Backroad Odyssey : Travel, Van Life & Lost Locations
Traveling America's backroads, history and road trip enthusiasts - Noah and Noodles - unearth fascinating locations overlooked while traveling.
Living out of a van, they research and visit each story location to share the (often shocking) secrets held within.
If you love travel, history and thoughtful storytelling - join us on the road!
Backroad Odyssey : Travel, Van Life & Lost Locations
The Crater of Diamonds - Arkansas' Volcanic Treasure Field
Crater of Diamonds State Park is the only place in the world where the public can search for natural diamonds at their volcanic source.
The 37 acre eroded volcanic crater sees hopeful prospectors prying through loose soil - hoping to find more than just dirt
Some do … some do not …
Regardless, the history of the park is just as fascinating as the diamonds that litter its ground.
My dog Noodles and I visit the field in the hopes of striking it rich!
Works Cited:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-curious-case-of-the-arkansas-diamonds-43575867/
https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/john-wesley-huddleston-4732/
https://www.arkansasstateparks.com/parks/crater-diamonds-state-park/history
https://www.arkansasstateparks.com/articles/discovering-lamproite-crater
https://www.arkansasstateparks.com/parks/crater-diamonds-state-park/digging-for-diamonds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hvjuOKKX_I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZhRjh3Vg7w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rdm6VFQArU
Noah and Noodles here!
We want to extend a heartfelt thanks to every listener of Backroad Odyssey.
Your support fuels our passion and inspires us to keep sharing stories and discover overlooked locations.
Follow each adventure visually at:
https://www.instagram.com/backroadsodyssey/
Cruisin' down the street. I wonder where this road would lead. So many possibilities. Care to share what you think. Oh noondogs, what do you see? Back road odyssey.
Speaker 1:The earth is awake. Violent plumes of ash consume the sunlight, fires torch the lush landscape. The ground itself melts, then quiet. The land cools. Life returns. But within this newly altered landscape, there now lies treasures from deep within the earth Pressure-forged, heat-sculpted minerals.
Speaker 1:Diamonds have come to Arkansas. Crater of Diamonds State Park in rural Arkansas is the only place in the world where the public can search for natural diamonds at their volcanic source. The 37-acre eroded volcanic crater sees hopeful prospectors prying through the loose soil hoping to find more than just dirt. Some do, some do not, but the history of the park is just as fascinating as the diamonds that litter its ground. As fascinating as the diamonds that litter its ground. My dog Noodles and I visit the field to investigate and to dig down deep in the hopes of striking it rich. We're about 15 minutes away from Crater of Diamonds State Park in southwest Arkansas. We're going to look for diamonds at their ancient volcanic source.
Speaker 1:Before we turn to prospecting, before we dive into the history of the park, the value of their diamonds, I'd like to ask one simple question why Arkansas? Of all the places in the US and beyond? What makes this 37-plus acre field special? The ground is hot enough to cook the Sunday roast. Volcanologist John Siech just before his boots melt near a volcano.
Speaker 1:The word volcano, I'd wager, almost never conjures images of rural Arkansas, but 1.3 billion years ago Arkansas was, let's say, tumultuous. Volcanoes raged as much of Arkansas strained above the same mantle hotspot that would go on to create the island of Bermuda. And this activity, this pressure, forged paths for magma deep below the surface to rise. And this here, this is important in understanding why Arkansas, why Crater of Diamonds, is unique. Volcanoes in general bring up magma from different depths. Some volcanoes channel magma from shallower depths, others reach much, much deeper, deeper, and the minerals brought up through the diatrine, in our case, or pipe by the magma are different depending on the depth reached by that particular volcano. It's these rare, tartarous-reaching, depth-reaching volcanoes that reach down to depths with the conditions necessary to create diamonds. Arkansas, specifically Crater of Diamonds State Park, has one such rare volcano that erupted off and on until around 100 million years ago. These tectonic forces that once raged beneath Arkansas are no longer active, but the diamonds brought forth by the magma in these uncommonly deep-reaching volcanoes remain scattered, waiting to be found.
