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Sauk Rapids, Minn. (AP) - For Lyndon Johnson, treasures can be
found anywhere - one just has to train his or her eye.


      "I know when to look and where, and where to look when,"
Johnson said with a smile.


      Johnson has been collecting agates, fossilized coral and quartz
for about 17 years, a hobby inspired by his daughters Patience and
Chrystal. When they were younger, Johnson would take them for walks
and discover the semi-precious gemstones along the way - something
the trio still does occasionally.


      "It's kind of a tradition on Father's Day," Chrystal Johnson
said. "It's fun when you find one. When you don't, it's like,
'Let's find one already."'


      Lyndon Johnson is sharing his collection with more than his
daughters these days. It is on display at the Benton County
Historical Society and Museum. The display will be open until Nov.
26.


      Mary Ostby, executive director of the museum, said the display
is part of a community effort to show local collections.


      When asked how large the collection is, Johnson said it is hard
to determine because it is so large.


      "It's beyond counting," Lyndon Johnson said.


      Construction sites, gravel pits and rivers are just some of the
areas that yielded his collection. The 45-year-old said it takes
time, but when you find something it can be exciting.


      "You can walk for miles and miles and miles and then stumble on
something," Johnson said. "It hits you and you're like, 'Wow!'
It's an addiction."


      About 98 percent of his collection was found in Benton County,
including a rare arrowhead agate found on the outskirts of Sauk
Rapids - one of two that have been reported. While it is hard to
pick a favorite, Johnson likes one agate he calls the "peeled
heart" because of its shape and texture.


      Seven years ago, while tubing down the Platte River with his
cousin, he was dragging his hand in the water and picked up what he
thought was an average rock. But it was a rare agate.


      "He called me the Agate Magnet after that," Johnson said.


      While that was a somewhat easy find, it has become a little
harder to find agates because many gravel pits are not as open for
searching as they once were. But that doesn't discourage him.


      Although Johnson enjoys the rare finds, the self-taught
geologist never lets it be forgotten that collecting was something
that started with spending time with his children.


      "They were my inspiration for it," he said.


      Patience Johnson, 20, calls it "good bonding time."


      She remembers finding a large agate when she was 6 years old
that she was determined to keep.


      Her father told her, "If you want to keep it, you have to carry
it home," she remembered.


      "It looked like a model car. We used it as a door stop,"
Patience Johnson said.


      Lyndon Johnson's collection is believed to be one of the largest
agate collections in the world.


      He has contacted the Guinness Book of World Records to see what
he has to do make it official.

Gallery

Lyndon Johnson has been collecting agates, fossilized coral and quartzfor about 17 years, a hobby inspired by his daughters. His collection is on display at the Benton County Historical Society and Museum.

This dad rocks: Man's agate collection on display

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