, 24 
Since 1889, pearl fishing in Wisconsin has ‘been exten- 
sively carried on along the Pecatonica River and the 
creeks emptying into it, principally between Darlington 
and Argyle, Lafayette County, as well as on Apple River. 
Many fine pearls, remarkable for brilliiancy and lustre, 
have been obtained, among them some of the finest copper- 
colored, russet, purple and rich pink tints ever found. 
Some simple pearls weigh over 50 grains, and the finest 
ones command from $500 to over $1,000 each. It has been 
estimated that over $300,000 worth of pearls have been 
found in the course of the past few years; the pearls fre- 
quently commanding higher prices here than the oriental 
pearls, and as a result, pearls sent abroad were returned, 
the prices being abnormally higher than the foreign mar- 
kets would pay. 
Some of the finest pieces of jewelry shown at the World’s 
Columbian Exposition were made of American pearls and 
American precious stones. <A fine collection was on exhi- 
bition in the Wisconsin Exhibit of the Mines and Mining 
Building, World’s Columbian Exposition; the value of 
this collection was estimated at over $100,000; but the 
prices were somewhat fancy ones, induced by local 
demand. 
During the summer of 1890, the pearl excitement ex- 
tended to Marnitowoc County, Wisconsin, and numerous 
small lakes that lie iu Calumet County. From one to fifty 
pearls have been found in a single Unio. When numer- 
ous, they are usually hinge pearls. As in the former times 
of excitement, hundreds of men, women and children made 
trips to these creeks; the men and boys removing the 
shells from the river, while the women and girls opened 
them. 
In the same year the pearl-hunting fever extended along 
the Mackinaw River and the creeks running into it in Me- 
Lean, Tazewell and Woodford Counties, Ilinois. Pearls 
have also been found in the vicinity of Traer and Geneseo, 
