Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite finder list
Al, I can't find my copy of Find a Falling Star :-( But in that book Nininger describes the one and only time he, purely by chance, surface collected a previously unknown meteorite. As I recall, it was a very small chondrite. If you can find that passage, or if someone else can find where he describes that chance find, please post it to the list if possible. Thanks, Charlie __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite finder list
I want to thank Robert Woolard for answering my question regarding the only previously unknown meteorite actually field collected by Nininger. It was Puente-Ladron, an L chondrite of 7.673 grams which Nininger picked up near a bridge over the Puerco River, 10 miles from Ladron Peak, in Socorro Co, New Mexico, on 17th May, 1944. Nininger describes the discovery on page 143 of Find a Falling Star. Now if I could just find my copy, I could read about it:-) Thanks again Robert! Charlie __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Meteorite finder list: Puente-Ladron
Charlie wrote: Now if I could just find my copy, I could read about it. Hi Charlie and List, .. and just in case you don't :-) MARVIN U.B. (1993) The Puente-Ladron chondrite (Meteoritics 28-3, 1993, 269-270): In the October, 1944, issue of the Contributions, Nininger announced his discovery of a tiny 7.7-g chondrite he found near a spot where he stopped by the road to eat his lunch on a windswept sandy-clay flat in Socorro County, New Mexico. He named it the Puente- Ladron meteorite and marked the site with a pile of stones. Nininger reasoned that this small stone was probably part of a shower and encouraged everyone interested in doing so to search the area for more pieces. He requested that accurate notes be kept of find- sites and that any additional specimens be sent to him for comparison with his own, after which they would promptly be returned. In the February, 1946, issue of CSRM, LaPaz remarked that artifacts were common in that part of New Mexico and that unless it could be shown that the Puente-Ladron stone had not been transported to the area by an Indian who discarded or lost it there, a search would not be justified (LaPaz, 1946a). The April issue carried an article by Claude H. Smith (1946), of Geneva, New York, who reminded readers that the discovery of a new stony meteorite by a student of meteorites was well-nigh unique in the annals of meteoritics. He doubted that the little stone, which was originally described as strongly resembling the dark pebbles liberally strewn about the area, was sufficiently distinctive to attract the attention of an Indian unless he saw it fall. Furthermore, if it had lain where it was found since Indians in any great numbers occupied the area, it should have been much more weathered than it was. Smith argued that the main facts were against the possibility that it had been carried to the area by an Indian and that searches for more stones should be made in the area. In August, LaPaz (1946b) responded that certain remarks published under the name of Claude H. Smith could not pass unchallenged. Indians were known to have carried meteorites about with them. Indeed, Nininger himself had reported finding four stony meteorites at Indian campsites in Kansas and eastern Colorado. That Indians were very sharp-eyed observers who could distin- guish between materials that looked similar was shown by the presence in the Puente-Ladron area of arrowheads and other points made from very small pebbles and spalls of obsidian. LaPaz described the high winds and sandstorms, which could quickly cover or uncover the surface of the area, making invalid all assumptions about the weathering of any one specimen. He reported that a University of New Mexico anthropologist, knowledgeable about meteorites, had looked for them there without success during field surveys in the region. LaPaz found the area to be unpropitious for meteorite hunting and advised all who were interested in such a pursuit to go to the plains around the Barringer Crater. Finally, LaPaz pointed out that Dr. H.H. Nininger himself must lack faith in his own advice, because he had failed to include the Puente-Ladron area on a list he sent to LaPaz in April, 1946, of New Mexico localities in which he planned to continue field programs. His tone suggests that LaPaz may have suspected Claude H. Smith to be a pseudonym for Nininger himself; however, Claude H. Smith of Geneva, New York, joined the Society in 1955. Nininger (1947a) delivered a rejoinder at the 1946 meeting of the Society. He observed that his attempt to give a break to would-be meteorite finders had developed into an argument about how his specimen got where he found it. He customarily searched his findsites for evidence of human occupation and had found none nearby. The specimen showed no effects of handling nor of sandblasting. He commented that meteorite hunting requires a lot of patience, but the least fruitful occupation is that of figuring out why none can be found. Nininger suggested that amateurs have spent more searching time between finds at the Barringer Crater than had been spent by all concerned at Puente-Ladron. Following Nininger's paper, Lincoln LaPaz (1947) published what he announced as the final remarks on Puente-Ladron. He said that as a member of the Society's Committee on Publications he had been given the opportunity to read the preceding paper prior to its publication. The manuscript was listed as N, and so, throughout his own paper, he referred to Nininger as the author of N. He restated his position, argued against N's statement regarding hunting for specimens of Canyon Diablo, and, in conclusion, pointed out that Puente-Ladron had long enjoyed the dubious distinction of being the least examined of meteorites of uncertain identity. With the appearance of N and the present critique Puente-Ladron now achieved a second questionable distinction: that of being the meteorite
Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite finder list
Greetings Robert and all, Robert Matson wrote: Hi All, I've been spending some spare time compiling a list of prolific meteorite finders (primarily extracting all finders' names from Meteoritical Bulletins), and was wondering if anyone had a list of meteorites found by Nininger (since his heydays predate the Bulletins)? His influence is certainly responsible for hundreds of meteorites being recovered from the grain belt, but I haven't been able to find a list of meteorites he actually found himself. Perhaps part of the answer lies here in a part of a Nininger Moment I generated. It might help you be selective in where you might hunt for the specimens recovered by Nininger. Please note that Addie Nininger and Harvey kept an excellent journal on all the field work they did. This was the beginning of the Meteoritical Bulletins and were turned over to be used later on and are now a part of those. From Nininger Moment #9 Nininger brought to light over 222 previously unknown falls, that added up to over 2,000 individual meteorites during this time frame of hunting. No doubt that many other new falls were found as an indirect result of his program to other institutions, collectors and scientists. A Dr. Flecter Watson of Harvard once wrote in his book Between The Planets Published in 1941 that Nininger was accounting for half of all the discoveries in the world at that time. In 1937 thirty one new discoveries were tabulated to have been found due to Nininger's efforts. More than three times the amount found in any three years previous for the entire world. For all of the finds there were also the pseudo meteorite finds that totaled some 35,000 specimens that yielded nothing. Nininger figured he had published over 150 different papers, four books and two booklets and passed out over 200,000 free leaflets in his effort to bring about new meteorite finds and information. From Find a Falling Star Best! --AL Mitterling Mitterling Meteorites __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite finder list
Dear All, Find a Falling Star gets me all weepy! Dave F. AL Mitterling wrote: Greetings Robert and all, Robert Matson wrote: Hi All, I've been spending some spare time compiling a list of prolific meteorite finders (primarily extracting all finders' names from Meteoritical Bulletins), and was wondering if anyone had a list of meteorites found by Nininger (since his heydays predate the Bulletins)? His influence is certainly responsible for hundreds of meteorites being recovered from the grain belt, but I haven't been able to find a list of meteorites he actually found himself. Perhaps part of the answer lies here in a part of a Nininger Moment I generated. It might help you be selective in where you might hunt for the specimens recovered by Nininger. Please note that Addie Nininger and Harvey kept an excellent journal on all the field work they did. This was the beginning of the Meteoritical Bulletins and were turned over to be used later on and are now a part of those. From Nininger Moment #9 Nininger brought to light over 222 previously unknown falls, that added up to over 2,000 individual meteorites during this time frame of hunting. No doubt that many other new falls were found as an indirect result of his program to other institutions, collectors and scientists. A Dr. Flecter Watson of Harvard once wrote in his book Between The Planets Published in 1941 that Nininger was accounting for half of all the discoveries in the world at that time. In 1937 thirty one new discoveries were tabulated to have been found due to Nininger's efforts. More than three times the amount found in any three years previous for the entire world. For all of the finds there were also the pseudo meteorite finds that totaled some 35,000 specimens that yielded nothing. Nininger figured he had published over 150 different papers, four books and two booklets and passed out over 200,000 free leaflets in his effort to bring about new meteorite finds and information. From Find a Falling Star Best! --AL Mitterling Mitterling Meteorites __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Meteorite finder list
