Ophir Gulch Diamonds

[bill crane]

Ophir District Powell County
The following was taken from an article from Frontier Times, Janurary 1976.
Supposedly between Garrison and Elliston in 1883 a man named Ed Mason had a gold claim in Ophir Gulch. A Chinese worker of his cleaning the sluice boxes noticed an odd pebble and placed it in his pocket. Later he showed it to his boss, Mason thought it might be a sapphire and later planned to show it when he went to Helena. Mason carried the pebble around for over a month in his pocket without giving it any thought. Needing his watch checked he showed the stone to a watch repairman named Reeves. Reeves offered Mason $300 on the spot for it. Thinking his sapphire was really worth a lot more Mason turned down the offered money and kept the stone. At this point Mason took better care of the pebble and kept it with his gold nuggets. Thinking it might be a diamond he asked experts of the odds that there might be diamonds to mine in Montana. The mining experts all stated that there was no chance since there was no clay associated with diamond mining anywhere in the region. When winter came mason took the time to go back to the states. It is said he went to new York City and while there went to a diamond expert. The diamond expert took a long time and told him it is a nice specimen. Mason asked, “but what is it?” This expert said, “a diamond of course”. He followed by making an offer of around $600 for the stone, which found Mason once more refusing to sell his rare find. The expert did ask questions about the nature of the region where the diamond was found and came to the conclusion that the site of Mason’s claim was diamond bearing! The story did relate that Mason’s diamond was over 3 carats but history has lost track of what became of the stone.
Oddly enough years afterward an old dying miner claimed that he had a whole sack of diamonds, but some figured he was off in his head, but still a few heard of Mason’s find and conducted a search which turned up nothing. Oddly a couple of others did later claim to have also found diamonds in the gulch, but the source of where they came from has still never been found since.

 

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[Hillbilly Joe]

Found this while doing some research, thought it may be of some interest!

Gold in Montana: Diamonds In Montana's Gold Fields

 

[Oroblanco]

Thanks for posting this!

 

[Hillbilly Joe]

Thanks for posting this!

No problem!

 

[YumaMarc]

Hmmmm...diamonds require a very narrow range of conditions to form. Are they saying there is Kimberlite in Montana? They are talking about breccia deposits from the Devonian era. All this is possible if the original Kimberlite was weathered, crunched and reformed into another geological formation. This would make the Montana diamonds VERY old. Interesting...

 

[Hillbilly Joe]

Hmmmm...diamonds require a very narrow range of conditions to form. Are they saying there is Kimberlite in Montana? They are talking about breccia deposits from the Devonian era. All this is possible if the original Kimberlite was weathered, crunched and reformed into another geological formation. This would make the Montana diamonds VERY old. Interesting...

I think that they are, and from what I have been able to gather from talking to a few folks at MT Tech, they think they are some REALLY old ones!

 

[Tiredman]

Hmmmm...diamonds require a very narrow range of conditions to form. Are they saying there is Kimberlite in Montana? They are talking about breccia deposits from the Devonian era. All this is possible if the original Kimberlite was weathered, crunched and reformed into another geological formation. This would make the Montana diamonds VERY old. Interesting...

I do have some information on the sizes of a few that were found, one quite recently, I will have to try to locate it. Believe it was Helena area in a book I will release in a week or two.

 

[Tiredman]

