Alice and I are back in the Black Hills of South Dakota again this Summer. As always, we are finding there is much to see and do here… so, when we heard from a good friend in Keystone about the local annual Fairburn Agate Days, we were off to check it out… and in so doing, ended up visiting the home of South Dakota’s Official Gemstone… the Fairburn Agate. This short post, mostly pictures, shows the pleasant afternoon that we enjoyed at Fairburn.
Fairburn, South Dakota is a small town located at the ‘dividing edge’ of the Prairie & the Mountains, about 30 miles south of Rapid City on SD Hwy 79, and then 2 miles east on County Hwy 18 (a dirt road). It is close to the famous ‘Kern Beds‘, well known by local gem hunters. We were made aware of this annual event by a good friend at Jane’s Boardwalk Pizza in Keystone, SD… Jane has the best Ice Cream & Pizza in Keystone, SD… which Alice and I can personally attest to!
The 2013 City-Data Census shows Fairburn has a population of 86 people… but this certainly swells during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in August, and the Fairburn Agate Days in June. Click on the interactive map below for more detail.
We left Hart Ranch about noon time and arrived in Fairburn 45 minutes later… Once there, our good friend Morris Jones (Mo) and daughter Mary made their way quickly into the Gem Show…
Note: All the pictures in this post can be clicked on to enlarge… and after that, place the cursor (magnifying glass ‘+’) over any portion of the enlarged picture, then click to magnify that part of the image.
Daughter Mary and good friend Mo Jones, walking into the Fairburn Community Center Vendor Display area. (Click on picture to enlarge.)
The very first table that we visited… notice the blue sky and prairie. Also, note the number of RV’s here. The Vendors attend this show in their RV’s, staying for the duration of the event. Most are folks from South Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska, and from appearances, are ‘Rock Hounds’ at heart. This is not Big Business, but love of craft.
Mo and Mary… inspecting the specimens of this presenter. Note the buckets… gem samples straight out of the field.
Many of the Vendors here at the show are Local & Regional Rock Hounds… that spend time out on the prairie and in the canyons, searching, finding, polishing & preparing their own gems, minerals and fossil specimens.
Presenter’s table is well laid out… beautiful specimens… gems and fossils.
A beautiful pair of Fairburn Agates… Click on picture to enlarge, then click again to magnify.
Mo, checking out the table of a local vendor. Mo has spent years in the Agate Fields as an amateur Rock Hound… and has accumulated his own fine collection of polished agate gemstones that he has found over the years.
Pleasant conversation with the vendors… where are you from? What are your favorite sites? Careful not to ask too specific of questions… everyone has their ‘special’ places!
More rock samples… two local collectors…
Some beautiful larger specimens… This post’s main ‘featured header’ picture is the largest rock specimen on the rightmost table.
This exhibit was a fascinating table of fossils… I am not even sure what they are… but they are quite stunning in presentation…
A table of very unusual fossils… Fascinating!
I have no idea of what this fossil is… But it sure is an ‘eye catcher’.
if any reader knows what this fossil specimen is… please leave a message and let us know! I promise to update this blog post with the new information.
‘Agate Days’ attracted gem & rock hounds of all ages…
This young Miss took off for Fairburn’s playground just a few minutes after this picture was taken… Playing in the sun with her Physician Dad… sun hat barely managing to stay on!
Fish Fossils from Kemmerer, Wyoming. Our family know these well… back in 1997, with good family friend & Geologist Walt Lombardo (Owner of Nevada Mineral & Books), we spent an afternoon in the ‘fish fossil fields’ at Kemmerer, Wy and to this day we have a couple of small baskets of these beautiful specimens back at home.
Fish fossils from Kemmerer, Wy. We have dug these fossil types in Kemmerer in past trips…
One of the best Booths in the show was this one… Black Hills Spirit… owned by Jaime & Barb Biggerstaff. The Biggerstaff’s live in their RV, and maintain their business in Hill City, SD, and also manage to get to Borrego Springs, CA in the winter. Barb is an experienced Gemstone Artist with over 30 years practice… Their specialty is gem-based jewelry with a distinct Lakota Sioux touch. Indeed, Barb’s adopted Lakota family gave her the name… Evening Star Woman.
Barb Biggerstaff… Evening Star Woman… Gemstone Artist… owner of Black Hills Spirit.
My daughter Mary was fascinated with Ms Biggerstaff’s artistic creations… and bought a beautiful necklace.
Mary is a happy customer… and Ms. Biggerstaff is a pleasant person to do business with.
Mo and Mary moved on down the line of Booths… each table loaded with something new… something beautiful… something a surprise…
Mo and Mary… busy examining a specimen…
This table had a ‘surprise’ – note the rattlesnake skins in the middle of the table! This is South Dakota, after all… land of prairie and of Mountains… land of Buffalo, Deer, Antelope, Mountain Lions, and Elk… and Rattlesnakes. Don’t forget – click on picture to enlarge, then again to magnify any selected part.
Mo and Mary… looking over the rattlesnake skins.
This table had no gems… just fossils displayed by Hell Creek Fossils. Note the lower right ‘skin’ fossil… this is fossilized Hadrosaur skin… found in the Hell Creek Formation, North Dakota.
A table of Fossils from the Hell Creek Canyon Formation. Note the Hadrosaur skin fossil in the lower right side…
Thank you for viewing our post. Fairburn is a small town… with a big name… and an event like this one is something that only Fairburn could realistically do. We enjoyed our afternoon, and will be back next year.
Jim & Alice LaPeer
My grandson collects Fairburn Agates and other rocks. I had no idea there was a day to go there to Fairburn and see all the displays. Would love info on next years day in June if that’s the month of the rock show. Thank you. Brenda
We will be going next year, Brenda, so feel free to send us an email via this web site, and I will be glad to send you the info next May or so.
Hope that helps!
Jim
Wow, Jim! That must have been I really fun day!! I’m an old Rock Hound myself, but haven’t done anything with it since a child when I had quite a rock collection, including some fossils. Unfortunately, I don’t know what became of my collection. Hope you and Alice are enjoying your stay and work at Hart Ranch. So happy for you guys that you can do that. I’m jealous!!! Give Alice a hug from us!
Ron & Cindy
Hi Ron & Cindy – good to hear from you! Yes, Alice and I are enjoying the Summer being Workampers here at Hart Ranch… its a great place. The biggest benefit is a free site where we don’t have to move all Summer long. And we have some great neighbors… This post highlights some of what we are learning out here… these Black Hills are just full of fun & different things to do. We have gone Agate hunting once so far… and it is fun! And we hiked a little around a ghost mining town yesterday… beautiful place up in the Mountains named ‘Mystic’. Future post coming up on that one.
Hope things are going well in Omaha with your son’s business. With your business acumen, I have a hunch that is the case. Hope to see you guys someday soon….
Take care,
Jim & Alice