Gold 319 



little attention. Five nuggets weighing from 33*/z to 72 

 pounds are recorded as having been found at Columbia during 

 the early days. On the bedrock of the Columbia Basin south- 

 west of Columbia stands St. Anne's Church. The land on 

 which this church stands, and the little cemetery that adjoins 

 it, today constitute the only tract of unmined ground in the 

 whole basin." 



Question of the Origin of Gold 

 Sf/ll Unanswered 



The answer to the question of the origin of gold has not 

 been found. The rock formations, upheaved, folded, tilted to 

 high angles, squeezed into compressed pleats, broken by joints 

 that resulted from the tremendous earth stresses, are cut by 

 veins; the veins are filled with mineral matter, and in the min- 

 eral matter is intermixed metallic gold in a great variety of 

 forms; gold in minute crystals that are not visible to the naked 

 eye; gold mixed with crystals of other minerals; gold imbedded 

 in and adhering to the surfaces of crystals of minerals formed 

 out of solutions; gold that cannot be detected with the most 

 powerful microscope, yet present in some obscure manner. 

 Yes, we know what gold is; we know where it occurs; we know 

 how it occurs ; but we do not know what is its origin or source. 



