Jefferson County - Madras

There are several really famous beds and locations for thundereggs in the region around Madras.

Ochs Ranch

Dolly Parton Bed
Dolly Parton Bed

size: 118x113 mm


Really nice Dolly Parton bed thunderegg with whitish and blueish agate banding in fuzzy chalcedony.

size: 90x80 mm

 

Pony Creek on Ochs Ranch is similar to Pony Butte on the Richardson Rock Ranch. Both are next to each other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

dark red: 84x92 mm

Richardson Rock Ranch

The owners of Richardson Ranch are Johnnie and Norma. Norma used to be a Kennedy from the near by Kennedy Ranch. When they got married they combined the two ranches. Then later on in years they purchased the so called "Priday Area" which has the current beds which are open to digging. So all the egg beds are currently on Richardson's Ranch. However the old numbered beds (1-6) were on the original Kennedy Ranch property.

  • Bed 1 is also known as Richardson's Bed. This was the first bed they dug on Richardson's Ranch about back in the late 1960's. Due to a property dispute it was only dug for a brief period and long forgotten about until the summer of 2013 when John & Casey went back in and opened it back up. The eggs are really interesting.
  • In the area of the Pony Butte bed the "Test Hole #1" was dug first in 2006.
  • Priday Ranch means the old diggings in all the other beds except of #1-#6.

The Richardson (Rock) Ranch is, in my oppinion, the most famous thunderegg source in the world. The thundereggs are reeally unique with their brownish matrix and spherical to sub-spherical shape.

  • Kennedy Ranges
    • Bed 1
    • Bed 2
    • Bed 2-3 area
    • Bed 3
    • Bed 4
    • Bed 5
    • Bed 6
  • Priday Ranges
    • Blue Bed
    • Cliff Bed
    • Flat Bed
    • Moss Bed
    • "Old Priday Ranch"
    • Opal Bed
    • Plume Bed
    • Pony Butte
    • Pony Butte - Lower Lvl
    • Red Bed
    • Road to Moss Bed
    • Road to Opal Bed
    • Smith Bed
    • South Blue Bed
    • Testhole (#1)
    • Windmill Bed

Unkown Beds

size:

 

A lithophysae core from the Richardson Rock Ranch. You can see the shape of the agate core in a thunderegg, 3d star like.

size:

You can call it 'rotton cheese' - as it looks like - or just brecciated opal in an egg from the Richardson Ranch. Crazy pattern.

 

size:

Fragment of a t-egg with white opal.

Bed #1

Richardson Ranch "Bed #1"
Richardson Ranch "Bed #1"

size:

 

Quite large egg with level banding and neat moss structures in the deep chalcedony - Bed #1.

Richardson Ranch "Bed #1"
Richardson Ranch "Bed #1"

Bed #2

RRR Bed#2
RRR Bed#2

size: 165x115 mm

 

A very huge egg with opal and level banding from the rarely known Bed #2 on the Richardson Rock Ranch.

Bed 2-3 area

Very new finds by Ed Pieters in 2015. Thundereggs with dark matrix in an area between Bed 2 and 3.

Blue Bed

RRR Blue Bed
RRR Blue Bed

size: 75x70 mm

 

A classic Blue Bed egg with blue colored level banding and some white opal.

Flat Bed

RRR Flat Bed
RRR Flat Bed

size: 110x55 mm

 

The Flat Bed eggs are often flattened and have a greenish matrix.

 

 

 



limonite egg: 51x35 mm

pink opal egg: 80x45 mm

Moss Bed

RRR Moss Bed
RRR Moss Bed

size: 112x73 mm

 

Typicall Moss Bed t-eggs should have some moss in it. This one sticks to that feature.









double: 140x50 mm

On the Way to Opal Bed

RRR On the Way to Opal Bed
RRR On the Way to Opal Bed

size:

 

Found at the way to the Opal Bed. Pretty awesome pattern. Slice, rough cut.

Opal Bed

RRR Opal Bed
RRR Opal Bed

size: 65x70 mm

 

Opal Bed is also one of the classic beds on RRR. This egg shows some nice green and brown matrix with a beautiful white-blueish opal filling.

 

 

 

Blue opal filling in the first one below here (68x53 mm) and a quadruplet egg with waterlines besides it (76x78mm).

Plume Bed

RRR Plume Bed
RRR Plume Bed

size: 58x45(x03) mm

 

This slice comes from a Plume Bed egg and has some really nice reddish plumes in clear chalcedony.

 

 

 

 

 

size: 72x53 mm

Pony Butte

RRR Pony Butte
RRR Pony Butte

size: 60x55 mm

 

A typical RRR egg from the Pony Butte Bed.

 

 

 

 



bronce moss: -

tripple: 164x95 mm

stalactites: -

Pony Butte - Lower Lvl

RRR Pony Butte - Lower Lvl
RRR Pony Butte - Lower Lvl

size: 103x68 mm


Intersting spherolithic pattern showing the genesis of the material. Origin: Pony Butte Lower Level.

Priday Ranges (aka. Priday Ranch / Old Priday Ranch)

RRR Priday Ranch
RRR Priday Ranch

size: 59x56 mm

 

The oldest complex on RRR is the Priday Ranch were the first eggs had been found - as I remember. This one has a lot of moss and nice colors.

Red Bed

RRR Red Bed
RRR Red Bed

size: 125x60 mm

 

A great tripple egg from the Red Bed. It's filled with moss, plume and level banding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 'Black Beard t-egg': 88x88 mm

yellow moss: 87x87 mm

Smith Bed

RRR Smith Bed
RRR Smith Bed

size:

 

Some really rare sub-location is the Smith Bed. Never ever heard about it until I bought this specimen.

South Blue Bed

RRR South Blue Bed
RRR South Blue Bed

size: 80x65 mm

 

From the newest known bed on the RRR, the South Blue Bed. Most eggs have a slightly flattened shape.

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

blue agate, moss: 73x76 mm

opal layers: -

layers: -

Testhole (#1)

RRR Testhole
RRR Testhole

size: 118x114 mm


One of the newest beds is the Test Hole (#1). It produced some different styled eggs liek this double one with precious opal and moss.

Wild Iris Bed

Wild Iris
Wild Iris

In 2012 or 2013 Jason Hinkle discovered a new thunderegg bed about 15 km south to the famous Richardson Ranch. It is called the Wild Iris Bed.

 

Example on the left is one of the reddish surface finds.

 

Here are some examples I got from a dig of him with Ed Pieters in the first years