Speaker 1:All right, we've just been through the Visitor center at Crater of Diamonds State Park. It's $15 to access the 37-acre field, which is just a brief walk behind the visitor's center. Then there's an additional fee to rent the equipment you have to use to find the diamonds. You can bring your own, but I don't carry mining equipment in my van, so I got myself two sifting trays and a bucket Back to old times here. Probably should have gotten a shovel. I realize that now, but we're here and let's get our hands dirty. So the field that I'm looking at now is plowed pretty regularly, once a month or so during the winter and fall to mix up the soil. And let me describe what I see looking out here. All around me there's rows of dried plowed dirt, almost like we're about to plant something. I see visitors 20 plus people that are digging for diamonds every which way. A few more groups of people are sifting in the provided washing stations towards the back of the field. Some are walking back towards the visitor center to get their finds identified or, if they didn't find anything, just leave.
Speaker 1:But what I'm curious about now isn't whether I'll find something personally, it's how this land became public land. With how rare diamonds actually are, I would think that this land would have been just torn up by private diamond companies and others. How is this unique, diamond-rich land public land here in rural Arkansas, arkansas? Imagine buying acres and acres of land thought by most to have little value, only to later stumble upon something that would prove them all wrong. This is exactly what happened to a struggling farmer over a century ago in Pike County, arkansas. I was crawling on my hands and knees when my eyes fell on another glittering pebble. I knew it was different from any I'd seen before. I had a fiery eye that blazed up at me every which way I turned it. I hurried to the house with the pebble saddled my mule and started for a frieze burrow. Riding through the lane, my eye caught another glitter and I dismounted and picked it up out of the dust John Wesley Huddleston, better known as Diamond John.
Speaker 1:Our story starts in the summer of 1905, when John and his wife Sarah purchased 243 acres of wooded Arkansas land for $2,000. Nothing special, but it was home. One day, john, who fancied himself an amateur prospector, noticed two shining stones along a public road that ran through his new property. John shows these shiny stones to diamond experts in Little Rock and later New York City, who confirmed their authenticity they were real, genuine Arkansas diamonds. As expected with sudden findings of wealth, word spreads like wildfire. Diamond mining interests quickly close into the property and rather than accept the task of laboriously mining for diamonds by himself which may or may not be there the struggling farmer accepts a purchase price of $36,000 for the 243 acres of potentially diamond-rich land. As is so often the case with those trying to make a living, money now beats money later.
Speaker 1:Perhaps the best contemporary description of this unlikely find can be found in a poem published in the following year's issue of the New York Times. The story of the discovery of diamond fields in one of the poorest counties of the not over rich state of Arkansas reads like a chapter of Simbab's adventures, diamond John. John dies, an old man, in 1941. But the chain of events set in motion by his find is dizzy. After failing to gain full control of the area in 1910, a London-based diamond syndicate allegedly sets up a sham operation to downplay the potential value of the newly established Arkansas mine. Nine years later, two rival processing plants burn to the ground at the same night, sparking rumors of arson meant to destroy the mine's profitability.
Speaker 1:In 1924, the largest diamond ever unearthed in the United States was found in this field in Arkansas. The appropriately named 40.23 carat Uncle Sam diamond was sold for $150,000 in 1971, which translates to approximately $880,000 after inflation. It's this find and others that trigger a brief diamond rush in the area, with many hopeful prospectors stoking visions of a South Africa-like diamond district, which ultimately never materializes. In 1930, henry Ford makes a bid to control the mine, but De Beers and Diamond Syndicate quickly bribe the mine's owner, who then shuts down any talk of the mine's sale. And that is it Just kidding. In 1950, a particularly dubious entrepreneur trucks gravel from the field to his own land a ways away later, claiming he had his own unique Arkansas diamond mine. He allegedly was found beaten up in a ditch the next morning. Lawsuits ensue, fires occur, profits against expectations decline. Ultimately, what happens is the found diamonds in the field offer little justification for continued private operation. The state of Arkansas purchases Diamond John's former property in 1972, becoming Crater of Diamonds State Park CraterofDiamonds State Park.
