Is there anything left?

nuclearwhiskey

Jr. Member
Jan 31, 2014
31
10
Western NY
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I might just be singing the blues here. However, it just seems like nothing is left to be discovered. I mean here in upstate, we didnt have any large conflicts run directly through us. Yes, there was the revolution, but the red coats ( as far as I know) didnt come through my home town. Then again I dont think it was built until about 85 years later. Still, there are no good legends, Im not aware of any large cave systems where maybe British or American settlers squirreled away treasure from one another. UGH, my frustration is mainly coming from the fact that I know old homestead areas that pepper my old stomping grounds...but people own all that land and it would be trespassing. This may just be rambling, but I want an adventure...







Working graveyard makes my brain run circles around itself.
 

KNOCK ON A FEW DOORS AND ASK IF YOU CAN HIT THEIR YARD OR FARM FIELDS - YOU'LL BE SURPRISED WHATS OUT THERE
STOP IN AT HISTORICAL SOCIETIES AND ASK IF THEY KNOW OF ANY GOOD SPOTS
CHECK OLD MAPS AT LIBRARIES IN YOUR AREA
 

Old people can be great for treasure leads, and most are eager to share their information.

Sit down and talk a spell.......
 

Every community has old fairground locations.Ever community has spots where tent revivals were held 75 years ago. Many communities had racetracks.Swimming holes , recreation areas , old schools and churches. If you could find some 1935 maps , you would be shocked at many little school houses there were. Each neighborhood had THAT ONE FAMILY who had the best backyard for football and baseball. Get busy !
 

I might just be singing the blues here. However, it just seems like nothing is left to be discovered. I mean here in upstate, we didnt have any large conflicts run directly through us. Yes, there was the revolution, but the red coats ( as far as I know) didnt come through my home town. Then again I dont think it was built until about 85 years later. Still, there are no good legends, Im not aware of any large cave systems where maybe British or American settlers squirreled away treasure from one another. UGH, my frustration is mainly coming from the fact that I know old homestead areas that pepper my old stomping grounds...but people own all that land and it would be trespassing. This may just be rambling, but I want an adventure...

What state,town,city are you located in buddy?You would be surprised at what you dont know about your area.
 

"upstate" Upstate where?? My guess is NY. I that's the case your area had civilized activity 200 years before my town was settled (1870) by 372 people. There are and have been 1000's of MD's passed over most of the common ground here. I find silver just about every time I hunt. If you want to be successful in this hobby you have to embrace 2 disciplines. Research and the love of history. If you have no interest in either stick to the tot lots. parks and school grounds. They will get you clad, zinc and the occasional piece of jewelry.
 

The small-town libraries around here usually have microfiche setups of all the old papers. Search the lost and found. You'd be surprised what you can come up with. I saw one from 1902, and it had a lost and found ad - LOST: diamond engagement ring reportedly lost at the old school field. We beat that area to death (20 years ago), and didn't find a thing. As soon as I get my AT pro I am going back. Thing is, I didn't find anything, save for a few clads, but it was a lead nonetheless.
 

I don't know how long you've been at this hobby, so maybe my experience doesn't apply. I started in early 2012. At first, as I learned my machine, it was mostly clad and an occasional silver ring. Then, as my research got better, I started getting silver coins and occasionally a gold jewelry piece. As I got better and better at analyzing signals, I found more silver and gold. Then I finally gave in and determined that the only way to find more gold was to dig everything, so I started going back to the spots I thought I had cleaned out. Sure enough, I started finding more gold and also silver that was hidden because it was next to other junk. Bottom line, there is always more there. Yes, you need to always be looking for new places, but going back to places you've had good luck at should always be part of the plan even when sometimes I have two or three hunts that is a total bust. The only way I will say someplace is hunted out is if I swing my coil and it makes no sounds... then I discover that I forgot to turn it on, and start digging!
 

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Treasure is where you find it. The 1715 fleet was all but forgotten until they started finding coins on the beach.
 

I stopped by a fairgrounds a few cities distant and, from the knoll I was standing, figured it would take me the rest of my life to hit every inch of that 15 acre area. It's well hunted and has a reputation of giving up nothing. I was there to fair and not detect but may go back to try my hand. Joseph Smith (of the Mormon variety) lived in a cabin on the site so the area has had coin using population for ages. Local history records that Joseph Smith walked on the waters of the Susquehanna River . . . until he got to the spot with local boys had removed the planks from just under the water and he went in.

