During Colorado, the late Utah, 1940s and and New early Mexico 1950s, hosted what was called the “Great Uranium Rush” (Rock & Gem, April 2017), the last mineral rush in which individual prospectors had a chance to strike it rich. The quest was for, in the parlance of that era, “hot rocks”— rocks emitting elevated levels of radioactivity that might indicate a uranium deposit worth millions of dollars.
A few prospectors did indeed make their fortunes. Still, most received their reward by participating in an adventure that thrilled the nation and introduced words and terms like “radioactivity,” “Geiger counter,” and “radiometric prospecting” into the general vocabulary.