Treasure Tales and Treasure Stories About Wyoming from the Archives of Lost Treasure Magazine
Valley of the jade.
From State Treasure Tales
By Anthony J. Pallante
From page 39 of the April 1997 issue of Lost Treasure magazine.
Copyright ©1997, 1998 Lost Treasure, Inc.
In June 1868, Hiriam McGee was prospecting for gold in the Antelope Hills in south central Wyoming. Six days out of South Pass City, he entered a grassy valley where he came upon a large boulder that had rolled down from above and split in half when it struck another rock. The outside of the boulder was an uninteresting brown crust, but the interior showed pale green which McGee took to be emerald. He chipped off a large chunk and hurried back to South Pass City where an assayer dashed his hopes with a quick verdict of "not emerald."
McGee kept the stone with him and kept showing it around. Four years later in San Francisco it was positively identified as high-quality jade. In fact, it was the highest quality jade ever seen in a port where the best Chinese specimens routinely appeared. McGee immediately returned to Wyoming, but search as he might, the valley of the jade boulder eluded him.
One hundred years later in southern Fremont County, about 100 miles east of McGee's lost boulder, geologists uncovered a large jade deposit valued at around $65 million. Since then many different types of jade have been discovered in Wyoming, mostly in Fremont County.
Depending on the quality, nephrite jade can be sold for $5 to $200 a pound. It is found over a wide area in Fremont County in place or as boulders -- especially near Lander. Dark-colored float jade is found along the course of the Sweetwater River between Crook's Creek and the Wind River Mountains.
Black jade is usually found in the mountains north of Split Rock, while light green jade has come from Crook's Mountain, about 60 miles southeast of Lander and from the east side of Cottonwood Creek. Olive green jades come from an outcrop of East Fork northeast of Dubois and northeast of Circle Ranch. Jade is found as float near Marston Lake 40 miles from Lander and along the Beaver Creek 25 miles southeast of Lander, and at many other locations in Fremont County.
In addition, jade can also be collected in Albany, Big Horn, Carbon, Goshen, Lincoln, Natrona, Park Platte and Teton counties.
Jade does not sparkle in the sun when chipped but should have a waxy feel and a soft, glossy shine. The only other states with significant jade deposits are Alaska and California.
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