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Reviewed by June Culp Zeitner Good News. There are still great places to collect fine minerals, gem materials, and fossils in Texas. Brad Cross, native Texan and a collector since childhood, now a geologist, tells us where and how. Brad was even a friend of the first Texas Gem Trails book author, Bessie Simpson. The book is divided into six regions: Trans-Pecos, Central, Panhandle, North, Southeast, and Southwest. Each section has accurate, full-page maps and numerous black-and-white pictures. There is also a color section with 15 pictures of interesting and vivid Texas specimens. Since I know Texas quite well, I’ll only comment on a few of my favorite areas, which Brad has described exceptionally well, and which I hope all serious collectors will make time to visit. The first is Balmorhea blue. The most beautiful blue agate I ever saw was from the Lake Balmorhea area, a site I visited years ago. Brad says there is a fee area there now and tells about aesthetic variations of these agates. He also tells of the State Park campground which he rightly names an “oasis.” Another fabulous Texas collecting area is for the State Gem, blue topaz, which occurs in several sites in the hill country near Mason. Brad maps and lists the fee basis ranches which have a variety of pegmatite minerals. The petrified wood found in most of southeast Texas is often elegant, agatized palm. Probably the rarest of Texas treasures, according to the author, is the occurrence of the mysterious space objects, tektites. Hard to find, but most Texas collectors are not satisfied until they find at least one. A region with surprising agate is along the Rio Grande in extreme south Texas. Many kinds of agate from distant spots along the river, being harder than most gravels, have found their way toward the delta of this once mighty river. Water-worn and caliche-covered, they are sometimes difficult to identify — so there are plenty just waiting to be found on ranches (with permission, of course) and along the roads. The author includes lists of Texas clubs, museums, sources of information, and a glossary which includes some original Texas-style names. This is a comprehensive book about the largest of our contiguous states, and one of the most productive for collectors interested in gems, minerals, and fossils. Brad Cross is also author of The Agates of Northern Mexico. Buy this book from Barnes & Noble.com
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Gem Trails of Texas
