indicates the stone has been cracked.”
— Branson (1975), p. 25 [1]
See all the turquoise mines we profile, including the other Nevada mines.
How this page is sourced. We strive for accuracy: every factual statement above is quoted from or credited to the printed work listed below, with page numbers, and this page is continuously updated with new information as we read more of our library. See something we should correct? Contact us.
From the Library: Lowry, Turquoise: The World Story of a Fascinating Gemstone (2010)
2010 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2010, not today.
According to Lowry (2010, p. 234), Crow Springs is part of the Monte Cristo Mining District, with multiple dig sites producing many varieties of turquoise; William Petry prospected the area in 1909, and its digs were marketed as Blue Friday, AnnJax and Blue Bird. [2]
As of 2010, Lowry (2010, p. 234) named Dennis and Lucy Cordova as the owners. [2]
In the same range, according to Lowry (2010, p. 236), William Wilson claimed the Monte Cristo deposits in 1951, eight miles northeast of Coaldale, and their turquoise has been sold under the names Carrie, Petry, Myers and Bona. [2]
From the Library: Ryan & Chambless, Turquoise in America Part Two: 1910–1990 (2020)
2020 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2020, not today.
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 62), Crow Springs lies about eight miles northeast of the Hidden Treasure mine; before the Tonopah railroad was finished in 1904 it was a watered overnight stage stop between Sodaville and Tonopah, where the Humphrey brothers ran a boarding house and saloon. [3]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 62), Morrissey credited William Petry with discovering Crow Springs, also known as Blue Friday or the William Petry Mine, in 1909, but Frank Humphrey may have found it as early as 1904. [3]
Ryan & Chambless (2020) reproduce a March 9, 1904 Reno Gazette-Journal report on the stones Humphrey brought to town from a ledge a mile and a quarter east of the station:
“These in color were a light green perfectly flawless and in weight from one to three carats.”
— Ryan & Chambless (2020), p. 63 [3]
Ryan & Chambless (2020) suggest why the dates got tangled:
“This confusion regarding the earlier location of Crow Springs may be due to the activity at the Royal Blue at the same time.”
— Ryan & Chambless (2020), p. 63 [3]
Ted Johnson recalled, in an account published by Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 63), that around 1926 he located the Marguerite near the old Crow Springs Mine after spotting blue float while prospecting in a blizzard; by his account it was never a big producer, but its quality was top grade in 1928. [3]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 75), Morrissey recorded that Ted Johnson, with E. M. Daniels, Logan Gilbert and his father Emery Johnson, discovered the Marguerite Number 1 mine during a 1928 snowstorm in the Crow Springs district. [3]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 75), in September 1930 Daniels sold his half interest to Lee Hand, who sold it to Doc Wilson that December, and in January 1931 Wilson sold it to Ted Johnson. [3]
Ted Johnson recalled, in an interview published by Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 84), that in 1929 he and two partners had been making maybe a pound of turquoise a day at Crow Springs. [3]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 88), a 1937 list of Nevada turquoise properties recorded the Marguerite and Mildred mines in the Crow Springs district as owned by C. T. Johnson of Tonopah, along with a Petry Mine in the same district. [3]
The mine glossary in Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 344) places the Copper Queen Mine, also called Marguerite and Star, two miles east of Crow Springs in Esmeralda County, Nevada. [3]
From the Library: Woodward, A Brief History of Navajo Silversmithing (1946)
1946 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1946, not today.
In his 1938 list of Nevada mines supplying the Indian trade, Woodward (1946) placed it:
“Crow Springs, forty miles north-west of Tonopah.”
— Woodward (1946), p. 45 [4]
From the Library: Morrissey, Turquoise Deposits of Nevada (1968)
1968 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1968, not today.
Morrissey's 1968 report explained the AnnJax name:
“In 1939 Ann Cooper-Hewitt, heiress to the Cooper-Hewitt fortune, filed claim to the mine and built a home there which she called the “AnnJax.””
— Morrissey (1968), p. 10 [5]
Morrissey (1968) noted a use for the seamed, silica-hardened matrix:
“Such material, cut by turquoise seams an eighth of an inch in thickness, is especially adapted for cameos, and much of it has been used for such purposes.”
— Morrissey (1968), p. 10 [5]
Of the nearby Marguerite, Star or Copper Queen mine, Morrissey's 1968 report wrote:
“Gem-grade material is in the form of nodules or slabs with an unfading, uniform blue color.”
— Morrissey (1968), p. 10 [5]
Morrissey (1968, p. 10) put the Marguerite's output at an estimated $10,000 to $12,000 at most, and named Lee Hand of Tonopah as its last owner of record. [5]
Field Notes by Mateo James
I notice the discovery date moves back five years in the newer book. Branson (1975) says Crow Springs was discovered about 1909, and Lowry (2010) has William Petry prospecting there in 1909; Ryan & Chambless (2020, pp. 62-63) reproduce a March 1904 newspaper report of Frank Humphrey showing turquoise from a ledge just east of the Crow Springs station. I tend to side with Ryan & Chambless, and I have left both dates on the page.
Sources
- Branson, Oscar T. Turquoise: The Gem of the Centuries. Santa Fe: Treasure Chest Publications, 1975. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions in 1975.
- Lowry, Joe Dan, and Joe P. Lowry. Turquoise: The World Story of a Fascinating Gemstone. Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith, 2010. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2010.
- Ryan, Mike, II, and Philip Chambless. Turquoise in America, Part Two: 1910–1990. Callais Press, 2020. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2020.
- Woodward, Arthur. A Brief History of Navajo Silversmithing. With field notes by Richard Van Valkenburgh. Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin 14, 2d ed. Flagstaff: Northern Arizona Society of Science and Art, December 1946 (first edition 1938). Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1946.
- Morrissey, Frank R. Turquoise Deposits of Nevada. Nevada Bureau of Mines Report 17. Reno: Mackay School of Mines, University of Nevada, 1968. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1968.