small. "Persian Turquoises" have, how- 

 ever, the highest value of all. Other 

 Oriental localities from which the gem 

 Turquoises are ohtained are Sinai, in 

 Arahia, the Kirgeshi Steppes, in Siberia, 

 and the Kara-Tube Mountains, in Tur- 

 kestan. Egypt also furnishes large quan- 

 tities of Turquois, which does not as a 

 rule retain its color well. 



Turquois ii^'not an uncommon mineral 

 in the United States and many gems of 

 fine quality have been obtained from 

 mines within our borders. The oldest 

 and best known mines are those at Los 

 Cerrillos, New Mexico. This locality 

 was long worked by Indians and Span- 

 iards, as shown by the great extent of 

 the excavations. There are pits two hun- 

 dred feet in depth and piles showing that 

 thousands of tons of rock have been 

 broken out. Fragments of Aztec pot- 

 tery, vases, cooking utensils, stone ham- 

 mers, etc., are found at the mines, and 

 trees of considerable size have grown 

 over the once worked portions. Hence 

 the beginning of the mine workings must 

 at least date back prior to the discovery 

 of America. The mines were worked 

 more or less by Spaniards in the early 

 part of the seventeenth century with the 

 consent of the Indians, or at least with- 

 out hindrance from them. In 1680, how- 

 ever, a large landslide occurred on the 

 mountain at the mine, and many of the 

 Indian miners were overwhelmed. Be- 

 lieving the Spaniards to be in some way 

 responsible for the accident, and perhaps 

 fearing that their gods were displeased, 

 the Indians rose in their might and ex- 

 pelled the Spaniards from the region. It 

 is one of the few instances in the history 

 of Spanish conquest in America in which 

 the Indians came ofif victorious. The 

 Intlians seem to have prized the Turquois 

 highly as an ornament, rudely polishing 

 it and using perforated pieces like the 

 one shown in the plate for necklaces. 

 They also decorated their idols and other 

 objects of worship with pieces of Tur- 

 quois. The mountain at which the Los 

 Cerrillos Turquois mines occur is called 

 Mount Chalchihuitl, in allusion to an In- 

 dian name that is supposed to have been 

 applied to Turquois. The mountain is 

 evidently of volcanic origin. The color 

 of most of the Turquois from this local- 

 ity is apple-green rather than the highly 



prized blue, but some gems of a good 

 blue have been obtained. Mr. Geo. F. 

 Kunz, writing in 1890 of the sale of gems 

 from this locality, says that the Indians 

 usually dispose of them at the rate of 

 twenty-five cents for the contents of a 

 mouth, which is where they usually carry 

 them. Several other localities in New 

 Mexico are worked for Turquois. In 

 Cochise County, Arizona, is a locality 

 known as Turquois Mountain, where con- 

 siderable m.ining is carried on. Turquois 

 is also mined in Gila County, Arizona ; 

 Lincoln County, Nevada, and San Ber- 

 nardino County, California. Several of 

 these localities have been opened up re- 

 cently, the present popularity of the gem 

 perhaps having stimulated its output. 



The much higher price commanded by 

 Turquois of a blue color has led to a 

 counterfeiting of this color by staining 

 green Turquois or other stones with 

 Prussian blue. 



Mr. Geo. F. Kunz in his "Gems and 

 Precious Stones of North America" de- 

 scribes a method of detecting this stain. 

 It consists in washing the stone with 

 alcohol and, after wiping it, to remove 

 anv grease, laying it for a moment in a 

 solution of ammonia, when the blue color, 

 if artificial, will largely disappear. 



At how early a date Turquois began to 

 be prized as a gem is not known. The 

 word Turquois is a French word mean- 

 ing Turkish, or a Turkish gem, and came 

 to be applied because the gem was intro- 

 duced into Europe by way of Turkey. It 

 is probable that the gem has been in use 

 from the remotest past among Oriental 

 peoples and it is certainly still highly 

 prized by them. Not the least of the rea- 

 sons for which it is held in high esteem by 

 them as well as by many Occidental indi- 

 viduals is the good fortune it is supposed 

 to bring to its possessor. One of the 

 proverbs of the Orientals is, "A Turquois 

 given bv a loving hand carries with it 

 happiness and good fortune." and anoth- 

 er, "The Turquois pales when the well- 

 being of the giver is in danger." Numer- 

 ous other superstitions cling around the 

 Turquois. One of these, due probably to 

 slight changes of color which the stone 

 may undergo under certain climatic in- 

 fluences, is that if the owner of a Tur- 

 quois sickens it will grow pale, and at 

 his death lose its color entirelv, but it 



173 



