Relic Hunting

Now that I think about it, rent maybe inaccurate... but I thought the devices were coming way down in cost...I se them in the discount stores for literally less that $100.00...IIRC.. I have even thought of buying one to scan some property I own in Alabama...old homesite and fishing camp... with lots of Iron and tin around from when some lowlife burned the cabin about 20 years back...
And I understand what you mean about gun legislation..I am in that boat right alongside you..

ed
 
detectors

bama46,

Its like anything else, you get what you pay for. A cheap machine will find large metal items in the top couple of inches of soil. The new multi frequency and pulse machines can identify the type of metal at 10 to 14 inches and cost from $750 to about $1500. High end and custom machines run $2000 and more.

I'm a techno harlot so I just ordered the latest multi frequency machine from Minelab. The person that I know that finds the most relevent artifacts uses a single frequency machine that is four years older than some of the young pups that dig with us.

Tom Henrique
 
Gentlemen and Ole, too, I thank you all for taking this topic where I had hoped you would go. I feel much better now, knowing that you gentlemen are at least in the mix. While I would very much like to own some relics that I could identify with an individual, one of my ancestors, all the better, but otherwise I'm content to view the fruits of your labors. The sanctity of the fallen soldier is something I also feel strongly about as I've seen expressed here in this thread, much to your credit. Only through our continued meager efforts at educating our young will this preferred attitude ever prevail for very long into the future.
 
It's an empty person who doesn't have some wierd fetish. Some bowl, some golf, some fish or hunt, some subscribe to the super sports channels. Some rebuild cars and spend enormous amounts of time, effort and money to find parts for, say, a Nash Metropolitan. And some hunt relics.

The profit is in the pleasure.

Just a thought.

Ole
 
Nash Metropolitan

Nice to know that I'm not the only fossil in the group!

My buddy's dad had a two tone (turqoise and white) with tires that would work well on today's all-terrain bikes. It had such a small wheelbase that it looked like you could roll it with a slight push.

God, I'm getting old...

Tom Henrique
(going to go lie down now and think about two toned cars and table mounted juke boxes in roadside diners)
 
It's an empty person who doesn't have some wierd fetish. Some bowl, some golf, some fish or hunt, some subscribe to the super sports channels. Some rebuild cars and spend enormous amounts of time, effort and money to find parts for, say, a Nash Metropolitan. And some hunt relics.

The profit is in the pleasure.

Just a thought.

Ole

Uh-oh. Then I guess I must be full of it. Triple whammied: I have a small collection of Civil War artifacts; I own a 1966 Mustang convertible; and I play golf.

Don't know if this should include ESPN and ESPN2, which is part of my basic cable service and with which I cannot live without. I also put together the complete 1960 Topps baseball card set.

Jeez, it just occurred to me, looking back on this post — I need to get a life.
 
Nash Metro

Tourquoise and white & red and white are the only 2 color combos I can remember..and I neversaw a single color..all were 2 tone..
A friend says that everyone should have one hobby he can just barely afford...I have 3

Bass fishin
Civil War Battlefield stompin
Cigars
 
Geez! All of this from a mention of a Nash Metropolitan? I'm glad I didn't mention a Crosley or a Willys.

Bama, for a good many years I got heavily into bank fishing -- never could afford the bass boat. And every year I vow to dust off a couple of rods to go out again, but it's been three years since I've tried to drown a worm. Maybe this year?

The point is hobbies. Dear One, when she's not watching old movies, does needlepoint. Still waiting for the cross-stitched zouave she's been working on for two years.

This is mine. And I can't find much fault in relic-hunting.

Ole
 
Glad That is Settled.

Alright gentlemen, Now that we have established that all "diggers" are not grave robbers and trespassers;how do you feel about the contractor that excavated a trench across a corner of Harpers' Ferry Park a year or so back? Remember that one? What did the N.P.S. ever do about that? I haven't heard anything about this for quite sometime.Work performed on a Saturday,no permits,and even a photo of him flipping off park officials. All this for his subdivisions sewer and water. If there was ever something that should raise your ire, it should be this! He has demonstrated a complete disregard for what you are discussing here. I hope that you may have updates pertaining to this and also welcome your comments. - K. Hanson
 
Developers

Wagonrider,

Another hot button topic.

To me, development of a historically relevant piece of ground is despicable!!! Housing subdivisions, retail stores and roads eat up thousands of acres of battlefields yearly, and I am frankly appaled that in our society is is more important to have another Chinese-imported-lead-painted-carcinogen-impregnated-**** selling retailer than it is to preserve our heritage.

All that can be done is for all of us to support the efforts of organizations like CWPT, Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association and any other battlefield protection organization. They need funds and our time to fight the battle.

Just a humble opinion,
TomH
 
The harpers Ferry debacle is a done deal...there is another one going on right now.. Wal-Mart plans to open a Superstore accross the road from the wilderness... and there is no outcry by the puiblic...
We need another walmart like a fish needs a bicycle, but with the exception of the ACW community nobody seems to care...I mean after all, we need those "always Low Prices" for our stuff...
 
Here is my problem: We complain and protest, but we don't put our money down. The CWPT is virtually impoverished. This is an organization that sometimes successfully snatches property away from developers. If we really care, $10 shouts louder than worrying out loud.
 
