The Armstrong Nugget

Nestled inside the Baker Heritage Museum in the former frontier boomtown of Baker City, Oregon, is the stuff dreams are made of.  The case plays host to the Armstrong Nugget, a relic that harkens back to a time when hordes of people flocked to the West in hopes of striking it rich. It was the dream of every prospector to hopefully unearth an Armstrong Nugget. The 80.4 troy ounces of solid gold is worth well over $100,000 by today’s standards. The nugget was discovered by miners George Armstrong and Dick Stewart on June 19, 1913, in nearby Buck Gulch. While sifting through gravel one day, Stewart spotted a large object protruding from the water. As he got closer, he realized it was a solid gold nugget about the size of a fist. 

Recently donated to the city of Baker, the nugget previously sat in the U.S. bank that it called home for over half a century. It’s believed that Armstrong kept the nugget at the bank for decades, borrowing on its value for the rest of his life. When he died, the nugget became the property of the bank. Most gold nuggets discovered during the gold rush were eventually melted down and crafted into coins, bars, or other items. So for this enormous piece of gold to still be intact after all these years is truly remarkable.