Dean Banks, © 2007 John Huddleston (1862-1941): The Man Behind the Myth of “Diamond John” By Dean Banks Online edition, © 2008 Copy 2, CD for Crater of Diamonds State Park. All rights reserved. Brief citations may be used in writings or other presentations if this source is properly identified. Internet downloads are provided for individual reading and note-taking. No part of this study may be copied or reproduced for any other purpose without written permission of the author. Address inquiries to
[email protected] . 1 Dean Banks, © 2007 Foreword to the Online Edition This study revisits a subject that received attention only briefly in my comprehensive history of the Crater of Diamonds, the unusual volcanic formation now featured at the popular state park just outside of Murfreesboro, Arkansas.1 Upon beginning the research for that work twenty-three years ago, I found the man who discovered the first gems at the Crater in 1906, John Wesley Huddleston, was hardly the simple farmer depicted in the current literature. Preliminary review of public records at the nearby Pike County Courthouse even suggested there were two John Huddlestons in the unfolding story: “Diamond John,” the essentially fictional character described for decades in folk tales and promotional writings, and John Wesley, the rural Arkansan and family man who remained hidden behind that colorful imagery. The following pages acknowledge those longstanding folk tales as an entertaining facet of the man’s history, but concentrate on the person portrayed by more-reliable sources such as property deeds, tax books, legal proceedings, photographs, and other documents.