Disrespect

I can empathise with your problem of Wally World. I live close to Winchester,Va. where there were numerous battles. At one time every home in this area was filled with wounded soldiers from both sides. Five major battles were fought here or nearby.The newest Wally World sets at the base of a Confederate camp(I only wish that the artillery could shower their wrath upon that building.) Another fort (Milroy) is now divided by a by-pass,not by lines of engagement. Star Fort is now a small parcel in the midst of a development. Custers' headquarters no longer stands. Although there are "core" areas remaining,so much has been lost to development. Preservation must go further than land acquisition,it must also be written and spoken,and remembered correctly. Winchester was occupied 72 times during the WBTS and Franz Siegel and Philip Sheridan do not rank high on the list of favorable(?) Yankee overlords.(thought I would throw that into the pot)
 
Harper's Ferry ditch

Wagonrider, I don't think anything's changed on that one. Like bama said, it's a done deal, sadly.

I think it's kind of interesting that we're considering the very battlefield land a relic of sorts, because, well, it is. Harper's Ferry, Wilderness, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg: all relics. The bigger the relics, the harder they are to preserve, and ole has a point--the best way to hang on to them is to give to the organizations that do it best. I have a special feeling for the preservation of land, whether it's a chunk of the Wilderness or that gorgeous 100-acre 150-year old family-owned farm down the road from my house. Once that land is developed, there's no going back, even if it's "restored" sometime in the future.

Just some thoughts.

Pam
 
Let's get real. We can't save every encampment or skirmish site. Save the fighting for the important ones. Progress is halted only when the howl (and the money) gets too loud. Preserving a site where Forrest or Pendleton or Buford once camped is a waste of limited resources.

WalMart, or any other developer, focuses on location. If that location happens to intrude on sacred ground, it is not in their charter to worry about that. However, if someone (CWPT) outbids the developer for that sacred ground, then we're narrating another story.

Franklin, Tennessee, is committed to restore as much of that battlefield as possible. A bit too late, but better late than never. They've managed to get a piece of ground that was one the Carter Garden. But the field from Winstead Hill to the Carter House is light industrial. Really impractical and hardly possible.

And so, to nap.

Ole
 
Done deal only because nobody contacted their representative to express their resolve. These fields are not relics. What they hold within their bowels are relics. Like I said : preservation is not only what is tangible. It is also the truisms that are passed from generation to generation. Have you looked at the results of turning over to the orginazations that "care". Look at what is happening at Cedar Creek.Look at what is happening at Gettysburg. Where does it end? Who is right? Who is wrong? If you feel compelled to contribute money or time,then do so. But ,when flagrant wrongs are committed,contact your state and/or national representative and tell them where you stand.
 
Let's get real. We can't save every encampment or skirmish site. Save the fighting for the important ones. Progress is halted only when the howl (and the money) gets too loud. Preserving a site where Forrest or Pendleton or Buford once camped is a waste of limited resources.

WalMart, or any other developer, focuses on location. If that location happens to intrude on sacred ground, it is not in their charter to worry about that. However, if someone (CWPT) outbids the developer for that sacred ground, then we're narrating another story.

Franklin, Tennessee, is committed to restore as much of that battlefield as possible. A bit too late, but better late than never. They've managed to get a piece of ground that was one the Carter Garden. But the field from Winstead Hill to the Carter House is light industrial. Really impractical and hardly possible.

And so, to nap.

Ole

Thanks for the kind words. The Save The Franklin Battlefield group are worth far more than their weight in gold. When the National Park Service came calling for a promise of our donation of our portion of Winstead Hill to be forever subject to political correctness, we replied that we just ain't interested. Our (Sam Davis Camp 1293)'s thirteen acres and the city park adjacent will be around a while longer.
 
Back from a dig

Folks,

I thought that I would add a little info to this thread to support my contention that most diggers contribute to the body of knowledge.

I just got back from Diggin' In Virginia XI, an event held at Hansborough Ridge in Culpeper, VA where 400 of the country's most dedicated diggers assembled for three days of digging, eating, laughing and generally acting like carefree kids out on a camping trip. Found on the ridge itself were lines of 2nd Corps winter camp huts and adjacent to the ridge was a long, slit trench privy that turned out to be a treasure trove. In all the group recovered...

more than 500 dropped bullets including three Gardiner explosives
more than 500 shot bullets from a large firing range
about 20 boxplates
a Federal Sword belt plate
a tongue from a VA two piece buckle
a couple of VA buttons and 1 VMI button
a leather coin purse filled with silver coins
about 100 intact bottles (everything from case gins and medical bottles to mustard and wine bottles)
a saber handguard assembly
a piece of a saber scabbard
a hotchkiss shell
and about two tons of iron debris

Our group of eight diggers recovered...

a US Boxplate
more than 50 eagles in various conditions
about a dozen NY buttons
about 50 dropped bullets
a pewter candle holder
a small trigger assembly and stock screw
an enfield wiper/worm

All of the items were recovered from camp sites, no human remains were found and all recoveries are being properly documented and preserved.

We spent up to 33 hours of coil swinging and hole digging each, spread over three days and most of us are just recovering.

Later,
TomH
 
Back
Top