FJD OR 23. Hoo Doo Basin. Miocene. Elm. Full round log section, cut and polished on one end and otherwise all natural. Gorgeous Hoo Doo colors and preservation. Exciting under magnification. 6 by 9.5 cm polished face; 11 cm tall; two pounds and five ounces. $550
OR 66. Sweet Home Museum Specimen. Full round hardwood slice. Mineralization is NOT typical Sweet Home. When I first saw this wood, I thought it was from Wyoming’s Blue Forest or Eden Valley, but I was mistaken. The Sweet Home area has produced a wide variety of wood. Most is rather dull but often a fractureless full round, but a small percentage resides at the apex of attractively mineralized wood. This is one. Riddled with borer tunnels. Another great one under magnification. Well preserved structures in places. Blue agate. 6 by 8.5 cm mirror-polished polished face; one cm thick; 3.5 ounces. $60
FJD OR 159. McDermitt Zimmerman Ranch Museum Specimen. Miocene Trout Creek formation. Full round limb section. Cut and polished on one end and natural otherwise. No glue/No filler. 3 by 4 cm mirror-polished face; 68 mm long; five ounces. $115
OR 70. Grassy Mountain Museum specimen. Succor Creek formation; Miocene, Malheur County. Specimen round log end that spent much time alone under the sun and stars. Hard white caliche from the desert coats the base. Cut and polished on one end, remainder is natural. The rough edge at top is an attractive ancient re-worn break, as found. As you can see from looking at the near straight parallel growth rings, it was part of a big tree way back when. Overall colors and pattern offer top eye-appeal and more so under magnification where you swim in amazing gold and blue thirty-million year old elm-like cell structures that now are really just magic. How else can you explain it? No filler or glue. Glassy. 4.5 by 5 cm mirror-polished face; 47 mm long; six ounces. $75
OR 64. Rogers Mountain/Scio tile. I’ve heard stories about guys digging down twenty feet where the wood was called The Log Jam. Tons of great wood, mostly sequoia and metasequoia, came out of there. The wood from there and neighboring Scio is unlike other fossil wood. The mineralization is excellent – hard and glassy often with no fracturing. Full rounds were always scarce. The cellular chains are packed tight together and seem as if they’ve been twisted, combed, and rearranged to create beauty. The colors cover a wide range with abundant tans, peppered with reddish to salmon and some blue and usually this unique black that I have seen from nowhere else – it is the hardest and glassiest black and has a deep sheen. Back in those days of rockhound bounty, some tiled their homes with wood like this. I’ve had this one on my bookshelf for 20+ years. The cutter did a great job balancing the tan with the black. Polished only on top which is 13 by 6 cm; 10 mm thick; 7.5 ounces. $55
FJD OR 163. McDermitt Zimmerman Ranch Museum Specimen/Trochodendron. Miocene Trout Creek formation. Tiny and perfect full round limb end, cut and polished on one end and natural otherwise. Large pith trochodendron. No glue/No filler. 3.5 by 3 cm mirror-polished face; 40 mm long; 2.4 ounces. $60
FJD OR 20. South Fork of the Crooked River. Pinkish and thoroughly glassy full round limb cast, cut and polished on one end and otherwise all natural. Rings of agate encase the quartz crystal center. Attractive wood impression exterior. Super solid. No glue or filler. 5.5 cm tall; 5.5 by 5 cm polished face; nine ounces. $115