The First Fairburn Agate I ever found!
This is the First Fairburn Agate I ever found. It has been in my collection for many many years. No I didn't find it the first day out, nor the second, nor even the third! If I recall, it was more like months, but I never gave up. I've seen Fairburns before, and no matter how long it took me, I wanted one, one that I found. Hunting for beautiful rocks is like anything else, you have to know what you are looking for. The majority of great Fairburns, look nothing like this when you find them laying on the ground. Its the small, and I do mean small, tale tale signs on a rock, that give them away. Then you need to put that elbow grease to work, to make them look like this. The spider-web center, has a light pink color to it. The pattern is breath-taking. It could have been polished to a mirror finish, but I was so anxious to get it into my showcase, I have decided to leave it as it is, in a semi-polished state. It will always bring back memories of that first one! This particular Fairburn was found very close to the Badlands of South Dakota, (Mako Sika) in Lakota Language. Try lugging 100 pounds of rocks in your backpack up one of those cliffs.
Another Honey of Mine
The red & white Fairburns seem to have very brilliant colors and patterns. The area around Railroad Buttes gave up this specimen. There are so many rocks in the RB area, that there are places you cannot take a step without having 4-5 agates under your shoes at one time. Its a great rock hunting area! Railroad Buttes has given up many Fairburns in the past and with the continued erosion, new Fairburns will continue to find a new home for years to come. Railroad Buttes is just 15 miles East of Rapid City on Highway 44.
An Unpolished Beauty (as I found it)
Some of the Fairburns I have found look so good in the rough, I hesitate to even put a wheel to them. This is not the rule of thumb on most Fairburns. The majority of the time you need to really look close to decide if it is indeed a Fairburn. And "water"! Water is an essential tool to have along. Not for "sippin", but for "dippin"! If you do not see that tale tale sign you are looking for when the rock is dry, "wet it down"! "Wet them all down"! If the pattern does exist, the wetness of the rock will make that pattern jump right out at you. Water as a tool is "priority" with me! Many many Fairburns are still laying out there because the Rock Hunter did not have water along to "wet their find"!
