June 4, 1898.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
453 
Fresh- Water Pearls in the 
United States. 
(^eaa George F. Kunz before the Fisherns Cottgress at Tuiiipa Fla- 
The gathering of pertrls from the fresh-water shells 
of Non'h America, althDURh a matter of comparatively 
recent date among the present inhabitants, really goes 
back very far into the unrecorded i)ast. and early at- 
tracted notice among the first European explorers In 
the prehistoric period, the Mound Bmldcrs. of the Mis- 
sissippi Valley gathered immense quantities of these 
pearls, as it is amply shown by the stores of them found 
on the "hearths" of a number of mounds, especially m 
Ohio bv the recent explorations of Prof. F. W 1 utman 
and Mr.-W. K. Moorehead. By age, burial, and m 
some cases funeral or sacrificial fires, these pearls have 
lost their luster and beauty; but they were evidently 
highly prized bv these ancient people, and gathered by 
the hundred thousand. The finding of two bushels m 
a single series of mounds is an evidence of their abun- 
The first explorers who traveled among the Indian 
tribes speak frequentlv of the number and beauty of the 
pearls in possession of the natives. Especially marked 
are these accounts in connection with the great expedi- 
tion of De Soto, from Florida through the present Gulf 
States to the Mississippi, in 1540-4^- Garcillasso de la 
Vega and other narrators give most minute accounts 
of pearls as worn by the Indians; and from the accounts 
given by them to De Soto at various times, and as taken 
by themselves from burial places of native chieftains, it 
is quite evident that nerhaps all of these referred to were 
not fresh-water pearls, but marine. De Soto's narratives, 
which were undoubtedly of the former, seem exaggerated, 
but the recent finds referred to substantiate them. The 
process is described, moreover, of gathering the shells 
and opening them by heat, which was shown to De 
Soto, at his request, by a friendly chief. In the same 
way, several early English travelers, from New England 
to Florida, refer to the Indians as having pearls, un- 
doubtedly from the fresh-water Unionidae. 
No particular attention, however, was given to the sub- 
ject until about forty years ago. The natives had been 
dispossessed, and the white race, occupied with other 
interests and necessities, took little note of the hosts of 
fresh-water shells inhabiting the streams and lakes, and 
did not suspect their power of producing pearls. In the 
rivers of Saxony and Bohemia, indeed, and those of 
Scotland and Ireland, and the lakes of Finland, such 
pearls have long been known and valued, although' the 
Unio life is far less abundant than in our great river 
systems of America; but not until the middle of the 
present century was any search begun or any important 
discover}' made. 
This was all changed, however, by the first great pearl 
excitement in 1857, when large and valuable Unio pearls 
were first obtained in New Jersey. First, a pearl of 
fine luster, weighing 93 grains, was found at Notch 
Brook, near Paterson. It became known as the "Queen 
Pearl," and was sold by Tiffany & Co. to the Empress 
Eugenie, of France, for $2,500. It is to-day worth four 
times that amount. (See Colored Plate No. 8. "Gems 
and Precious Stones of North America.") The news 
of this sale created such an excitement that search for 
pearls was started throughout the country. The Unios 
at Notch Brook and elsewhere were gathered by the 
million and destroyed, often with little or no result. A 
large round pearl, weighing 400 grains, which would 
doubtless have been one of the finest pearls of modern 
times, was ruined by boiling to open the shell. 
Within one year pearls were sent to the New York 
market from nearly every State- — in 1857 fully $15,000 
worth; in 1858 it fell off to some $2,000; in 1859, about 
$2,000; in i860, about $1,500; in 1860-63, only $1,500. The 
excitement thus abated until about 1868. wlien there was 
a slight revival of interest, and many fine pearls were 
obtained from Little Miami River, O. 
Some of the finest American pearls that were next 
found came from near Waynesville, O., $30,000 worth be- 
ing collected in that vicinity during the pearl excitement 
of 1876. Since 1880 pearls have come from compara- 
tively new districts further West and South, the sup- 
ply from which is apparently on the increase. At first 
few were found, or, rather, few were looked for west 
of Ohio; but graduallj^ the line extended, and Kentucky, 
Tennessee and Texas became the principal pearl-pro- 
ducing States, and some pearls were sent North from 
Florida. 
