The Uncle Sam diamond, unearthed here in 1924, is the largest gem-quality diamond ever found in North America. In rough form it weighed 40.23 carats, and after being cut twice into an emerald shape over the years, it was reduced first to 14.34 carats and later to 12.42 carats. Wesley Basham, known as Uncle Sam to his family and friends, worked for the Arkansas Diamond Mining Company, which owned this part of the crater, and he was the first person to see the diamond as he and other miners used a high-pressure water hose to wash diamond-bearing ore down a long, wooden sluice. Although the mine owned the diamond, Basham's nickname became attached to the gem. It was graded as M-color, with a slight pinkish hue, and very, very slight inclusions. In 1971, the diamond was sold to a private collector for $150,000.