ARKANSAS DIAMONDS...FINDERS/KEEPERS

There are many fields in Arkansas. Fields of rice, cotton, beans, corn, diamonds. Diamonds? Arkansas has a field of diamonds? Yeap, she certainly does!

Every year over 85,000 visitor's search for diamonds in 36.5-acres of plowed greenish colored volcanic ground located in southwest Arkansas near Murfreesboro. Crater of Diamonds State Park is the only diamond site in the world where the public can search and keep what they find. The first diamonds were found there in 1906. Since then over 70,000 diamonds have been unearthed from the site including the largest diamond found in North America. The 40.23-carat "Uncle Sam" was discovered in 1924. The park contains the world's eighth largest diamond reserve.

One visitor described the search like trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack. The guest book at the park tells the Department of Parks and Tourism that people from all over the world have been there. The chance of finding a diamond is the park's ultimate lure, the shared time participating in this unique recreational activity seems reward enough for many families.

The 3.03-carat white diamond found in 1990 by Shirley Strawn of Murfreesboro was recently appraised at $33,790 after being cut to a flawless, 1.09-carat stone. On April 7, Carole Dickinson Stevens of Louisiana and her mother, Mary Dickinson of Mississippi, found a pale yellow diamond weighing 7.28 carats. It was the fifth largest diamond found since the site became a state park in 1972. The largest was the 16.37-carat "Amarillo Starlight" found by a Texas visitor in 1975. On March 2, Donna Bell of Houston discovered a 3.89-carat, white diamond. She came to the park after hearing about it on Oprah Winfrey's television talk show. John Huddleston discovered the site's first diamond in 1906.

Two of the most famous diamonds found in Arkansas are the Kahn Canary diamond and the Arkansas diamond. The Kahn Canary diamond weighs 4.25 carats in the rough. It was unearthed in the Crater of Diamonds State Park in 1977, the Kahn Canary is said to be the unofficial symbol of the Arkansas. It was bought and named by Stan Kahn of Pine Bluff, Arkansas. George Stepp of Carthage, Arkansas discovered it.The Arkansas diamond weighs 27.21 carats in the rough.It was discovered at another site near Searcy, Arkansas in 1926. It is the third largest diamond found in the United States. The rough is valued at over $110,000.

It's a good idea to wear shoes of which you aren't especially proud and to bring sunscreen, a brimmed hat and water. The best time to surface-search the field in on a sunny day after a heavy rainfall. The park staff provides free identification and certification of gems. In addition to diamonds, the field contains more than 40 other rocks and minerals, including amethyst, agate, jasper, quartz, calcite and barite. The parks' visitor center offers an audio-visual presentation giving tips on diamond hunting. Exhibits in the center's Diamond Museum detail the site's interesting history and geology and include a display of diamonds in the rough.

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