322 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
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 
TTnios 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 1860, about $1,500; in 1860-63, only $1,500. The excitement 
thus abated until about 1868, when there was a slight revival of interest, and many 
fine pearls were obtained from Little Miami River, Ohio. 
Some of the finest American pearls that were next found came from near Waynes- 
ville, Ohio, $30,000 worth being collected in that vicinity during the pearl excitement 
of 1876. Since 1880 pearls have come from comparatively new districts farther west 
and south, the supply from which is apparently on the increase. At first few were 
found, or rather few were looked for, west of Ohio; but gradually the line extended, 
and Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas became the principal pearl-producing States, and 
some pearls were sent north from Florida. 
A few years later the interest extended to the Northwestern States. During the 
summer of 1889 a quantity of magnificently colored pearls were found in the creeks 
and rivers of Wisconsin — in Beloit, Rock County; Brodhead and Albany, Green 
County; Gratiot and Darlington, Lafayette 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 thaii $500, and some among them were equal to any ever found for 
beauty and coloring. The colors were principally purplish red, copper red, and dark 
pink. Within the past eight years probably over $200,000 worth of pearls have been 
sold from this district. 
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 exterminated. In 
1890 the search extended through other portions of Wisconsin, especially Calumet 
and Manitowoc counties, and also in Illinois, along the Mackinaw River and its 
tributary creeks, in McLean, Tazewell, and Woodford counties. 
In 1889 the exhibit of American pearls received an award of a gold medal and 
the collaborates 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, were exhibited in the Manufactures building, and formed notable 
features in the Wisconsin State building and the Mines 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 or so a new wave of interest arises in 
connection with fresh discoveries at some point where the shells have lain long undis- 
turbed; it again absorbs the attention and excites the imagination of the community 