We aren't as thorough as we think when targets are passing under our coils. The detection field is cone shaped and the deeper the less it "sees" to the edges. So as we sweep and walk we're probably detecting only 30% of the soil 4" deep. That's why you can go along behind a detectorist and find targets they missed. And the soil conditions/moisture changes mean you might miss a target one day and find it the next.

Few places are swept free of good targets. They might just take more work and patience.
 

Singin' the blues in Upstate New York? Ha!...no sympathy from this Hoosier! Here in Southwest Indiana we got nothin'...No Beaches, no battlefields, no 200+ year old urban areas, no gold bearing streams, no rocks or gems to speak of. George Washington never slept anywhere near here. Abe Lincoln grew up just down the road but he got out as fast as he could go as soon as his Dad turned his back!

All we Hoosiers can do is watch basketball, grill hamburgers, (and apparently), see how much aluminum foil and pull tabs we can toss away in one sitting! And don't even get me started on the 99% Ohio River humidity, the allergies, pollen, ticks, chiggers, no-see-ums, acres and acres of poison ivy, and rock hard drought summer dirt...yeah I know, grumpy ol' Hoosier...said it all before...

P.S. I wonder why you never see Indiana Jones in Indiana...hmmmmmmm
 

I know if I were in NY i'd be having a hell of a time.:laughing9:Give your location Nuclearwhiskey and i'll help you out.
 

Singin' the blues in Upstate New York? Ha!...no sympathy from this Hoosier! Here in Southwest Indiana we got nothin'...No Beaches, no battlefields, no 200+ year old urban areas, no gold bearing streams, no rocks or gems to speak of. George Washington never slept anywhere near here. Abe Lincoln grew up just down the road but he got out as fast as he could go as soon as his Dad turned his back!...

Come on JSF - you have no lakes or rivers that people swim in or camp or fish? I've been doing good at the lakes here in North Texas.
 

Come on JSF - you have no lakes or rivers that people swim in or camp or fish? I've been doing good at the lakes here in North Texas.

Concrete swimming pools yeah, but the Ohio River is toxic here, along with the tributary creeks, there are bans on eating the fish. Lots of folks swim, camp, and fish including me but all the usable lakes and popular swimming holes are on state park or Gov. property and banned from detecting. The sheer size of the Hoosier National Forest and adjacent state forests make the historical and recreational areas off limits to digging...So it's either get permission to search private property or it's schools, ball fields, and picnic areas...and believe me, I been pounding those areas since the 1980s.
 

Here you go Junkshop.This might interest you.

This is an incomplete list of all military confrontations that have occurred within the boundaries of the modern U.S. State of Indiana since European contact. The French first entered Indiana c. 1670. The region was part of New France from 1679–1763, ruled by Great Britain from 1763–1783, and part of the United States of American 1783–present.

There have been several wars that have directly affected the region, including Beaver Wars (c 1590–1701), Queen Anne's War (1702–1713), King George's War (1744–1748), French and Indian War (1754–1763), American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), Northwest Indian War (1785–1795), Tecumseh's War (1811–1812), War of 1812 (1812–1814), and the American Civil War (1860–1865). Later wars, including World War I and World War II led to the death of tens of thousands of Hoosiers overseas, but the American Civil War was the last war in which an actual battle occurred within Indiana.

