Rocks are often given a bad rap. No one wants to be between a rock and a hard place, and phrases like “hitting rock bottom” and “as smart as a box of rocks” reflect such negativity. Still, there are some people who actually think that rocks rock. They have pet rocks, rock gardens, and rock facades on their homes and fireplaces.

To say that Don and Joan Shaw loved rocks would not be hyperbole. They were well known rockhounds and started a gem and mineral business in their home five miles west of Lakin in 1979. Their business was known as “Shaws’ From the Land of Oz.”

For years, the couple’s home had been open by appointment to individuals, groups and school children who were interested in viewing their large collection of petrified woods, minerals, fossils and Native American items. With the opening of their business, the Shaws offered items for sale including jewelry made from natural materials and decorative items made from geodes, natural minerals, fossils and petrified wood.

Joan’s interest in rock collecting was piqued when daughter Cindy began picking up stones from the back of their property and bringing them to the house to show off. Joan began filling the basement of their house with rocks, and in 1960, she and Don became charter members of the Southwest Kansas Gem and Mineral Society. Joan wrote that they “had not the faintest inkling their newly chosen hobby would grow into a private collection.” The Shaws soon found themselves making jewelry. Don became an accomplished silversmith while Joan cut and polished the stones and designed their pieces. They won many trophies for their work.

In 1967, a polished agate that Joan submitted to the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies was used in a brooch presented to Lady Bird Johnson. The brooch contained one stone from each of the 50 states. Joan had fashioned her stone from a small piece of “rough” material Cindy found in the canyon behind their home.

Very early in their participation in the SWKGMS, the Shaws began a collection of fossil woods from many areas in the Western U.S. The collection broadened in later years to include specimens from world-wide locations. With such a broad selection of materials, Joan thought it wise to learn something of pale botany and structure of early day plants. Using textbooks and a binocular microscope, she learned to make a cursory identification of many of the specimens. Knowledge also brought about the collection of plant parts other than the hardened trunks and stems, and the family soon had collections of leaves, cones, and seeds. Many of these were collected personally in the locations where they fossilized.

In order to display their collection of fossil plants, the Shaws constructed a four-tier pyramid with the bottom measuring twelve feet square and with subsequent tiers tapering to the top. This enormous display was shown at several shows in Western Kansas and Oklahoma. At the Rocky Mountain Federation Show in Colorado Springs in June 1978, it received one of the 25 special ribbons awarded by the Japanese International Rock Appreciation Club for best exhibits at the show.

Both Don and Joan held various offices in the SWKGMS. The organization disbanded in 1985, but during the years the club was active, it sponsored the 4-H Club geology project. The Shaws guided 4-H groups to areas where they could collect specimens such as sharks’ teeth, ammonites, and fossil clams. Many collectors sought the Shaws’ help in identifying and labeling their specimens. For several years, Joan traveled to county fairs to judge geology exhibits using the rules she helped establish in the early years of the state 4-H geology project. They were based on those used in the Gem and Mineral Society.

Many cases of rocks, minerals and fossils were assembled by the Shaw family and given to area schools. Science teachers who attended rock swaps were surprised to receive boxes of identified specimens from the Shaw collection to use in their classrooms. These activities, along with the groups and individuals who viewed the collections in the Shaw home, resulted in hundreds of thank-you notes. A count of names in five guest books kept through the years of the hobby after the middle of 1963 showed that 2,549 students, scouts, 4-H members and adult organizations signed in. In addition, 1,764 individuals viewed their collections. Visitors from 15 foreign countries enjoyed the hobby in the Shaw’s home.

The Shaw children were involved in the hobby too. Cindy was the perpetual rock collector. In adult life, she spent part of ten years doing underwater photography in the Bay Islands, Honduras where she became an expert on the corals, soft-bodied animals, fish, and larger oceanic creatures. This led to writing a book, “Diving Bay Islands.”

Shawn found her first Indian point at an early age and soon claimed all those collected by the family. Later as the Native American collections came to include pottery and weavings, her interest graduated to include them. Alison was drawn to modern-day corals and sea-shells. As a world traveler, Terry collected treasures from many areas of the globe.

The two youngest, Jane and Lex, displayed cases at the yearly SWKGMS shows with Jane specializing in miniature minerals and Lex collecting fossil fauna. Lex also served as club photographer for several years. Both later graduated with degrees in geology from Kansas State University.

After the winter of 2006-2007, Don and Joan moved to Texas where they were closer to family. Joan’s passion traveled with her, and she soon had a new house to fill with rocks. Visitors were entranced by her collection. Joan passed away March 24, 2014, at Georgetown, Texas. Don died a month later on April 24. They had reached their 70th wedding anniversary that January.

SOURCES: Lakin Independent, History of Kearny County Vol. II, and information/pictures provided by the late Joan Shaw.