Kingsley rock hound's collection dates to prehistoric times

Dr. Robert Powell shows off a piece of his thousand-some piece collection of minerals, agates and fossils. Powell, of Kingsley, doesn't have a geology degree, but uses his self-education to teach children in area schools about the importants of rocks, fossils and history. [Click to enlarge]

The Kingsley man later became a rock hound, someone interested in rocks, minerals and fossils.

"In junior high I was interested in minerals, florescent rocks," Powell said. "I became fascinated with museums."

Dr. Robert Powell, of Kingsley, has been "seriously" collecting fossils, minerals and rocks since 1990. The rock hound purchases pieces like the top left picture of a dinosaur footprint and others to fill glass cases around his home. [Click to enlarge]

Powell, a retired medical doctor, said his love for museums was encouraged by his parents and science-minded teachers.

"I've been interested in geology, artifacts, fossils ever since college, which was in the early 50s," Powell said.

His "serious" collecting days began in 1990.

Dr. Robert Powell holds a nearly foot-long mammoth's tooth. The extinct mammoth had four of those large teeth to grind food. The Kingsley man is always on the lookout to add to more pieces to his collection of fossils and other prehistoric pieces. [Click to enlarge]

"My wife (Phyllis) and I get a lot of enjoyment out of it," Powell said. "She's learned a lot in spite of herself."

Today his collection fills his house. It includes fossils like those of fish and shells, polished rocks like agates, colorful crystals, dinosaur eggs and petrified wood.

Thousands are displayed in closed glass cases, many like marble spheres, draw attention on open shelves, while still others sit in bowls around the living room.

Dr. Robert Powell shows off a piece of his thousand-some piece collection of minerals, agates and fossils. Powell, of Kingsley, doesn't have a geology degree, but uses his self-education to teach children in area schools about the importants of rocks, fossils and history. [Click to enlarge]

One whole basement wall is filled with rocks that glow with beautiful colors of reds, greens and blues under ultraviolet light.

"I just have an interest in it," Powell said. "I've been studying it all my life."

Some fossils and agates he has dug from the ground himself, but Powell said much of his collection has been purchased.

"I like to polish agates from around the world," Powell said.

He does his own polishing from the rough pieces, cutting them with a diamond saw and then putting them into a tumbler, which grinds the rough edges into beautiful, smooth agates.

"When you polish them, they come out looking different," Powell said.

Although he has items from as far away as Madagascar and Australia, some of his pieces came from South Dakota and Iowa.

"South Dakota is a good place for fossils, dinosaurs, agates and things like that," Powell said. "Around here we go to gravel pits."

Active pits are best because the earth is continually turned, bringing more items to the surface.

"We might find petrified wood, agates, mammoth teeth," Powell said. "You just look. If you look you can find stuff."

For example Powell has one mammoth tooth, nearly a foot long. Mammoths had four of those large, heavy teeth, which they used to crush food.

Much of Powell's collection is kept in its beautifully polished original state, but other rock hounds favor making jewelry, animals and spheres from the artifacts.

A collector at heart, Powell shares his self-education with students in classrooms across the area like Kingsley, Sioux City and Vermillion.

"We like to go to schools and talk to kids because they are fascinated by all that stuff," Powell said. "Some of us (adults) are still fascinated by it."

Generally those visits are geared toward elementary students in grades one through four, he said, because they are more open-minded than older kids.

"Grade school teachers are the ones who can stimulate an interest," Powell said. "We let them feel things that they can, and look at things they can't."

One piece that always enthralls children is fossilized dinosaur feces.

"We have to show that to them last," Powell said with a chuckle.

He takes pieces of his collection to schools to share his love of geology and to educate students that searching for the truth of life is an important quest.

"I am teaching them about science and the inter-connectedness aspect of life, and to have an appreciation for it," Powell said.