Officials searching for relic hunter on Gettysburg battlefield

[jeff of pa]

GETTYSBURG, Pa. (WHTM) - Officials at the Gettysburg National Military Park are trying to find out who went on an apparent relic-hunting digging spree this past weekend.
They say that someone dug 23 little holes in the area around Spangler's Spring on Kulp's Hill.
"We don't like people digging holes on the battlefield," Park Management Assistant Katie Lawhon said.
In fact, the law prohibits anyone from digging on the grounds of any national park. Doing so could get you a fine of up to $100,000 and up to 10 years in jail. It is illegal to even possess a metal detector on park grounds. That could get you a fine of $75.
Park officials hope someone could give them a tip that could help them catch the human gopher that dug the holes.
"The Saturday close to the battle anniversary was a pretty heavy visitation day," Lawhon said. "It's possible that this took place at night when the park was closed."
Anyone with information may call 334-0909.




Officials searching for relic hunter on Gettysburg battlefield - abc27 WHTM

 

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[ticm]

Some Richard head out there messing things up.

 

[jeff of pa]

first off I wonder if they know the difference between Rodents digging & Relic Hunters.

second If a Relic hunter, I wonder if it is a Ric Savage fan

 

[releventchair]

Was under impression they "seeded"gettysburg enough to discourage violators. pictures would likely reveal human or rodent. Hit a park this spring where skunks were digging grubs. close to plugs in appearance but not the same.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

If caught fine him and give him hard time too...

 

[Keppy]

Myself i don't think it was relic hunters ..... If they dug small holes it does sound like rodent's to me not some one with a detector and shovel.......... That type of hole sounds like skunk's ..or..coons ,,.or squirrel's..... It seems like every one likes to jump to the worst conclusion right away............Would not a relic hunter dig big deep holes ??

 

[jeff of pa]

Myself i don't think it was relic hunters ..... If they dug small holes it does sound like rodent's to me not some one with a detector and shovel.......... That type of hole sounds like skunk's ..or..coons ,,.or squirrel's..... It seems like every one likes to jump to the worst conclusion right away............Would not a relic hunter dig big deep holes ??

Yes if digging at night like they suggested, I would expect very Obvious Holes.

If the ground is anything like up here, it would
also be very hard right now.

I do wish they would have posted pics of the holes,

as they claim this was on a weekend the place had something going on there,

was a pretty heavy visitation day

it makes it even harder to believe.

as for the Penalties, $100,000 and up to 10 years in jail ? Very sad !
I think there are Much worse things going on in the country
then rescuing relics from more Rot.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

When I was at custor's last stand one year a couple people had snuck in with detectors the night before. There were hundreds of small holes all over last stand hill and it was obvious some one was there digging, all the holes then were also small..

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Sheesk, those md'rs need to know how to cover their holes better. You know: ruffle up the top, so dirt crumbles don't show, stomp if down flat with your foot, etc..... Oh, ok, just kiddin'. They shouldnt' have been there in the first place

 

[leprechaun]

Unfortunetly theres always going to be a couple of not so nice people out there makeing everebody else look bad.

 

[N.J.THer]

Pull in all the squirrels in area for questionsing. I want every nest, nut house and tree house searched in a 5 mile radius.

If this does turn out to be a detectorist I hope they catch them and make an example out of them.

The park service should set up organized hunts for detectorists. Where everything found is cataloged and the location is recorded through a surveyor or at minimum GPS. All the artifacts would be turned over to the park service. They would have volunteers lining up...heck they could even charge a small fee and I would pay it to hunt the battlefield. The only problem would be that they may get so many artifacts that they would not have the funds to properly preserve them all. If you get the relics out of the ground you could stablize them so they don't rot away, gather additional information about the battle through the relics found and their locations, remove a bulk of the relics from the ground so there is no reason for the nighthawks to hit the park and give the park more intersting relics to display for visitors to see. I think it would be a win-win for everyone. Just my two cents.

NJ

 

[Keith Duff]

I hope to visit the park and maybe, weather permitting, do some digging in the area in early April. Are there maps, good maps, of just where the Park property starts and where it ends? I'm fairly new to relic hunting and have not yet been to the Gettysburg area to do so. Are there favorite spots for treasure seekers that are common knowledge? I know that the Rt. 30 corridor to Chambersburg holds the sites of many encampments. Any good maps out there to work from? KD

 

[jeff of pa]

I hope to visit the park and maybe, weather permitting, do some digging in the area in early April. Are there maps, good maps, of just where the Park property starts and where it ends? I'm fairly new to relic hunting and have not yet been to the Gettysburg area to do so. Are there favorite spots for treasure seekers that are common knowledge? I know that the Rt. 30 corridor to Chambersburg holds the sites of many encampments. Any good maps out there to work from? KD

I would think the Park office would have maps saying what property belongs to them.

you could also check with "Gettysburg electronics" (google it) 24 Chambersburg Street
Gettysburg, PA Store Hours
9:30 am to 5 pm EST (M - Th, Sat)
9:30 am to 7 pm EST (Fri)

I'm sure he'll be able to tell you what is safe & what is not

 

[Keith Duff]

Thanks for the tip! I'd planned on visiting Gettysburg Electronics...but I'm thinking I might end up spending
all of my cash there and have to cut my vacation short!

