s a child growing up in Houston, I often thought of nothing more than getting outside and wandering the edges of my world to see what new things I could find. Of course as I grew older, my world grew larger and I wandered greater distances (despite my mother’s constant warnings) to find even more interesting things and places filled with new sights, smells, and sounds.

By the time I was 10 years old, I knew where the biggest ditches, closest ponds (mostly puddles), and the best-tasting dewberries could be found and explored. I had already been exposed to searching for arrowheads and small rocks in a variety of places my parents traveled to, and one day I happened to wander far enough to find a path leading to the nearby set of railroad tracks. Once I set foot on those tracks, my life was changed forever.

The glistening rails appeared to go on forever, and I had never seen so many different looking rocks in one place. I am not certain whether it was the first time I walked a few feet down those tracks, but eventually I had to see what was inside one of the rocks I found. It occurred to me it might be possible to break one open by slamming it down against the steel rail. It may have taken several attempts, but once I managed to break a rock on one of the rails and see what it had hidden inside, I was definitely hooked.

About that same time my parents decided to take a trip out west to expose me to the several national parks in the western states and eventually to the brand new “Disney Land” and other wonderful places in California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado. Along the highways we found (mostly I noticed them) many rock shops and other curio shops. Although I was only eleven years old, I quickly developed an interest in agates and other polished rocks.

The photos were taken by Matthew Phillips and Matt Dillon. HGMS club members around the truck are Matthew Phillips, John Anderson, Bob Rosenkranz, and Blanca Lopez.

Marjie Erkkila, Bob Rosenkranz, and Matt Dillon examine agates around a table.

It did not take long for me to realize there had to be a relationship between the beautiful polished rocks in the shops and the rocks I found on the railroad tracks. I wasn’t sure what it meant, but it spurred me on to spending even more time on those tracks, breaking rocks, and learning what could be inside them.

Over the next five or six years I began to learn about rock shops in Houston and as soon as I could drive, I spent as much time as I could visiting them and spending as much money as I could afford on rocks and mineral specimens. I quickly established my favorites as agates from Mexico and West Texas with the beautiful banding and plumes. Wanting to learn more about them, I also began buying issues of the Lapidary Journal and other similar publications and reading about the exotic-sounding places the agates and minerals came from.

I often daydreamed of taking trips to west Texas and to Mexico to find agates of my own. I read every account I could find that described the efforts already made by older collectors. As I grew older and got a job, I was able to make a few trips out west and did experience first hand the pleasure of exploring the foothills of mountains and the expanses of deserts and finding my own agates. I also began buying the equipment necessary to cut and polish rocks, which only served to wet my appetite for more collecting.

The agates on the table are some found by Preston Adcox near San Carlos in 2004.

Preston Adcox and his wife Janet polished these agates and created the wire wrapped pendant.

Meanwhile, I continued to dream of getting across the border and of finding a “glory hole” of an agate deposit that would justify my efforts. It took about six or seven years of frequent inquiries before I learned about some day-trips being operated out of Lajitas, Texas. I was told those wanting to go on these trips would have to find a way across the border and if enough people showed an interest, the guide would meet us there and provide transportation to the collecting sites in Mexico.

This was around 1990 and I eventually went on one of those trips, but I was greatly disappointed when I found out the actual rock collecting time was to last only a couple of hours and that most of the trip consisted of driving around the San Carlos area on dusty roads and having lunch in San Carlos. We did visit two sites, and I managed to pick up about twenty pounds of agate of several varieties. However, I never felt I spent enough time looking at the rocks to become familiar with them and to understand the potential of the area.

I never did hear back from that person and ended up making other similar inquiries of people who lived or worked in that general area. Around the 1995–1996 time period, I found out about a bed and breakfast being built in San Carlos, Chihuahua, Mexico and was introduced to the owner who lived in Lajitas, Texas. During my meeting with Ms. Gloria Rodriguez, I learned that she was related to the guide who took us to the collecting sites on the day trips. I also learned that Mr. Fidencio Villa was one of the men who collected agate and mineral specimens and sold them to the dealers who came from time to time to the border to buy.

With the help of a friend and through Ms. Rodriquez, I took a trip over to spend the night at the bed and breakfast and went to see the collecting sites where the guide had permission to take us. I found the agate beds—the guide took us to an agate-collecting paradise. It contained several varieties of agate, and I immediately began making plans to return with a larger group as soon as I could make the arraignments. Gloria Rodriguez (above), owner of the bed and breakfast, admires the pendant and thinks she would like one like it.

Since 1996 I have made more than a dozen trips to San Carlos and have taken more than fifty different collectors on trips lasting anywhere from three to five days. On one of the earlier trips, I discovered a deposit of bouquet agate that had not previously been identified or written about. That same area produces beautiful fortification and tube agate.

My experiences with the bed and breakfast (called “La Gloria”) and the guides in Mexico have certainly been the fulfillment of a life-long dream. The accommodations and food are excellent, and the agate collecting has been all I hoped for.