Most Wyoming residents understand that mining coal and other commodities such as trona, iron, gold, and uranium has been a huge part of State’s economy for over a hundred years.  However, mining has a much longer history here than most people realize.

In the early 1880’s, some cowboys came upon these pits and trenches that were obviously created by humans. They couldn’t believe that the buffalo-hunting Indians who had recently vacated the area were capable of any kind of mining, so they concluded that the pits must be evidence Spanish Conquistadors had visited the area looking for gold.  They called these quarries the “Spanish Diggings.”

Since the 1950’s, many scientific studies have documented that Plains Indians were indeed responsible for mining at these and other quarries.  What the Indians were after was a very hard stone called quartzite that is imbedded in other types of sedimentary rock in this region. Quartzite forms sharp edges when it is broken properly and it was cherished for use in tools and weapons.  Stone from these quarries was also a valuable trade item.  Stone from the Spanish Diggings is found at archaeological sites hundreds of miles away.

When Native Americans discovered a particularly thick or high-quality outcrop, they used levers, heating-thawing and other techniques to break the rock and follow leads, very much like hard rock miners follow veins of gold or silver. Mining has a long and fascinating history here and it is one of the Wonders of Wyoming.  I’m Gene Gade for the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service.