A few years later the interest extended to the North- 
western States. During the summer of 1889 a quantity 
of magnificently colored pearls Avere found in the creeks 
and rivers of Wisconsin, in Beloit, Rock county; Brod- 
head and Albany, Green county: Gratiot and Darling- 
ton, La Fayette county; Boscobel and Potosi, Grant 
county; Prairie du Chien and Lynxville, Crawford 
county. Of these pearls more than $10,000 worth were 
sent to New York within three months, including a 
single pearl worth more than $500; and some among 
them were equal to any ever found for beauty and color- 
'ing. The colors were principally purplish red, copper 
red and dark pink. Within the past eight years over 
$200,000 worth of pearls have been sold from this dis- 
trict. 
These discoveries led to immense activity in pearl 
hunting through all the streams of the region; and in 
three or four seasons the shells were almost extermi- 
nated. In 1890 it extended through other portions of 
Wisconsin, especially Calumet and Manitowoc counties, 
and appeared also in Illinois along the Mackinaw River 
and its tributary creeks, in McLean, Tazewell and Wood- 
ford counties. 
In 1889 the exhibit of American oearls received an 
award of a gold medal, and the collaborator a .silver 
medal for the literature. At the Columbian Exposition 
at Chicago in 1893 large and beautiful exhibits of pearls 
of great variety of tints, set in the finest jewelry in the 
Manufacturers' building, and were a notable feature in 
the Wisconsin State building and the Maine building 
The Northwestern pearl excitement subsided in a few 
seasons, as the others had done in turn before, by the 
exhaustion of the mussel beds and the consequent cessa- 
tion of product. About every ten years dr so a new 
wave of interest arises in connection with fresh discov- 
eries at some point where the shells have lain long 
undisturbed; it again absorbs the attention and excites 
the imagination of the community around, and spreads 
to other parts of the country; a fresh campaign of ig- 
norant extermination is carried on for several summers, 
then the yield is exhausted, and there is nothing more 
but to leave nature to recuperate, if possible, and slowly 
restore, in limited amount, the abundant life that has 
been destroyed. 
During the past season of 1897 the pearl fever has 
broken out in a new locality, attracted attention and 
awakened similar activity in various parts of the coun- 
try. This time the scene of discovery and excitement 
were the hitherto undisturbed streanis and bayous of Ar- 
kansas. These waters teem with Unios, and pearls have 
at times been found by the rural population for years 
past; but there has been, usually, no knowledge of their 
nature or their value. They have been simply regarded 
as "pretty stones," and used as playthings by the chil- 
dren — like the first South African diamond, that at- 
tracted the notice of a trader, in 1866, as he saw it in 
the hands of the children of his Boer host at the Voal 
River. Several valuable pearls, however, were this year 
found by persons from St. Louis and Memphis, who at 
once sent them to those cities and ascertained their reali- 
ty and value. The same parties then searched for more, 
and took steps to lease the land where pearls were found 
abundant. Ere long the facts became known, and a wild 
excitement set in and spread through large portions of 
Arkansas, extending into Missouri, Kansas and the ter- 
ritory of the Choctaw Nation. The first important dis- 
coveries- were on small lakes or bayous formed by af- 
fluents of the White River and its branches: then oh 
the Arkansas, the Onachita and the Black Cache and 
St. Francis rivers, thus affecting almost all sections of 
the State. In one district an entire lake was leased, 
guarded and fenced for the pearl contents of it alone. 
The newspaper press took up the subject and pub- 
lished highly sensational accounts of the treasures to 
be had in what was largely proclaimed as "the Arkansas 
Klondike." These articles were copied all over the 
country, and led to a great amount of pearl hunting in 
many of the States, both East and West. Iowa, Ten- 
nessee, Georgia, New York and Connecticut were all 
more or less stirred up to activity. The former pearl 
region of Tennessee was less affected than a new section 
in the eastern part of the State, along Clinch River, where 
great crowds have been searching for pearls, and large 
quantities were obtained. The Georgia interest has been 
chiey along the Oostenaula, near and above Rome. The 
New York activity has been in the northwestern angle 
of the St,ate, along Grass River, in St. Lawrence county. 
Connecticut has yielded some good results to the search- 
ers on the Mystic and Shepang rivers— at almost opposite 
ends of the State. 
Reason for the Pearl Investigation. 