Speaker 1:I got my little sifter here, my trusty bucket, and I'm sitting on a plot of dirt, far away from any fellow prospectors here at CraterofDiamonds State Park. Am I expecting to find something? Not at all, but honestly, it's fun just to be out here. Here's what I'll say now. Sitting here, I always find it funny or interesting I'll say that things don't really have value to us unless we assign value to them. So, in lieu of ignoring it completely and I think it's fair and important to ask, because we're here, digging for some what are diamonds? Scientifically, geologically, monetarily, whatever? And are Arkansas diamonds unique? Are they more or less valuable than comparable diamonds? You look around at all these people paying to sift through dirt. What are we all digging for? No pressure, no diamonds.
Speaker 1:Thomas Carlyle, the diamonds found throughout Crater of Diamonds State Park formed the same way all natural diamonds do Under pressure. What starts as elemental carbon faces immense pressure at incredible temperatures in the upper mantle of the earth, around 100 or so miles below the surface. The very same carbon, higher up, under less pressure, only turns into graphite, the material in your number two pencil Deeper down. The pressure is intense enough to bond these elemental carbon atoms into a rigid, tetrahedral, crystal-like structure Into diamonds. No pressure, no diamonds. In summary, if you remember anything, remember this the upper mantle of the Earth creates diamonds, not volcanoes, but very rare volcanoes are capable of transporting the already forged diamonds. And because the means to transport them are so rare, the diamonds themselves are rare, so humanity assigns value to them based on that fact.
Speaker 1:The value we place on diamonds are twofold really. First, sentimental value. Diamonds throughout history have held symbolic meaning to us as symbols of love, prosperity, commitment. Every kiss begins with K, we know this. And the price, the monetary price, we assign to diamonds is determined by what's called the four C's Carat, which refers to the diamond's weight. Generally, the heavier the diamond, the more the carat, the more expensive it is. Cut, the shape or angles of the diamond, clarity, the absence of flaws in the diamond and finally, color, with the clearest diamonds generally being deemed the most valuable. This is the standardized system for determining a diamond's value.
Speaker 1:So the question becomes how do the diamonds found at Crater of Diamonds State Park measure up? Typically, what's found at the park is small, ranging from 0.01 to 0.05 carats. They are generally irregularly shaped due to the explosive nature of this particular volcano, though some are incredibly smooth, with rounded edges. Predominantly, they're colorless when found, although brown and yellow diamonds are present. You can find them, but to me, crater of Diamonds State Park, more than any other place, can provide both sentimental and monetary value when diamonds are found. Here are two examples An 8.52 carat white Esperanza diamond found in June of 2015 received the highest color grade a diamond can achieve and is rumored to be worth around $1 million. That is straight up monetary value.
Speaker 1:In a different vein, a more sentimental vein, in late 2024, a visitor from France found a 7.4 carat diamond and decided to name his find the Carine diamond after his fiancée. The monetary value of this find was not astronomical, but in a much deeper sense of this find was not astronomical, but in a much deeper sense, the find was priceless. All of this is to say that, by and large, arkansas diamonds have no more inherent monetary value than any other diamond, despite their uniqueness, because each individual diamond is subject to the four C's of diamond evaluation. Well, what you bring back from the crater might not be monetarily valuable. The story of its finding, the work that went into it and the claim that it's an Arkansas diamond all contribute to its entire worth, to its value. It's this balance of monetary value and symbolic value that determine the worth of a diamond, in my opinion, and at Crater of Diamonds, the symbolic value often outweighs the monetary, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, I'd choose sentimental value every time. Value is what people are willing to pay for it.
