Bruneau Jasper Specimens

Bruneau thundereggs have been mined in the canyon of the Bruneau River near Filer, Idaho, for half a century. I hope someone will write an account of the colorful history of this era while a few of the main characters are still around (2011). The area that has the deposit is in a deep canyon and it has a wonderful hot springs. It saw the construction of a house on the top of the far bluff that looked like it wouldn't last through a good windstorm but in the end its builder, Gene Anthis, tore it down when he departed from the spot for a home in Filer, Idaho. That house was the scene of Thanksgiving dinners attended by Gene, his lady Fran, their kids and Gerald Scarrow and his son Rocky. They came from work for dinner just as they were, celebrated, and went back to mining. Rocky Scarrow is now a miner and dealer in his own right. The canyon beheld many long enduring feuds involving many ‘would be’ Bruneau miners over mining and abiding rights and this led to a famous legal battle to sort it all out that bordered on comic opera. Of course there were many others who mined there whose tales I do not know.

The  top four specimens you see below were all cut with a domed top. Material of this size and quality is far from common. Doming is a time consuming process but flaws can be eliminated and the pattern enhanced to a degree that can rarely be matched by running a saw through a rock and then polishing the resulting surface. The last two specimens have flat polished surfaces, not that there is anything wrong with their patterns!