A mineral surveyor archive from the important, mineral and ore-rich San Juan Triangle region of Colorado, spanning the years 1878-1935, sold for $28,060 at a three-day Wild West Wonders auction held Aug. 8 to 10 by Holabird Western Americana Collections, online and live in the Holabird gallery located in Reno, Nev. The variety sale was packed with 1,737 lots. In 1879, Silverton, Colo., and the greater San Juan region was exploding in prospecting and production. By 1905, the population stood at 3,000. U.S. Deputy James Dyson was the sole mineral surveyor, active up to his death in 1923. By 1960, 64 million ounces of silver; 348,000 ounces of gold; and millions more in zinc, lead, and copper had been mined. Dysons surveyor archive included material dated beginning in 1878 and realized $28,060. The collecting categories in the three-day sale had an array of mining, numismatics, Native Americana, philatelic, Western Americana, and antique stocks and bonds. Bids were placed live and in person; over the phone with an agent; and online via iCollector.com, LiveAuctioneers.com, Invaluable.com and Auctionzip.com. Were in our final series of auctions before my official retirement at the end of this year, said Fred Holabird. Wild West Wonders was the penultimate live sale, with one more scheduled for October. Were calling that one Holabirds Grand Finale. The material already coming in for the October sale is great, and were imagining it will be a proper send-off for Fred, who has spent decades creating new collectors, building collecting markets, writing original research articles, and bringing thousands and thousands of historical items to auction, said a spokesperson for the company, adding, What a fantastic run he had! A top achiever on day one was a scarce copy of the book Redwood and Lumbering in California Forests with Illustrations (1884), one of only a handful known with 24 original albumen prints inside the book, all in excellent condition. The book was published by Edgar Cherry, a traveling agent for the Sonoma Democrat newspaper. It timbered for $4,375. A porcelain sign for the June Lake Loop Automobile Club in Southern California, for a famous route in the Eastern Sierra, went for $2,000, while an original cel painting for the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988), showing Jessica Rabbit, with a letter on back from Disney saying its original, garnered $1,750. Two very different lots posted identical prices of $1,562. One was a ca. 1900 pintail duck wood decoy by William J. Mason, with all original paint and glass eyes. The other was a late 19th-century saloon photo taken in Skagway, Alaska, with one of the men in the photo believed to be the outlaw and gambler Jefferson Randolph Soapy Smith. Day two action was brisk and was led by the U.S. Mineral Surveyor archive. Also sold was stock certificate No. 2 for the Homestake Mining Company, dated Nov. 2, 1877, important because Homestake was Americas largest single producing gold mine at well over 50 million ounces since the day this was issued ($5,625), and a stock certificate for the North American Land Company, issued to James Rees in 1795 and signed by Founding Father Robert Morris ($1,312). A spectacular, world-class gold-quartz watchchain of the prospector Stephen Roberts, a trophy of his work in the 1860s with the two mines at Belmont, Nev., the Highbridge and Monitor-Belmont, climbed to $8,437. Also, a collection of California medium-size (#10) placer gold nuggets, weighing approximately 16.5 grams, suitable for jewelry, sold for $2,875. A vintage Navajo turquoise squash blossom necklace believed to have been made by silversmith Clyde Begay of the Canyoncito, N.M. region, 17 inches long, brought $2,250, while an exquisite Zuni-made corn maiden inlaid necklace presented on a three-strand turquoise nugget necklace, signed, designed, and created by Zuni Native Eldred Martinez, realized $1,812. A book inscribed by the notorious outlaw Black Bart (real name: Charles Boles), signed while he was in prison and dated Jan. 1, 1888, and possibly given to him by a newspaper reporter, earned $2,000. Also, a ca. 1870s carte de visite of Wild West showman Buffalo Bill Cody, made by the Theatrical Photography Co. and depicting Cody as a young man, fetched $1,562. Day three featured an original cancelled Carson City (Nev.) mint coin die for the obverse of a $20 Double Eagle gold coin, authenticated by CC Mint Press Operator Ken Hopple, with four strikes by Hopple, achieved $3,750, while an original Carson City Mint canvas coin bag, likely for dollars given the coin imprints visible on the lower portion of the bag, framed, sold for $2,625. For further information, visit www.holabirdamericana.com.