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F.M. "SHADY" MYRICK RESEARCH PROJECT
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Francis Marion "Shady" Myrick,
Famous Death Valley Prospector:
Born Iowa 1850, Died Leadville,
Colorado 1925, Buried Johannesburg,
California
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The Shady Myrick Project is a multifacted program promoting the history, education and appreciation of Gem and Mineral Collecting, Rockhounding and the Lapidary Arts.
The Lightburn brothers, George and John, are the great-grand nephews of the famous prospector Francis Marion "Shady" Myrick. The Lightburn and Myrick families have undertaken the Myrick research project in order to protect and preserve an extensive gem and mineral collection founded by their grandparents, George B. and Anna P. Lightburn.
The gems and minerals collected by Shady Myrick from 1875 to 1925 serve as the foundation of the Lightburn Collection. The Myrick specimens were dispalyed in 1915 at the Panamerican Pacific International Exhibition held in the City of San Francisco. Because the Myrick gems and minerals were of such quality, scarcity and significance, many international traders and society collectors were eager to exchange specimens with the Lightburns.
Over the years, Lightburn and Myrick family members, and their friends have contributed to the total collection. The collection contains specimens and artifacts from 44 states, Canada and Mexico, South America, Asia, India, Europe and many other places.
The Collection contains an extensive photo and film library depicting the life and times of a gemstone prospector and his family in the Mojave Desert and Death Valley regions during the early 1900s. The Collection also holds Shady's antique spyglass he gave to Franklin Delano Roosevelt for use by the Navy during World War I.
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Please go to Special Photos for Museum related pictures.
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