| The Old Woman Meteorite Finds a Home
byJames Tobin
The second largest meteorite discovered in the United States has found a newhome back in the area of its discovery. The meteorite was found in 1976 by threeprospectors in the Old Woman Mountains of San Bernardino County. Over the nextseveral years it was on display in many venues of the BLM including Redlands, ElCentro, and Riverside. It left here and traveled to the Smithsonian in 1978. Itwas returned to California in September of 1980.  Ona recent trip to the deserthunting for meteorites we found ourselves on Highway247 and passing the BLM Field Office. From the motor home I could see whatlooked like the Old Woman Meteorite sitting in the front window. We wiped a slow u-turnand pulled into the parking lot. Sure enough there just inside the door was theOld Woman Meteorite. Or so I thought till I reached out and tapped it. The hollow thudsound a sure sign that it was a replica. We took a couple pictures and asked wherethe original was. It was just a few blocks straight down the same street. Weheaded there immediately.
 Westarted taking pictures nearly the second we entered. The woman behind thecounter asked if we needed a tripod and we said no thanks as the flashes of thedigital cameras lit the room. We shot the beauty for a few minutes and thenlooked at the rest of the desert museum. Soon the curator came over and beganexplaining some of the exhibits to us. Robert Hilburn is an enthusiasticindividual who clearly is excited about having the Old Woman at the museum. Heasked what we were interested in and we of course said meteorites. We talked fora while and got a tour of the museum. He offered some suggestions about localtrips out into the desert we said goodbye and that we would stay in touch.
  The Old WomanMeteorite weighing in at 6070 pounds (2750 kgs) during its stay at theSmithsonian had a large chunk removed which weighed 942lbs. (427kgs). Themeteorite now sits on that cut flat surface. A small slice was removed fromanother area and the accompanying picture shows that cut. It is not polished oretched which would to me greatly enhance the interest factor for the visitor.Especially those who have not seen the large full slice at the Smithsonian. But,regardless of that the cut has inclusions which are easily seen and offers aglimpse into the inside of this remarkable visitor from space.
  The Old Woman Meteorite is to be found at theDesert DiscoveryCenter just downthe street from the BLM Field Office. The Museum address is 831 Main Street,Barstow, California. The museum also has exhibits on fossils and wildlife andthe rich mining history of the region.
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