"he had fallen into what he described as a giant "Geode," the walls of which were covered with beautifully colored, perfect topaz crystals."
Enjoyed the mental visual of that. I'd like to go detecting & gemstone hunting here. Sue
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THEN & NOW: Treasure hunters will find Topaz Mountain lives up to its name
Written by Jaromy Jessop Friday, 29 December 2006
The principal reason you would go to Topaz Mountain is for its namesake, the Topaz crystals that occur there in abundance. By virtue of the route you have to take to get there, which is for a large part along the Pony Express route, a trip to Topaz Mountain can be very interesting from a historical standpoint as well.
There are several intriguing legends about this range and its riches. The best one is probably nothing more than a fish story but it fires the imagination. It is found in George A. Thompson's book "Some Dreams Die & Utah Ghost Towns and Lost Treasures." In this book, Mr. Thompson relates the story of the lost Crystal Cave. In this story, a professor from California was prospecting in the northern part of the Thomas range on a rainy blustery day nearly 60 years ago. As this man was walking along, he stepped on the rhyolite crust and it broke away and he crashed down into a subterranean chamber. He stated that he had fallen into what he described as a giant "Geode," the walls of which were covered with beautifully colored, perfect topaz crystals. As it seems is the case in all of these stories, he made off with as much as he could carry but he was never able to find the cave again after that time. There are certainly lava tubes and caves in the basalt flows near Fillmore and in the famous El Malpais or badlands of New Mexico so it is at least possible in theory, but I am extremely skeptical. Could make a fun outing to go and look for it though as you are sure to find smaller Topaz crystals lying about.
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