Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
Kevin Kinard found a 9.07 carat in the Crater of Diamonds State Park that sells up to 1000 tickets a day to people who want to search the grounds for diamonds.
A man who was exploring an Arkansas state park recently came across an unbelievable discovery: a 9.07-carat diamond, making it the second-largest one ever found in the park's history.
Kevin Kinard said he didn't think much of the marble-sized crystal that he found while visiting Crater of Diamonds State Park on Labor Day, according to a press release from the park.
"It kind of looked interesting and shiny, so I put it in my bag and kept searching," he recalled. "I just thought it might’ve been glass."
But after taking it to the park's Diamond Discovery Center, where staff identify what visitors find and register diamonds, Kinard, 33, learned that what he thought was glass was actually a 9.07-carat diamond....
Here is the link for more af that story.
Thanks to DJ for that link.
DJ pointed out that this story is another case of “if you don’t know don’t throw”.
Below is photo of people searching the park.
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Searching For Diamonds at Crater of Diamonds Park
Source: Arkansas.com. |
I've posted stories of finds from Crater of Diamonds park before. The history of the park is interesting. The story is well-known and has been published in books and articles and has been used for sermon inspiration.
Although not all sources give the story exactly the same way, John Huddleston is sometimes described as a pig farmer, which is not altogether untrue and works well when his story is used as a sermon illustration. More detailed accounts of his life give a somewhat different picture.
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John Huddleston.
Source: See pcahs.org link below. |
I'll give the short version as I recall reading it somewhere. John Huddleston had a pig farm in Arkansas. One day he noticed a stone shining in the mud. He picked it up and saved it and eventually showed it to some people. No one seemed to think much of it, but one man offered him a small sum for the stones. He had found two by then, and I think the amount offered was 50 cents. Someone told him to send the stones to New York to be analyzed, and he was informed that his stone was a diamond.
That is how the diamond bearing area of Arkansas that later became Crater of Diamonds State Park was discovered, or at least that is how it is sometimes told. Life is always more complex than the way it is described.
I was recently driving to the beach before sunrise when I heard a movie critic on the radio say that no two people "see" the same movie. Each person looks at different things and takes it in a different way.
If a movie comes on TV, in the first five seconds my wife will often say, "We've seen that one before." It usually takes me at least a half hour to realize if I've seen a movie before. I usually don't care much if I've seen a movie before because I don't remember it very well to begin with and will see more in it the next time I watch it anyhow. We watch movies differently. We remember different things.
Another story, true or not, that is often told about diamonds is found in Russell Conwell's book, Acres of Diamonds. That book illustrates how success is a spiritual idea--the result of spiritual principles. Though not a "get rich guide," Conwell's book shows how to find a fortune-if you know where to look. Conswell tells of a man that was "poor because he was discontented, and discontented because he was poor."
In Acres of Diamonds a story is told of a poor farmer who wants to find riches and is told about a stream that runs between two mountains where diamonds could be found in the sand. The poor farmer leaves his home and family behind to seek riches, only to die poor and discouraged in a strange land. Later rich deposits of diamonds are discovered on his farm, which was beside a stream between two mountains.
It seems from some accounts that John Huddleston was more a real estate investor than a farmer even though he was illiterate and poor at times. He believed in owning land, and seemed to equate land with wealth, which was common in those days. He had an interest in owning land because it could be farmed, rented out or mortgaged if needed, but he was also interested in geological resources and may have had some contact with s local geologist who studied the 95-year-old volcanic pipe in Arkansas, most of which was encompassed by his farm. Maybe it wasn't entirely coincidental that his farm covered most of the diamond bearing volcanic pipe.
Here are a couple links that will tell you more about John Huddleston and the history of Crater of Diamonds State Park.
http://www.pcahs.org/JohnHuddleston/JohnHuddleston.pdf
https://www.arkansasstateparks.com/parks/crater-diamonds-state-park/history
John Huddleston's story is an effective parable. Diamonds from the mud of a pig farm provides a picture of redemption and deliverance - lifted from the deep and miry clay, cleansed and perfected.
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I took a look at the Indian River yesterday. Based upon what I saw at one spot, I expected to see a lot of erosion and probably some bottles along the banks. Boy was I wrong! There was some erosion to the banks, but not along the shore, and there were almost no bottles. I did find a alligator vert.
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It is quiet in the tropics now, and the surf is small.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