Hi All, I've been spending some spare time compiling a list of prolific meteorite finders (primarily extracting all finders' names from Meteoritical Bulletins), and was wondering if anyone had a list of meteorites found by Nininger (since his heydays predate the Bulletins)? His influence is certainly responsible for hundreds of meteorites being recovered from the grain belt, but I haven't been able to find a list of meteorites he actually found himself. Of course, any such list that I can compile will be very incomplete since some of the most prolific finders are nameless nomads from Northwest Africa, the dozens of Antarctic finders working as teams, and anonymous hunters searching in Libya, Egypt, Oman and other hot desert locations. (There are a LOT of Acfer finds!) --Rob __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite finder list
Rob M. writes: Of course, any such list that I can compile will be very incomplete since some of the most prolific finders are nameless nomads from Northwest Africa, the dozens of Antarctic finders working as teams, and anonymous hunters searching in Libya, Egypt, Oman and other hot desert locations Hola Rob, Not to mention the dust bowl unlucky farmers during the great depression that were inspired by Nininger! Would his actual finds really number more than 10 in his over a half century of hunting, and wouldn't most be in the book due to their importance to him as actually tracking the first piece down an picking up the very first piece in the field? I bet you may have actually found more than him...I assume the offering money and advertising in the papers, doing lectures and other promotion, nor going to strewn fields behind someone else doesn't count... My respects to H. H., he was the greatest at what he did! I completely agree with you on the credit that should be given that goes unrecognized in the areas you mention. Sorry, but while the Antarctic teams and the nomads, and other enterprising individuals have my deepest respect and great admiration for their successes, there is a big chasm between triangulating falls and sifting through sand and snow, though each of those activities definitely has its ticklish and consuming science. Neverthless, there is something about the under-our-noses contrarian initiative and varied landscape of Nininger's recoveries that I am betting you and most others would agree set him apart. It is a quite very difficult to put the finger on reason, but you know it when you see it. Saludos, Doug __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite finder list
Hi Rob, The book Bernd mentioned - NININGER H.H. and NININGER A.D. (1950) The Nininger Collection of Meteorites: A Catalog and a History (American Meteorite Museum, Winslow, Arizona. 144 pp.). contains maps of US-finds. Those which were definitely traceable to the field activities of the Nininger Survey are designated by a black dot., p.19 Now I have to check the maps and to find the names COLORADO: Akron Alamosa Arapahoe Arriba Bethune Briggsdale (somewhat strange dot) Cope Cortez De Nova Doyleville Eaton Holly Holyoke Horse Creek Hugo Karval Kelly Lost Lake Newson Ovid Peetz Phillips County Rifle Rush Creek Seibert Shaw Springfield Sterling Stonington Township 8 Weldona Wiley Wray KANSAS: Beardsley Brewster Cedar Colby Coldwater (iron) Coldwater (stone) Coolidge Covert Dwight Elkhart Garnett Goodland Grant County Haviland Horace Hugoton Ingalls Johnson Ladder Creek Lawrence Modoc No. 2 Morland Ness County No. 2 New Almelo Norcatur Norton Oberlin Otis Pierceville Ransom Rolla Rolla No. 2 Rolla No. 3 Seneca Ulysses Waldo Wilburton Wilmot + a missnumbered - it's on Southern border of Kingman, to the North-Western corner of Harper. I guess: Nashville NEBRASKA: Arcadia Broken Bow Bushnell Cotesfield Dix Farnum Hayes Center Hildreth Indianola Lancaster County Loomis Marsland Morrell Potter Saint Ann Sioux County Tryon Whitman WYOMING: Albin (pallasite) Bear Lodge Albin (stone) Clareton Hat Creek Hawk Creek Lusk Pine Bluffs Silver Crown Willow Creek NEW MEXICO Acme Alamogordo Aurora Aztec Farley Gladstone Grady Grady No. 2 Hobbs La Lande Melrose Pinon Roy Roy No. 2 Taiban Tatum Tequezyuito Creek Ute Creek Pasamonte TEXAS (Gulp. Almost unreadable, so small the map): Abernathy Lockney Lubbock Hale Center Hale Center No. 2 Floydada Shallowater McAddo Howe Brownfield Wellman Haskell Ballinger Monahans Brady Texline Gruver Spearman a misnumbered South-East of Texline Romero Channing Miami Laketon Adrian McLean Pallisades Park Brisco Co. The new Merbull database doesn't work yet, if one want to search the texts, so put the Blue Book on the knees. Best! Martin - Original Message - From: Matson, Robert [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Sent: Friday, December 16, 2005 9:47 PM Subject: [meteorite-list] Meteorite finder list Hi All, I've been spending some spare time compiling a list of prolific meteorite finders (primarily extracting all finders' names from Meteoritical Bulletins), and was wondering if anyone had a list of meteorites found by Nininger (since his heydays predate the Bulletins)? His influence is certainly responsible for hundreds of meteorites being recovered from the grain belt, but I haven't been able to find a list of meteorites he actually found himself. Of course, any such list that I can compile will be very incomplete since some of the most prolific finders are nameless nomads from Northwest Africa, the dozens of Antarctic finders working as teams, and anonymous hunters searching in Libya, Egypt, Oman and other hot desert locations. (There are a LOT of Acfer finds!) --Rob __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