In view of the great interest and possible importance 
of the pearl, the discoveries from time to time made in 
various parts of the United States, and particularly in 
the Mississippi Valley, of pearls yielded by the fresh- 
water bivalve shells (Unionidae), so abundant in many of 
our inland waters, that I was invited, in 1894, to under- 
take systematic inquiry for the United States Commis- 
sion of Fish and Fisheries to ascertain, as far as possi- 
ble, the facts relating to the occurrence and distribution 
of the pearl-bearing species, and the extent and con- 
duct of the pearl industry as thus far developed. The 
value and elegance of many of these pearls, especially 
as shown in the exhibits made at the Columbian Expo- 
sition m 1893; the popular excitements, or "pearl 
fevers," at times arising in districts where a few pearls 
have been found, and characterized by wholesale and 
reckless destruction of the shells over large areas; the 
total lack of system in the search for pearls, as' con- 
trasted with the methods that have been developed on 
a smaller, but far more profitable, scale in Europe— -all 
seemed to call for a careful investigation bv the Commis- 
sion, with a view to better knowledge arid wiser direc- 
t\on m the matter of inland American pearl fisheries. 
Undoubtedly for a considerable period after the first 
explorations the peari resources of North America seem 
to have attracted little attention. The Indian race was 
contending with the whites for the possession of the 
country; it was a time of uncertainty and strife for 
both races; and not until the great waterways of the 
Mississippi Valley had been won by the whites the 
region occupied and settled communities established, do 
we again begin to find any indications of the search for 
resh-water pearls. For some two centuries the Unios 
ived and multiplied in the rivers and streams unmo- 
lested by either the native tribes that had used them for 
tood, or the pioneers of the new race that had not yet 
learned of their high treasures of peari. 
It IS with some surprise that one notes that so few 
American conchologists have paid attention to our na- 
tive pearis. It IS probably accounted for by the fact 
that the pearis are contained in old, distorted and dis- 
eased shells, which are not so desirable for collections 
as the finer specimens. Collectors who have opened 
many thousands of Unios have never observed a peari 
ot value. Pearis are usually found either by farmers 
who devoted their spare time to this industry, and if no 
result is obtained suffer no loss, or by persons in coun- 
try villages who are without regular occupations, but are 
ever seeking means for rapid increase of fortune. Mul- 
in the^earch contain pearis are destroyed 
Habitat of the Fresh-Water Mussels. 
From the many inquiries sent out, the general indica- 
tions from these data are quite plain, to the effect that 
the shells are chiefly found in rathei^ rapid streams in 
which bottom would naturally be sandy or gravdly and 
«ie water clear. Other species, howevef , occJr on 
muddy or clayey bottoms, where the current is slower 
The references to rock bottom do not concern so much 
the immediate surface where the shells are found as the 
fh^^^^'lf^ ^1^/" ^^'^^ "^^terials rest In 
the matter of depth, also, the large preponderance of 
^"'Tlt streams may^ mean not so 
much that the Unios greatly prefer shallow water as that 
they are more readily found and gathered there ' The 
frequent allusions to hard or calcareous water tend to 
confirm the general impression that streams of this kind 
are favorable to the development of molluscan shells, 
both in size and- abundance, but the greater abundance 
of calcareous matter in the water tends to induce, the 
prolific secretion of the pearls. 
A Florida writer states that the best Unio growth is 
found in lakes with outlets, the water pure and fresh; 
but adds that it is sometimes sulphurous. A "Texas 
pearler (Colorado, Concho, San Saba and Llano rivers) 
refers to the water as becoming slightly alkaline in dry 
times; and another Texas pearler (Colorado and Llano) 
makes a similar statement. A New York pearler (De 
Grasse River and Plum Brook) mentions the water as 
brown or black — the clear, brown water of the hemlock 
districts, familiar in northern New York. 
The general conclu.sions most clearly brought out 
may, perhaps, be summed up as follows: The shells 
are most abundant in swift and clear water where the 
bottom is sandy or gravelly, and the country rock cal- 
careous. While still numerous in many streams, they 
have greatly diminished within a few years past wherever 
the pearl-hunting enterprise has extended, and are at 
some points nearly exterminated. The pearls found are 
few, and those of marketable value represent the de- 
struction of thousands of shells, for every one obtained. 
No use is made of this often beautiful material, which 
is simply thrown away and lost; although for buttons 
or ornamental articles it would be admirable. The 
methods of gathering the shells and extracting the pearls 
are the simplest and most primitive, and the activity of 
a few seasons generally exhausts the beds. 
