Villa Grove Turquoise: Field Guide to Colorado's High-Altitude Hall Mine
Villa Grove Turquoise: Field Guide to Colorado's High-Altitude Hall Mine
Villa Grove turquoise — also known as Hall Turquoise Mine stone — comes from deposits at approximately 10,000 feet elevation in Saguache County, Colorado, about seven miles northwest of Villa Grove. It is the state's other historically documented turquoise source alongside King's Manassa, and it carries a specific legacy in Native American jewelry: Lowry documents its use in Zuni and Navajo cluster-style work made before 1960.
Field Notes by Mateo James
Lowry's account (~lines 11751–11767) is direct: "These prehistoric deposits are located along a stretch of low-lying hills (10,000 feet) in-between scattered trees about seven miles northwest of Villa Grove, Colorado. First mentioned in 1893, it is currently not actively mined. The largest dig site in the area is difficult to mine because it fills with water from a nearby spring. This prehistoric area's largest production occurred during the 1930s, through the 1950s when it was owned by Bob Hall (Hall Turquoise Mine) and others. Many Zuni and Navajo cluster-style jewelry designs (pre-1960) were made using this turquoise."
The spring-flooding problem at the largest dig site is a physical constraint on output. It explains why production peaked and then tapered: not market exhaustion but hydrology. The high altitude adds a logistical dimension to any historical mining operation here.
The pre-1960 Zuni and Navajo connection is the most useful detail for collectors examining older cluster work. If you encounter cluster-style pieces from that era with stone that doesn't match the usual high-saturation Nevada profiles, Villa Grove is a plausible candidate — though specific stone-to-mine attribution requires more than visual assessment alone.
Collector's Handbook
What to look for: Colorado turquoise with documented use in pre-1960 Zuni and Navajo cluster-style jewelry. Stone character (specific color range, matrix profile) is not explicitly described in available primary sources beyond the general turquoise designation.
Recognition tells: Villa Grove is historically relevant for pre-1960 cluster work. The mine is documented as not currently active per Lowry (2010), which limits any claims of contemporary production.
Honest mine-status hedge: Lowry explicitly states the mine is "currently not actively mined" as of 2010. This is a historically significant deposit, not an ongoing source.
Related mine guides: Pages for Bisbee, Sleeping Beauty, Number Eight, Cerrillos, Royston, Kingman, Lander Blue, and Morenci mines are coming soon to this field guide.
References
- Lowry, Joe Dan. Turquoise: The World Story of a Fascinating Gemstone (2010), ~lines 11751–11767. [Primary source — full account including Zuni/Navajo jewelry connection and current status.]