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Rock-solid history lesson

Specimens to be on display at Fort Lewis College

A collection of rocks gathered from early-day mines in the Junction Creek and La Plata Canyon drainages are scheduled for display at Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College.

The rocks – about 450 samples – were gathered by Olga Little, a mule skinner who delivered supplies to miners in the mountains, then, on the return trip, hauled their ore to mills for processing.

They were donated to the center by Mahlon “Butch” White, former owner of First National Bank of Durango. White, a history buff, purchased the specimens from Little herself whom he met through miners who knew her.

The rocks are a fit for Center of Southwest Studies because they have historic ties to the Durango area, Jay Harrison, executive director of the center, said Wednesday.

“They tell what happened in hard-rock mining here,” Harrison said. “The deeper you go into a mine, the more you find.”

Harrison said the largest specimen, an eye-catching chunk containing lead, zinc, copper, iron and traces of silver and gold, will be displayed in the new geosciences building for which state funding has been obtained.

The other pieces, Harrison said, will take turns in display cases at the Delaney Southwest Research Library in Center of Southwest Studies.

Nick Salter, a senior majoring in geosciences, identified and cataloged the rocks from the sometimes cryptic system used by Little.

It’s thought that most of the rocks come from the Four Corners, but no on can say for sure, Salter said.

“The importance of the collection is the locality,” Salter said. “You can walk out your backdoor and find these minerals,” Salter said. “You can find them also in a rock shop, but they don’t have the same value.”

The luster of the specimens and their color also make the rocks appealing, Salter said.

White said in a living-history interview with Harrison, that it’s unclear whether Little collected all the rocks herself or received some from miners who knew of her interest in the matter.

Born Olga Schaaf in Germany on July 26, 1883, Little immigrated to northeastern Colorado with her parents who took up a homestead. The family later moved to Chama, New Mexico, and then Durango.

Handy around pack animals, she began about 1909 to deliver supplies to miners in the Southern San Juans with burros. She had a reputation for fearlessness.

After she married miner William Little, the couple established a home in Mayday at the mouth of La Plata Canyon.

William Little may have collected some of the collection while searching for stones to be used in his lapidary pursuits.

Little continued packing into the 1940s. Well-known in the community for her indomitable spirit, she was a regular figure in the community’s Spanish Trails Fiesta celebration.

In 1958, in the Denver Coliseum, Little was the focus of the “This Is Your Life” television program. The filming marked the 100th anniversary of the discovery of gold in Colorado.

Little, who died in 1970, was buried in Greenmount Cemetery.

daler@durangoherald.com



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