Speaker 1:American author, john Nisbitt. Nothing yet, just dirt and more dirt. I've been at this for about 30 minutes. Something like 75,000 diamonds have been found since the park was founded in 72. Most of them very tiny. Increasingly, I feel like I won't be one of the lucky ones, but hey, here's the thing If Rome wasn't built in a day, why should diamonds be found in just a day?
Speaker 1:I was talking to a park worker on my way in who said that people come here regularly. They come to look for diamonds all the time and, being here doing this, I don't blame them. I honestly don't. It's kind of addicting, having done this for just 30 minutes, knowing that any pile of dirt that I put into my little strainer could contain something valuable. It's fun. All of this kind of has me wondering, as I'm spending $15 in time to dig up dirt, what is it generally, but with this specifically, that draws people to spend time, to spend money, doing something like this? This Many people came. Few people found Mike Howard of the Arkansas Geological Survey. More often than not, people leave Crater of Diamonds State Park with little to show for it.
Speaker 1:So what is it about this place that makes it such an alluring destination? For myself, it's the promise of potential, however small, and the work you yourself put into finding what you're looking for. Just as Diamond John bought looked-over land containing diamonds, anyone from anywhere France, whatever can possibly walk away from this experience with more than they came into it with, monetarily or otherwise. It hits at the core of a very human tendency, an inclination towards risk-taking, possibilities and innate optimism, the idea that hard work and chance can be anyone's companion. All of this, in a strange way, is admirable. All of this, in a strange way, is admirable.
Speaker 1:My friends, it's with a heavy heart that I say I'm heading back with an empty bucket, empty strainers and precisely zero diamonds or minerals on my person, and not for lack of trying right. In total, I probably was there for an hour and 30 minutes. The park is closing soon, so I had to, otherwise I would have stayed longer. I'm not upset, though. More than anything it was kind of meditative. You know the constant focus.
Speaker 1:You have to have to sift through the dirt to find these impossibly small minerals. It's a nice break from everything, from the hectic nature of just daily life here on planet Earth. Could I have done the same thing at my campsite? Yeah, could I have dug dirt up at my campsite? Yeah, but I'd be missing something. Could I have dug dirt up at my campsite? Yeah, but I'd be missing something. And that's this, the history of this place, the camaraderie of working next to people searching for the same thing, and the knowledge that other people have been digging where I'm digging and have had real success, have found something. And ultimately, all of this and more have found something.
Speaker 1:And ultimately, all of this and more is why, in my view, visiting Crater of Diamonds State Park is a worthwhile experience, if not all the time. Like others do, like a lot of people do, I've heard at least once in your life. And with that said, I have dirty gear to return, hands to wash and a long drive ahead. As I'm walking away, I can't help but feel like I'm walking away from the next Hope Diamond or something. I can see how this would be addictive. The earth sleeps, birds chirp alongside the sounds of shovels and strainers. Pressure-forged, heat-sculpted minerals in this long-ago altered landscape, sit waiting in the volcanic soil. Diamonds lie waiting in Arkansas it's Noah here. Thank you for listening to Backroad Odyssey.
Speaker 1:Let's get into recommendations right away. As I said, they till the soil around once a month. It's best practice, I've heard, to go right after they do this. The soil will be mixed up and you have a better chance of finding something. Generally, go earlier in the day if you choose to go. Look to go on a cloudy day if you can. There's not much shade in the field. But all in all, a fun experience and definitely would recommend checking it out at least once.
Speaker 1:Otherwise, hot Springs National Park is an hour drive away, one of the most unique and maybe misunderstood national parks, possibly a topic of a future episode We'll see. And finally, little Rock is a very cute and fun town, nice people. I stopped at Flyway Brewing in North Little Rock. That's nearby as well. Finally, finally, if you find value in this show, it means the world to me, to Noodles. Probably she doesn't mind as much To rate and review wherever you're listening now. It helps us continue to put the amount of work we'd like to Into the show and make it better and better and better. With that said, you know what's coming. Be good to each other. We're two next.