 

[DocBeav]

Totaly agree with everyone here...if it was someone sneaking in and doing some "night digging" they should be found and punished! I like the idea of some of the parks having an organized archeological hunt where everything found is cataloged and put on display but I doubt many park officials would go for that!

An interesting story regarding Spanglers Spring area as told to me by an old family friend:
When I was a kid, a member of my Family's church was a huge Civil War buff and had been involved with the re-enactments there. He used to take Boy Scout troops there on tours (for free) as he knew so much about the battlefields and the people who fought there. When he was a young man (probably in the late 40's early 50's) the battlefields were the protected areas they are now and you used to be able to camp there. He was (I guess) in his 20's at the time and an assistant Scout Master for a local troop that was spending a weekend camping on the battlefields in the area of Spangler's Spring. Back then, the spring was still just that, an open spring that wasn't capped with a water fountain like it is now (or was the last time I was there...) He and a couple other Scouts were drawing water from the spring to get breakfast started for the rest of the Troop and he suddenly had a weird feeling come over him....

He started imagining what it would have been like that first morning and the beginning of the several days that made up the battle. He started relating to the other two scouts with him to imagine it too. He said "just imaging being camped here around the spring, going through your morning rituals of getting ready for the day. Imagine that you are in the middle of shaviing with the water you and the other soldiers had drawn from Spangler's Spring when suddenly the drum roll calls out and the soldiers begin to assemble and prepare for the day's battle that they know is coming. You would have to drop everything, grab your rifle, cartridges and other items but leave everything else where it is there in your campsite and prepare to move up to the coming battle." As he was saying this, he walked over to some rocks around the spring area (if you've been there, they are the ones that stick up straight up and down in the earth, some at angles and have spaces between them) He asked if the other 2 scouts wanted to find an "artifact". Of course, they said yes. He grabbed a small stick and knelt down and began scraping the dirt away between 2 rocks, andter a few inches he flips out a flat razor! He digs another few inches and flips out ANOTHER one! The boys with him were astounded!

Our friend passed away a long time ago and will be sorly missed for his love of history, knowledge and the good work he did in the church. He had both of those razors cleaned and they looked beautiful! I believed his story from the time I was a kid and still do. I asked him once when I was in high school about it, ya know, was it just a cool story to entertain the scouts or what? He said no, it was the absolute truth and he, to that day, still had no idea what came over him and how he found the razors but he said he felt it like it was happening at that moment, he felt like he was re-living something. A few years after his experience as a you man, he did some family research and found out that his Great Grandfater had fought there for the Union in the 93rd Pennsylvania also known as the "Buck Tails" for the white deer tails on their kepies. After that, the re-enactments that he went to, he was always decked out as a member of that unit complete with the deer tail! Really miss that guy....would have loved for my son to have met someone like him who had so much knowledge to share.

Sorry, a bit long but the post got me to waxing nostalgic ya know? Not sure if I reported it all correctly but to the best of my recollection and it has probably been 30 years since he passed.

 

[Frankn]

I think the best way to stop this is to hold organized supervised hunts at the parks till everything is recovered, problem solved. Frank

 

[jeff of pa]

I think the best way to stop this is to hold organized supervised hunts at the parks till everything is recovered, problem solved. Frank

I think the best way to stop it is open it up to everyone & do like England.

Let the museums Bid on finds that are new & rare.

it isn't like they will learn anything new, there are probably 10,000 Civil war
history books out there already. & how many Diraries Buried in Museum Boxes
that nobody is allowed to see or read ?

 

[smokeythecat]

As far as I know, in the TOWN of Gettysburg, as of last summer it is illegal to detect even on private property, so you'd have to go out of the town limits on private property to detect. Sometime last summer some idiot was detecting on the battlefield. I don't think they caught whoever it was. Probably not squirrels this time, and the ground is probably frozen, too.

 

[Dick Stout]

I was able to detect "around" Gettysburg years ago. There were members of the local club who knew farmers, and whose land was close by. Given the size and scope of that battle it was not difficult to find relics. I just wish that whenever there "appears" to be a problem they don't automatically blame detectorists. Not fair at all....

Likewise the battlefield is watched over with extreme care.....cannot imagine any detectorist getting in there, even at night. JMO.

 

[pong12211]

What they did digging illegally is definetly wrong.. But my question is what good is this history if it's just left in the ground to perish..