Diamond Jim

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Back during my diamond mining days in the late 1970’s at the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, I was fortunate enough to buddy up with, and work alongside of, the most famous Arkansas diamond hunter of all time. A lot of what I learned by watching James Archer enabled me to find my first diamonds during that first three day trip, the first being my largest find ever, a beautiful 1.00 carat canary diamond. During those three days, I was determined to learn as much as possible from this legendary diamond hunter, and be just like James Archer. Alas, I failed miserably.

James Archer made his first trip to the Crater of diamonds by horse and wagon, sixty some odd years ago.  Later on in life, he and his wife came there again, determined to find a diamond. He failed, but his wife did find one. This galvanized his determination. He surface hunted for two years, off and on, and never found one, gently being  teased  about that by his wife the whole time. When he changed to digging deep holes, and washing the mud through screens, He quickly became successful, finding his first two, a 1.7 carat and a 1.71 carat brown diamond, all in the same day.

     In the early 1970’s, he worked at a sawmill, unloading railroad ties by hand. He then would go to the diamond mine to dig after work. At one point, he was not at the mine for two days. When he returned, his arm was in a sling. His hand had almost been severed at the  sawmill.   He should have been at home recuperating, but the hard working James was not the type to ever sit still. He could not stay away from the crater.

When he returned to the  sawmill, they told him they no longer had a job for him. This was a turning point in his life. He decided to become a diamond hunter, six days a week, every week. The number of diamonds found varies from one report to another, but the best estimate given by park officials was 5,000.

     The characteristics I noticed about James that were not present in anyone else seemed to be that he worked very hard, very fast, all day long, every day. For thirty years.

    James told me the story of finding a very nice diamond on his screen just as two rough looking and talking men walked up. Like most black men in the South in the sixties and seventies, he had recent memories of being treated badly at the hands of other men such as these two. Afraid they might try to take it away from him, he simply dropped it in the bucket of fine sand he would be taking home to look over closely that night. He was never able to find it again.

In 1994 James unearthed a very nice 5.25  carat diamond. This was, officially, his largest find. But, when a story came out about him in the National Enquirer, it was said he had found a 7.9 carat diamond. When asked about that later, he stated, “Well, they did get things sorta messed up in that story, all right. About my age and stuff. But I did find that 7.9 carat diamond.” When pressed about this, James related this story.

    “One morning several years back,   I was out here in the parking lot getting ready to go in one morning, soon as it opened. A man started talking to me, telling me he was here to find the largest diamond he could, and buy it for his girl for her engagement ring.  I told him I didn’t have any diamonds on me now, but maybe you’ll find one today.” James went on to say, “A lot of folks talk big like that. But when it comes down to it, they don’t have the money to back up their talk.”

     James continued his story. “So the park opened it’s doors, and we both went in and bought our ticket, and went into the mine. When we got to the search area, he turned left and I turned right. I only went a couple of hundred feet before I saw something shining at me.  I went over and picked it up. It was a big, canary diamond, sitting right on top of the ground. “I shouted, Hey, Mister! I got a big one for ya’.”

     The man came over, said he wanted to buy it as soon as he saw it. He asked, “How much ya’ want for it?”

     James told me, “I didn’t even knew how much it weighed, and I usually set my price on that. So I just said, $7000. Then that fella reached in his pocket, and pulled out a huge roll of money. He counted out 70 100 dollar bills into my hand. When he was finished, that man’s roll looked as big as it did when he started peeling bills off’a there.  I said to myself, I shoulda’ said $10,000. But I didn’t know he really had the money. The man took the diamond and never registered it at the park office. I heard from him later, and he’d had it cut and set in that ring. He said the jeweler weighed it before it was cut and it was 7.9 carats.”

 A lot of people have been wondering for a long time about just how well James has done. Tourists have been trying to pry that out of him six days a week for 30 years. Most people don’t like having people trying to get information about their business, and James was no different. We do know he never lived in a mansion, or bought a new truck.

     When tourists ask, “Is it true all your children graduated from college?”

      James just said, “That’s what they say.”

     When asked later how many children he had, he said, “seven.”

     When again asked, “Is it true they all graduated college?”

      “Yep. And my wife will graduate college this year.” Seems James did not invest his money in himself, but invested in his family’s future.

     On Wednesday, January 8, 2003, James Archer went into the Crater of Diamonds State Park as he had for thirty years.  And, at the age of 77, he died there doing what he loved, digging for diamonds.  The Crater will probably never see a more diligent, consistent, determined prospector than Diamond James Archer. Or, from my perspective, a nicer guy. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to work alongside James, and learn much about diamond hunting, and about life, if only for three days. It was no accident that I found more, and larger diamonds during those three days I worked alongside James Archer than during my forty-plus attempts since.

     Rest in peace, James. Your legendary feats at the Crater of Diamonds State Park will never be equaled.
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Much information about James Archer in this article came from - A Thorough and Accurate History of Genuine Diamonds in Arkansas.  Written by Glen W. Worthington. Published by Mid America Prospecting,  Murfreesboro, Arkansas.