Name Date Location War Campaign Dead Belligerents
Counter attack on Iroquois 1684 near modern South Bend Beaver Wars 100+ Miami & allies vs Iroquois
Destruction of Fort Miami 1747 modern Fort Wayne King George's War Huron vs France
Attack on Fort Miami 1752 modern Fort Wayne French and Indian War 2 British allied Indians vs France
Capture of Fort Miami May 27, 1763 Kekionga (modern Fort Wayne) Pontiac's Rebellion 10 Kingdom of Great Britain vs American Indians
Capture of Fort Ouiatenon June 1, 1763 modern Lafayette Pontiac's Rebellion 0 Kingdom of Great Britain vs American Indians
Siege of Fort Sackville February 20 – 25, 1779 Vincennes American Revolutionary War Illinois Campaign 4 United States of America vs Kingdom of Great Britain
Battle of the White River Forks 1779 Lechauwitank unknown - village destroyed Vincennes Militia vs Delaware village
Petit fort 5 December 1780 Indiana Dunes American Revolutionary War 4 United States vs Kingdom of Great Britain and American Indians
de LaBalme Massacre November 5, 1780 Near the Eel River in Whitley County American Revolutionary War 25+ Continental Army vs American Indians
Lochry's Defeat August 24, 1781 Near Aurora American Revolutionary War Illinois Campaign 37 United States of America vs American Indians
Piankeshaw Village 1786 Knox County 7 Kentucky militia under John Hardin vs Piankeshaw
Hardin's Defeat October 19, 1790 North of Fort Wayne Northwest Indian War Harmar Expedition 22+ United States of America vs Western Indian Confederacy
Harmar's Defeat October 21, 1790 Fort Wayne Northwest Indian War Harmar Expedition 249+ United States of America vs Western Indian Confederacy
Battle of Big Pine Creek 1791 Big Pine Creek Northwest Indian War United States of America vs Kickapoo
Destruction of Ouiatenon May 1791 Ouiatenon Northwest Indian War 38 United States of America vs Western Indian Confederacy
Battle of Kenapacomaqua August 7, 1791 Near Logansport Northwest Indian War 11 United States of America vs Western Indian Confederacy
Battle of Tippecanoe November 7, 1811 Near Battle Ground Tecumseh's War[1] 223+ United States of America vs Tecumseh's confederacy
Pigeon Roost Massacre September 3, 1812 Underwood War of 1812 19 Shawnee vs white settlers
Siege of Fort Harrison September 4 – 5, 1812 Terre Haute War of 1812 3+ United States of America vs Tecumseh's confederacy
Siege of Fort Wayne September 5 – 12, 1812 Fort Wayne War of 1812 Detroit Frontier unknown United States of America vs Kingdom of Great Britain
Battle at Eel River[2] September 19, 1812 Near Churubusco War of 1812 Detroit Frontier 25+ United States of America vs Tecumseh's confederacy
Spur's Defeat November 22, 1812 Wildcat Creek, near Lafayette War of 1812 18 Shawnee vs United States of American
Battle of the Mississinewa December 17–18, 1812 Near Jalapa War of 1812 Detroit Frontier 102+ United States of America vs Tecumseh's confederacy
Battle of Tipton's Island April 1813 White River War of 1812 Detroit Frontier 7 Indiana Rangers vs Kickapoo
Attack at Fort Wayne July 7, 1813 Fort Wayne War of 1812 Detroit Frontier 3 United States of America vs Native Americans
Newburgh Raid July 16, 1862 Newburgh American Civil War 0 Confederate States of America vs United States of America
Hines' Raid June 18, 1863 Orange & Crawford counties[3] American Civil War Morgan's Raid 3 Confederate States of America vs United States of America and Indiana Legion
Battle of Brandenburg Crossing July 7, 1863 East of Mauckport American Civil War Morgan's Raid 2 Confederate States of America vs Indiana Legion
Battle of Corydon July 9, 1863 Corydon American Civil War Morgan's Raid 15 Confederate States of America vs Indiana Legion
 

All the great stuff now is not easy like the good old days in the 70's...
The good stuff you have to put in your time and do your homework...
I do 5x more research on areas and still do very well...
But not even close to the old days of detecting :(
Gary from Oregon
 

Hey Mr. Red, thanks for the history. I'm a history buff myself and I enjoyed the reading. Virtually all the places and events on your list are protected by the state and local authorities and digging is off limits.I regularly get ran off from some of these places if they have no signs banning digging. The problem with Indiana is it is long. crossing the Ohio is said here to be "The gateway to the South", while the Northern border is less then a hour's Drive from Canada. Most of the history is far North of my town here on the Ohio River...(we are only now getting an Interstate Highway to Indianapolis constructed). I am down in the SW "toe" of Indiana, the nowhere capital of the eastern US!

One near spot on your list is one of my favorite Civil War stories. The "Battle" of Newburgh...Stovepipe Johnson, as he became known after the battle, put stovepipes out the windows of his flatboat and threatened to shell the town of Newburgh. The towns folk saw the stovepipes pointing toward town and surrendered, letting the Confederate raiders sack the town...Not much of a "Battle" but the nearby Newburghers talk it up! Funny! ...cheers.
 

Hey Mr. Red, thanks for the history. I'm a history buff myself and I enjoyed the reading. Virtually all the places and events on your list are protected by the state and local authorities and digging is off limits.I regularly get ran off from some of these places if they have no signs banning digging.

No problem buddy.And doesnt it figure,dont touch this,you cant touch that.Make the rules and laws up as we go along.what a bunch of B.S.
 

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