[meteorite-list] Find spot-Fall spot-Google Earth-Mystery-Questions

From: Walter L. Newton <newtonw2_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed Jun 28 00:42:06 2006
Message-ID: <009601c69a6d$2a606130$6ad70818_at_walter>

Hi all

Walter the Newbie here again.

The other night, I was looking over the Meteoritical Bulletin Database for
meteorites discovered in Colorado (I live in Golden, Co. which is west of
Denver right in the foothills of the Rockies).

I was looking over the Colorado list that I pulled up from the database and
I saw a listing for the APEX find (6.1 grams, Type L6, found 1938). I had
never heard of a place named APEX. I clicked on the "globe" which was part
of the legend, and "wow," my Google Earth booted up, and a bookmark for APEX
Colorado was placed in the Google Earth place list and then Google Earth
took me to the location. I didn't know it could do that.

My second surprise. The APEX location was about 5 miles from my apartment.
It was just up my street, off a dirt road that meandered through the
foothills just northwest of my place.

A mystery. I Goggled the web to find out something about Apex Colorado. Apex
Colorado was a town developed during the Colorado gold boom. It is now one
of Colorado's surviving ghost towns. The mystery for me is this. The actual
physical location of Apex is about 15 miles directly west of the find spot
above my apartment location, into the Rocky Mountains.

Why would the find be named after a town 15 miles away when the find is a
(excuse the pun), a rocks throw from my town of Golden? And there are many
other places nearby that could have been used to name the find.

Another mystery. This Apex find behind my location was only one small 6.1
gram stone. Why only one very small stone. Where are the others?

Further investigation into this spot near my apartment was interesting. This
spot was, at one time, a plains Indian encampment. Archeological studies
have been done of this site. The Indians called this spot Magic Mountain
(getting creepy now). The locals whites called it APEX GULCH. How come the
name of the find is not Apex Gulch or Magic Mountain, instead of just plain
Apex?

I surmised that the meteorite found here probably came from the medicine bag
of one of these Indians who lived at the site.

Can a find spot only indicate that a meteorite was found at that spot, even
though a fall never happened there?

If I'm tramping around the foothills and my meteorite pocket piece falls out
of my pocket and 50 years from now someone finds it, would it be possible
that that piece could be give a name for the find?

This find spot is now all private property, but I wonder. Just one stone, or
is there more up there waiting to be found.

And one afterthought. If you all go rushing up there, someone stop at my
apartment and pick me up, I'd like to get to meet you all.
 
Walter L. Newton
1400 Utah Street #101
Golden, Co 80401

Home 303-279-3046
Cell 303-906-9653
 
Received on Wed 28 Jun 2006 12:41:47 AM PDT