Priceless Find While Herkimer Diamond Mining

When I was little, one of the highlights of my summer was mining for Herkimer Diamonds.

Each summer, my sister and I would take long walks with my grandmother along Brockway Road, high on the hill in Frankfort. We would get so excited every time we spotted a gleaming rock hiding beneath a few stones and steaming hot road tar. Sometimes our excitement would lead to disappointment when we realized that the bright and shiny quartz that appeared was just the sunlight reflecting off of a broken piece of glass. Other times we would head home with a pocket full of beautiful Herkimer Diamonds!

One hot summer day, the three of us were walking; talking and enjoying our scavenger hunt when we witnessed something that touched our hearts: a seemingly sick fawn was lying down along the side of the road in a helpless state. The mother deer was standing next to her doing her best to nurse the babe back to health; but ultimately she seemed helpless too. My grandmother was a smart lady so she knew what to do next: a gentleman that lived up the road was a veterinarian. We told him what we saw and he immediately came to the rescue. After he examined the sick fawn, he determined that the babe had an illness called Epizootic hemorrhagic disease. Apparently the disease is transmitted by gnats.

Now for the good news: our veterinarian friend treated and nursed the sick deer back to health in just a few short weeks! He even asked my sister and me to watch the release of the healthy deer back into her home environment. Naturally we said yes. Watching that happy, healthy deer skip back into the forest was a sight that I'll never forget! It was a priceless childhood memory that's forever engrained in my mind!

Just Jen and I chatted about Herkimer Diamonds this morning at 6:40. Click the purple tab directly below the Just Jen header to hear it!