Leadville Turquoise: Field Guide to the Turquoise Chief, Josie May and Poor Boy (Lake County, Colorado)

Part of the Turquoise Mines field guides and The Southwest Jewelry Guide.

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Mike Ryan II and Philip Chambless’s 2020 history records the turquoise claims above Turquoise Lake near Leadville, Colorado: the Turquoise Chief, the Josie May and the Poor Boy. Every statement below is quoted or paraphrased from their book, with page numbers, so you can check each one. Their book was published in 2020; anything described as current describes 2020. Where our other books disagree, the Field Notes say so.

Where it is

According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 90), the claims lie just north of Turquoise Lake, seven miles northwest of Leadville in the St. Kevin mining district of Lake County; a third mine, the Poor Boy, is also named. [1]

As of 2020, Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 90) described the Turquoise Chief, at 10,569 feet, as the highest turquoise mine in the United States and possibly the most scenic, overlooking Turquoise Lake 1,000 feet below. [1]

Discovery and mining

According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 90), George Kunz reported in the 1890 Mineral Resources of the United States that high-grade turquoise had been found in 1888 in the Holy Cross Mining District north of Leadville; Richard Pearl, longtime geology professor at Colorado College, believed these were the same deposits mined in 1935-1937 as the Josie May and the Turquoise Chief. [1]

According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 90), Pearl reported that the first organized mining of these claims was by two Navajos in the summer of 1935, and that over the next two summers they produced about 1,000 pounds of rough. [1]

According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 90), mining was sporadic after 1937, when the Josie May had a 25-foot inclined shaft and the Turquoise Chief a 20-foot one; in 1951 the workings were expanded by bulldozer, and in the 1970s the mine hosted fee digs. [1]

According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 90), the area also holds malachite and chrysocolla, and Leadville turquoise has never been more than a curiosity in American turquoise history. [1]

Field Notes by Mateo James

Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 90) place the Josie May and the Turquoise Chief in the St. Kevin mining district of Lake County; Lowry (2010, p. 243) puts the same claims in the Sugarloaf District. For the 1888 Holy Cross report, Ryan & Chambless give Kunz’s five miles north of Leadville, while Pogue (1915, p. 47) wrote 30 miles from Leadville. These books don’t settle either point, so both readings are here.

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How this page is sourced. We strive for accuracy: every factual statement above is quoted from or credited to the printed works 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.

Sources

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Pogue, Joseph E. The Turquois: A Study of Its History, Mineralogy, Geology, Ethnology, Archaeology, Mythology, Folklore, and Technology. Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. XII, Part II, Third Memoir. Washington, 1915. Public domain. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1915.

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