The Discovery of a Forgotten Confederate Soldier - An Adventure of a 16 Year Old on a Mississippi Battlefield

What happened to the artifacts, @Tom Hughes? Were you allowed to keep them or did they go to a museum?

I remember when Hurricane Katrina hit the coast and all but destroyed Beauvoir. I had heard that the collection of artifacts were scattered all over the grounds. I hope they were not destroyed at that time. Honestly, I haven’t even thought about that aspect until now.
 
I heard stories about camps being found over there in Morton.
Glad you liked the story.
Rick and I found a LOT of stuff in Morton. In fact it gave up my first Miss I button. Rick was the actually owner of the artifacts and donated them to Beauvoir when the interned the CS soldier. It was a very nice display and was laid out just as they were found. Rick went on to become the executive director of Beauvoir for a good period of time. Here is what it looked like after Katrina.
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Rick and I found a LOT of stuff in Morton. In fact it gave up my first Miss I button. Rick was the actually owner of the artifacts and donated them to Beauvoir when the interned the CS soldier. It was a very nice display and was laid out just as they were found. Rick went on to become the executive director of Beauvoir for a good period of time. Here is what it looked like after Katrina.
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Wow....I haven't been to Beauvoir since it's been restored. I hope the artifacts have now been restored to their former glory
 
... I hope you enjoy this recollection from 1979:

I was invited by a friend of mine to relic hunt with older friends of his with metal detectors on private property that was being logged by Georgia Pacific west of Port Gibson on the battlefield site. Lots of ground was being pushed up and moved around. As a result, the odds of finding some neat relics from the civil war was very enticing.
While our high school buddies were out chasing girls and drinking beer, we were the "nerds" recovering history from a long ago battle.
Even stranger, my parents let me go 100 miles away with some adult strangers deep into the woods to dig rusty war relics. What were they thinking? Times were certainly different then, I guess...
I envy you your opportunity to relic hunt - especially so long ago when there was vastly more that hadn't been found yet by @ucvrelics - probably the one important Civil War-related activity I never had a serious opportunity to engage in because of my remote location in far-off Texas; however, I have mentioned before a similarly unusual opportunity I took full advantage of when I was around the same age. Fifteen years before your experience, in 1964 I had just graduated from high school at the age of 17 and along with my best friend Mike @mkyzzzrdet who was a year older we borrowed my father's station wagon (remember THOSE?) so we could make a Civil War expedition that August before beginning college. By ourselves we drove from a suburb of Dallas all the way to Gettysburg (more like 1500 miles) and back, returning by way of Chattanooga, Atlanta, and Vicksburg! To economize, every other night we slept in the car, often at some isolated but historic site like Gettysburg's East Cavalry Battlefield. We were gone three weeks and returned safe and sound, if exhausted from our battlefield sojourn! From that experience I largely date my passion for travel and visiting Civil War and other historical sites, including the Native American ones you've touched on.
 
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I envy you your opportunity to relic hunt - especially so long ago when there was vastly more that hadn't been found yet by @ucvrelics - probably the one important Civil War-related activity I never had a serious opportunity to engage in because of my remote location in far-off Texas; however, I have mentioned before a similarly unusual opportunity I took full advantage of when I was around the same age. Fifteen years before your experience, in 1964 I had just graduated from high school at the age of 17 and along with my best friend Mike @mkyzzzrdet who was a year older we borrowed my father's station wagon (remember THOSE?) so we could make a Civil War expedition that August before beginning college. By ourselves we drove from a suburb of Dallas all the way to Gettysburg (more like 1500 miles) and back, returning by way of Chattanooga, Atlanta, and Vicksburg! To economize, every other night we slept in the car, often at some isolated but historic site like Gettysburg's East Cavalry Battlefield. We were gone three weeks and returned safe and sound, if exhausted from our battlefield sojourn! From that experience I largely date my passion for travel and visiting Civil War and other historical sites, including the Native American ones you've touched on.
Sounds like a great adventure!
 
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