www.bobgiven.com

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Glass Buttes, Oregon
(Click on any picture to view the larger detailed picture.)

Aug 28, 2010 - Glass Buttes, Oregon, about 80 miles east of Bend, Oregon.

I've always been a rock hound, always looking at strange and fascinating structures
wondering how they came about. I remember having to create a rock collection for
8th grade science class. And when I was about 10 years old I found a black obsidian
rock in my Grandfather's almond orchard in central California. It's solid gloss black and
not much bigger than a silver dollar, and yes, I still have it.

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About 25 miles east of Bend just before the ghost town of Mullican
is this historical marker. I have this impulsive need to stop at every
historical marker I see.

 

The aforementioned prehistoric river..

 

 

Panning west the canyon starts to thin...

 

 

... into the wide open land and beyond.

 

 

As I exit off the highway near mile post 77,
I look east and can see a long way.

 

 

Looking south I can see the buttes. I'll drive about
5 miles on bumpy dirt roads to the other side.

 

On the side of the hills in the background you can see
mounds of debris. They used to mine mercury here so I'm
guessing that's where it was. It was fenced off and I couldn't
investigate.

The hand drawn map I had showed most of the rock locations
near the top of buttes. I followed the road to the left. The dirt
roads were narrow with deep ruts and sharp rocks embedded
in them. It was slow going most of the time, almost walking speed.

My view from the top. It was cold, 47 degrees, strong wind and raining.
Wasn't expecting that. It made for an uncomfortable day. The map I had
put me at 6110 ft.

 

Previous searchers left pits. While there was a lot of obsidian on the
surface in the form of small rocks and waste, most of the obsidian was found
under two feet of top soil which was very rocky and very difficult to dig.
as much as I wanted to dig my own pit, I found it prudent to continue digging
in the pit for my obsidian.

 

One of the two coyotes I saw this day. The other one trotted past me later in
the day about 50 yards away.

 

The source for black obsidian lies at the top. It's steeper that it looks.

 

 

The pit was littered with debris. Knapping, the art of shaping stone by striking it,
making arrow, spear tips and other stone tools is very popular around here. I don't
know what makes a good object stone for starters but I'm guessing many of these
don't make the grade. Above the pit higher on the hill there were so many obsidian
rocks on the surface it appeared paved with them.

In this pit is the target of my dig. It ended up being around a 5 pound rock.

 

 

I'd had enough cold and wet for the day so decided to head back. These two
watched me as I left. For some reason I had a craving for a steak.

 

The largest rock I dug was this beautiful black and red mahogany obsidian.
I'm guessing 20 pounds. Be sure to view the large photo to get the full
beauty of this beast.

 

One of the mostly black obsidian pieces I found. This one has faint swirls of
gray. It might be the beginnings of a silver sheen variety.

 

Some of the smaller pieces I found. This stuff is very sharp. I cut my hands
several times, once was a major cut on my finger, blood everywhere. They
make surgical cutting tools out of this stuff. Check out the next pic of the piece
in the top right corner.

 

A very nice piece of midnight lace with black streaks. I wanted to find one
with multi-colored streaks but couldn't.

 

 

I think I'll go back sometime to look for the other varieties I didn't find. But I will definitely look
for better weather. When I returned to Lebanon, it was 75 degrees and sunny - a different world.