From "Treasure State Treasure Tales" by Jean Moore 1950:
MONTANA DIAMONDS
It was the year 1883 and a miner by the name of Ed Mason took up a gold claim in Ophir Gulch midway between the two small towns of Garrison and Elliston. One day, a Chinese laborer employed by him was cleaning out the sluice boxes, and after carefully scrutinizing the gravel rock for particles of gold with the thoroughness so typical of his race, a white pebble which looked different from any of the other gravel rocks, caught his eye.
He had about decided it was a piece of clear crystal and was just going to let the ditch reclaim it when some instinct compelled him to pick it up and drop it into his coat pocket for closer inspection later on. After the cleanup, he showed it to his employer. “It sure looks different all right,” Mason agreed. “There is a possibility it might be a sapphire as some have been found near here. When I go to Helena for the summer supplies I will inquire about it.”
The pretty pebble reposed in Mason’s pocket along with his plug of tobacco and other essentials for about a month when he had occasion to go to Helena. While waiting for the necessary supplies to be packed for his return trip to Ophir Gulch, he decided to have his watch checked at Reeves’ watch repair and jewelry store. While paying for the needed repair work, he brought out the white pebble with some loose change. Reeves gave one glance at it and said, “I’ll give you $300 for that stone.”
“$300 could buy a lot of beans and chewing tobacco” thought Mason. But he suddenly developed a protective instinct and interest in his new treasure; he reasoned that not even an exceptionally fine uncut cut sapphire would, as a rule, be worth $300.
Then, slowly, the idea dawned on him that, just possibly, his pebble could be a diamond. Being a shrewd man, he also reasoned that if a man who knew its actual value would want to offer him $300, it would not be unreasonable to assume that, as a businessman, he might have figured on a 20% or 30% retail profit. He thanked the jeweler but declined to part with his pebble. By now, he had more respect for it and carefully placee it in his gold pouch.
He made several casual inquiries concerning the possibility of diamond mining in Montana, but the answers were all in the negative. Mining engineers scoffed at the idea, declaring there was no diamond bearing soil or clay in Montana. Exclaimed one old miner who had prospected all over Montana, “It’s gold we be hunting in Montany. Diamonds jist ain’t had time tuh grow yit.”
When the first sample of a real Montana winter blew into Ophir Gulch, Mason shut down his placer operations until spring and figured it would be a good time to look around New York City. Upon his arrival in the big city, he immediately took his pebble to a reliable diamond expert for an appraisal and to determine just what it really was. The expert was deeply interested in it and examined it carefully for a long time. He finally returned it to its owner saying, “A very pretty specimen you have here Mr. Mason.”
Mason took the remark to be that it was not a diamond, hesitated a moment and then asked, “But what is it?” The expert seemed surprised at the question. “A diamond, of course,” was his reply.
The diamond expert wanted to buy the diamond from Mason and made him an offer of $600, but Mason refused to sell it. He was becoming more and more attached to his valuable possession. The expert was also very curious and wanted to know about the character of the gulch in which it had been found, type of ground, etc., and then announced the formation suitable for diamond bearing. As Mason left his office, the expert’s parting words were, “You have got the finest diamond of its size in the world!”
Mason’s diamond weighed three and three/fourths carats in the rough; and, what became of it is a mystery.
A few years later, an old prospector was found in his cabin dying from an incurable disease. Before his death, he babbled about a sack of rough diamond. “I’ve got a fortune in diamonds and there’s more up the gulch,” he said. Most of his friends thought the old fellow was having diamond hallucinations, but there were a few who had heard about Mason’s diamond and were inclined to take him seriously. After his death, they searched his cabin and surrounding ground, but their efforts only uncovered the remains of a long dead dog, an old shoe, and several pieces of broken glass and pottery.
Two other persons later claim to have found diamond in or near Ophir Gulch. And, if the dying miner told the truth, there may be a treasure of rough diamonds still tucked away in the same gulch that once filled the pokes of eager miners with nuggets of precision gold.

 

[Tiredman]

Hmmmm...diamonds require a very narrow range of conditions to form. Are they saying there is Kimberlite in Montana? They are talking about breccia deposits from the Devonian era. All this is possible if the original Kimberlite was weathered, crunched and reformed into another geological formation. This would make the Montana diamonds VERY old. Interesting...

There was the 14-carat Lewis & Clark diamond found at the base of a steep slope near Craig in 1990. It was discovered by a jogger and sold for $80,000. Another of 8 carats was reported found near Helena. Canada is the third largest producer of diamonds in the world, so the potential for them in Montana exists.

 

[Lucky Gator]

Hmmmm...diamonds require a very narrow range of conditions to form. Are they saying there is Kimberlite in Montana? They are talking about breccia deposits from the Devonian era. All this is possible if the original Kimberlite was weathered, crunched and reformed into another geological formation. This would make the Montana diamonds VERY old. Interesting...

From what I understand, IF there are diamonds there, they are more likely associated with Lamproite rather than Kimberlite. Kimberlite in Montana is pretty rare. I believe the only Kimberlite locations are in Eastern Montana and the Missouri River Breaks. I don't believe we have any in Central or Western Montana where these diamonds were purported to be. I have been all over that area gold prospecting and have never encountered anything remotely resembling potential diamond-bearing rocks.