Hunting for Gems at Gaumer’s Mineral and Mining Museum with the Treasured Gaumer Family

Bill Gaumer is always happy to tell families interesting facts about his family’s unique collection of minerals, gems and crystals displayed at Gaumer’s Mining and Museum in Red Bluff.

Has your child’s rock collection taken over their room? Have you been tempted to thin it out or make it disappear completely when they are asleep or at school? Children are born with a fascination for things in the natural world and there is a never-ending number of rocks just begging to be scooped up by little hands and placed in pockets.

Collecting provides children valuable lessons, develops cognitive skills

The Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center states that “your child’s rock collection is important” and that their treasures “provide a multitude of learning opportunities,” such as categorizing, counting and imaginary play—just to name a few. Creating a home mini museum is one suggestion for keeping that collection reined in.

The Gaumer’s Mining and Mineral Museum in Red Bluff has done just that for the rockhounds in the Gaumer family. John Gaumer and his father, Al, built the current building housing their extensive rock, gem and mineral collection in 1967—primarily as a lapidary and jewelry store. Two expansions were later completed for dedicated museum space.

Gaumer’s shares generations of rockhounding treasures with visitors

John and Terry’s son, Bill, a talented jeweler, is the current owner of Gaumer’s. With a great-grandfather who was a full-time gold miner and daughters who make jewelry, Bill is among five generations of Gaumers with a passion for gems, rocks and minerals. Thousands of specimens showcase this rich heritage at the free museum and the family, along with other employees, never tire of sharing the collection with visitors.

Hunt for treasure in the Gaumer’s museum

Why not turn a family visit to Gaumer’s into an active learning experience with a treasure hunt? Take the Family Resource Guide along and use the map in this article to mark off the continents represented at the museum as you find the treasures listed below. (Hint: Some of the treasures are found in the jewelry store—a rare jewelry store that welcomes children!)

1. Find the gold that Bill’s grandpa, John Owen Gaumer, found on his gold mining claim in Butte County. Then locate fool’s gold (iron pyrite). How do they compare? (John was a placer gold miner for 25 years and the water wheel outside the store was used to power his house and the mine.)
2. Find two lamps made of onyx. (This onyx is banded calcite.)
3. Locate a specimen of plume agate, a favorite of the Gaumer family.
4. Check out the black light room. (Bill created the display from the memory of his grandmother’s box of fluorescent rocks with a UV lamp she kept nearby for viewing the fluorescent properties of the minerals)
5. Find a wooly mammoth fossil, (donated by Virginia Boding whose father, a gold miner in Alaska, uncovered the fossil.)
6. Ask a helper to show you a piece of ulexite or selenite. (Why is it called TV rock?)
7. Locate dendritic agate. (Hint: Look for a tree scene since this is also called “Tree agate”)
8. Find an ammonite fossil. (Found locally in the Sacramento Valley which used to be covered by a large body of water.)
9. Take a picture with the angel wings made from a Brazilian geode. (If your parent shares the picture on Instagram and tags both Gaumer’s and North State Parent, we’ll reshare on our Instagram story.)
10. Find jewelry made of amber. (Did you know that amber is made from tree resin and not sap? What is the difference?)
11. Find a picture of Bill Gaumer looking for rocks when he was a boy. Then find a picture that he took of a white rhinoceros. Finally, go thank Bill in person for his fascinating, free museum.

When you have finished your treasure hunt and marked the map with origins of the treasures you found, look on the map to see which continent is not represented in the store. (Hint: It may be hard to find rocks there since 98% of its surface is covered in ice.)

Rachel Gunsauls, mother of three, says she and her family always learns something new at Gaumer’s. “I love to bring my children to this treasure within our community,” she says. “I will always be so grateful to the Gaumer Family for creating such a wonderful museum and for the time they take to stop whatever they are doing to share their passion and knowledge with my children and me whenever we visit. The Gaumer family and their employees are the most precious gems at Gaumer’s.”

The Gunsauls family in Red Bluff visits Gaumer’s Mineral and Mining Museum often and Grace, age 9, says that she “loves getting to know the rocks better and getting to know the people who work there better.” Grace’s brother Isaac, age 12, says, “Every time I go, I get to learn more about the different kinds of rocks and the elements that create the colors in them.” Photo credit Kate Hiller

Gaumer’s would love to host a field trip for your school or homeschool group. Students can bring their money for a tax-free purchase that day. There are items starting at 10 cents and you can buy a keepsake bag starting at 65 cents per bag. Gaumer’s, 78 Belle Mill Rd, Red Bluff, is open to the public Monday through Friday, 9am – 5pm. gaumers.com.