| 3hhdm.o ((GYPSUM)), $15 MINIMUM BID, Fort Stanton Cave, Lincoln County, New Mexico, 7 x .7 x .4 cm, Large Miniature | |
 | The Fort Stanton - Snowy River Cave Conservation area was established in 2009. This and others were collected by Lloyd Gunther of Brigham City over 50 years ago for his own collection and for museums. Lloyd was famous for his trilobite collection and was able to collect in areas off limits to the public. He supplied many museums with specimens of trilobites and mineral specimens. His collection is now in a museum. He had large plates of these Gypsum crystals but would not sell or trade. This one was donated along with others to the University of Utah Geology Department. When they moved into a new building much of the mineral collection was culled and threw out including old thesis specimens and others they decided had no use and not worth the effort or value to move and store. Good and bad, much was salvaged by Dennis McMurdie, a retired teacher. In 2003 I purchased the McMurdie collection from his son when they needed to clean out the house to put it up for sale. This I found among the boxes of U of U thesis specimens with no collecting interest or value that Dennis brought home from helping with the Department cleaning out the old building to move into the new building. Most of the samples with little or no interest are now part of the garden of the new owners of the house. They are probably wondering what all these rocks are doing in the garden. Here is a single Gypsum crystal that is probably almost never seem available for collections outside of museums. I only have seen them at the Gunther home. |
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