This state of affairs is one that calls loudly for reform. 
The wealth of Unios that filled our rivers and streams 
is being rapidly destroyed by ignorant and wasteful 
methods of pearl hunting; and either some form of pro- 
tection is important, or if that be not possible, a wide 
difftision of information as to better methods, and par- 
ticularly the introduction of tools used in Germany for 
opening Unios far enough to see if there are any pearls 
to be obtained without destroying the animal, which 
may then be returned to the water. 
Pearl Hunting as a Profession. 
As to the principal occupations oF the pearl hunters, 
or pearlers, as they are called, this was answered by 64 
papers. Of these, 13 say merely that their occupations 
are various, or that people of all callings are included. 
Ihe remaining 51 papers state more or less definitely 
as follows: Farmers and farm hands, 23; laborers, 12; 
fishermen, S; and as making pearl hunting a regular 
business, 7. Three papers speak of loafers; and i or 2 
of each specifies as follows: Stockmen, hunters, trap- 
pers, tradesmen, roustabouts, boys and negroes; and the 
Maryland paper, oystermen. The term "laborers" as 
used m these answers probably means, in most cases, 
farm laborers, as stated iti a few instances; and the indi- 
cation is that two-thirds of the peari hunting is done 
by agricultural people who search the streams when 
not otherwise occupied— "in off times," as 2 or 3 of the 
writers say. Fishermen are naturally mmh in prepon- 
derance, who gather the shells for bait. 
Methods of Extracting Pearls. 
The inquiry as to the mode of extracting the pearis 
when found, received 72 answers. A large proportion 
of these are general, merely saying "by hand," "with 
the fingers," etc. ; but about one-third give more or less 
description of the process. When the shell has been 
opened, the pearls, if loose and near the edge, may be 
readily seen, and sometimes even drop out These are. 
of course, easily taken with the thumb and finger or if 
small, with tweezers or on the point of a knife. If more 
imbedded m the mantle and gills, they are detected by 
teeling for th.em, passing or rubbing the thumb or finger 
along and around each valve and about the region of the 
hinge. The pearis may then be pressed or squeezed 
out like the seed of a cherry," but if attached to the 
shell, must be removed with a pair of nippers. Care 
IS required in opening not to scratch or injure the pearl 
A very few describe different methods. Thus one Ar- 
kansas pearier speaks of breaking the shells, and a Flor- 
ida pearier tells of piling the mussels in a dry place 
to decay, the Oriental method of opening the true peari 
oyster, and finding the pearis in the emptied shells later, 
ihis method 13 evidently only practicable where little 
°M hunting is generally carried on, and the 
pile ot shells would not be Uable to inspection and search 
by other parties than the original gatherers. 
Treatment of Pearls when Found. 
Concerning the treatment of pearis when found defi- 
nite answers were received to 52 papers, which in' some 
respects show considerable diversity of usage The 
pearis are first thoroughly washed to remove all adher- 
ing animal matter; and 2 papers speak of using alcohol 
to complete the cleansing. After this the essential point 
m keeping or carrying them is to prevent injurv to the 
surface from friction; and the majority of those who de- 
scribe what IS done tell of wrapping in cotton (14), or 
soft paper (7), cloth, flannel or silk; several speak of 
drying them, or keeping them dry, but others would keep 
them in a liquid, 6 specifying a bottle of water and i 
sweet oil or coal oil; several speak of putting them into 
a bottle, but with no accounts of its contents, or whether 
even dry, though Indiana No. i mentions cotton in a 
bottle; and_ hence, in cases just referred to, it is im- 
possible to judge what is the probable meaning Two 
papers mention keeping pearis in starch, and i "in Irish ' 
potato. The effect of sunlight is curiously alluded to 
by 2 papers, the former stating that the pearls should 
in it should be kept 
u Tennessee papers make interesting reference to 
peeling dull and unpromising pearis, merelv bv sayino- 
that_ this IS sometimes done "with a sharp knife " and 
a nice_ peari is obtained thereby. Alcohol, whiting 
chamois, leather, etc., are mentioned as employed to 
produce a good surface of luster. Two other papers al- 
lude to polishing or cleaning pearis, i specifying that 
It is done with Irish potato." Two papers say nothincr 
under this head of treatment, save that there is no way 
to improve nature. 
Destruction of the Molltisfc. 
As to what use, if any, or disposal is made of the 
