Old flintlock found-predates Lewis and Clark!

[Jeffro]

What's interesting about this story to me is this area is one of my haunts-


http://www.losttreasure.com/latestissue/featuredstory.cfm


Treasure News
By Anthony M. Belli
Oregon Treasure Hunter Recovers Pistol That Pre-Dates Lewis & Clark

SWEET HOME, Ore.--What started out as a prospecting trip along the banks of Quartzville Creek for one Oregon man quickly developed in to a treasure hunt. Clint McCraven, 43, of Sweet Home, Oregon, a welder by trade, had slipped out of the house early that morning leaving his sleeping wife behind. He headed off for “the woods” armed with his White’s Electronic Gold Master III to enjoy some well earned time off by prospecting for nugget gold. What he found wasn’t gold but an ancient flintlock pistol and in reasonably good condition.

“I picked up the pistol in three pieces all within a 50 to 60 yard area,” said McCraven. His detector had been sounding off pretty frequently but all he’d found up to that point was garbage.

Then his White’s Gold Master reported again and McCraven dug up a trigger guard, another 20 feet beyond he dug up the pistol’s action. Realizing the firearm was a flintlock, McCraven was stunned, then thought perhaps he’d unearthed a kid’s toy replica. He continued the search and another 30 yards further McCraven discovered the barrel and the wood pistol grip nearly intact and in surprisingly good condition.

“The barrel and wood stock were found in a wet clay material along the banks of the creek, which is probably what protected it from further deterioration,” McCraven said.

McCraven explained that the wood stock is very fragile and missing the butt plate. He added that it appears the pistol had been in a fire at one time.

He took the gun to a local firearms expert who advised him the weapon was indeed a flintlock manufactured prior to 1840 and likely pre-dates the arrival of the Lewis & Clark Expedition to the Oregon Territory in 1805. After examining the pistol local historian Melissa Wise said she “believes it to be the oldest find ever from this area.”

Speculation as to the pistol’s original owners range from early trappers working for the Hudson’s Bay Company to an explorer or an Indian who may have traded for it. For McCraven and other local residents, it has become a mystery that McCraven hopes to soon be able to solve. “I’m going back to metal detect this area again, I’d like to find the ramrod,” he said.

McCraven added that he hopes to be able to locate a campsite or other evidence in the immediate vicinity that can tell him more about who might have been in the area and when.

McCraven purchased his White’s Gold Master III about a year ago and considers himself a “newbie” to the hobby. “Most of what I’ve found hasn’t been of real value, but I have found a lot of old nails, pieces of cable, .22 casings and a ton of fishing sinkers,” he added.

McCraven plans to turn the find over to a friend at the University of Oregon to be studied and preserved. He hopes by doing so he will learn more about this ancient artifact and perhaps something about how it came to be on the banks of Quartzville Creek.

 

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[snake35]

Good post. Why don't I ever find anything like that?

 

[stefen]

An interesting and fantastic find, to say the least.

Although it may pre-date the Lewis & Clark expedition, its doesn't mean that it was lost prior to their expedition...

There is no way to determine when it was actually lost.

Its certainly not an anomaly.

Finding a Clovis arrowhead on Catalina Island or a Clogstone in New York would certainly be puzzling, but would only indicate that it's not indigenous and most like was transported and lost in more modern times.

 

[Jeffro]

That was my first thought, as well. Then I noticed this line- “The barrel and wood stock were found in a wet clay material along the banks of the creek, which is probably what protected it from further deterioration,” McCraven said.

Any wood left lying out in the open up there would probably be gone in less than a decade. So its been buried for quite some time. Could still have been lost and covered up more recently, though.

Quartzville Creek is one neat area. I went up there one time after a huge storm had passed through. Almost every road had been washed out, had to go in through back roads. We kept running into washed out sections, log jams, fallen trees, etc. And even found one boulder that was the size of a small house that was not there the year before! Pretty powerful gushes of water come through there, for such a small creek.

 

[stefen]

Jeffro,

We do agree that the find is phenomenal...its like finding the full regalia from the War of 1812 lying just below the surface.

First off, please do not take this reply to be argumentative or as a rebuff...its reflective as to how I have learned to observe data and how its presented for public consumption.

Over the years, I have always questioned the source of information, especially if its from a trade magazine, and particularly if its from a newpaper article.

Have you ever noticed when reading an archaeological article describing a find and the bones or jewelry, are always from a historically famous person...(and never from a common, ordinary lay-person or warrior). And most articles found are either relegated as for pagan worship or fertility? Give me a break!

I question the article's implication that the gun was lost prior to the Expedition. Additionally, if the gun was found encapsulated in dried clay, its survival may be more believable.

Based upon the relationship of the separate parts, I do not suspect that the gun was transported, in recent years, by a storm flow, and may have been washed down from a formerly protected environment. In fact it may have been lost, for whatever reason, by its owner exactly where it was found. In fact a mid-18th century trapper may have been ambushed in his camp which would explain its location...or a settler or 49ner was the contributor.

Oh, I made an error in my previous post and meant to say 'COG-STONE' which is a gear-like stone believed to be from about 5000 BC that was used by the Ancient Peoples (of coastal Southern California and inland about 20 or so miles). Very site specific.

 

[Jeffro]

No problem Stefen.... I usually nitpick when I read as well. Whats funny is when the Archy's have absolutely NO CLUE, its generally "of religious signifigance" LOL!

I caught the wet clay part after I posted, and knowing the area, I realized that your suspicion is probably the more likely. There are lots of areas up there that have a clayey "false bedrock" kinda look to 'em. Kinda like old channel gravels. But they are fairly recent. Only thing is, after you dig down an inch or two, they stay dry.