Small Cauldron found in Cape Coral, FL??????

[cjprice]

I found this in Cape Coral, Fl near the Cape Coral Bridge. This cauldron is small, and I not sure what it would have been used for. I found it over the winter during an extremely low tide. It was about 12 inches down in the mud, and almost totally encrusted with oysters, and barnacles.

This site was an old trading post, called Harney Point, and was the site of a Seminole Indian attack by Billy Bowlegs in 1839.

There is a historical marker at the base of the bridge near the cape coral visitors center that reads:

Title: HARNEY'S POINT
Location:Cape Coral Parkway
County: Lee
City: Cape Coral
Description: Near here on the Caloosahatchee River a band of 160 Indians attacked the Fort and Trading Post at four o'clock on the morning of July 23, 1839. In the raid led by Chief Chekaika of the Spanish Indians, thirteen soldiers died and fourteen, including Col. William S. Harney in command of operations, escaped down river. A year later Col. Harney returned and destroyed Chekaika in the Everglades.

Do you think it is possible that this item is from this time period? What would be the best way to preserve it?


Thanks!
~Chris

 

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[cjprice]

Here is an old map of the area:

 

[stefen]

Not the least bit knowledgeable about pots, however, it a very interesting find with a possible history.

These cast iron pots are still manufactured today and probably have the same or similar uses. Did some searching and found one about the same size that is used for garlic cooking and another (http://metapot.com/Cast-Iron-Cauldron-3-dia-Pentagram-Three-Legs-w-Cover-p-5598.html) site that says it's used for rituals and making spells, but for cooking foods.

Being that it has 3 legs could possibly mean that it was meant to be placed on top of, or raised above, burning embers.

Are there any embossed names or numbers on the bottom? Or raised logo's? If so, they could assist in age dating.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Im very familiar with Chekika, the last of the "Spanish" Indians (he was part Calusa) and his Caloosahatchee surprise attack on Col. Harney's encampment. Harney hid out in the swamp with a bullet in his chest and managed to survive.
Even more interesting are the rare revolving rifles that went down in the river when a canoe overturned during this raid. They were supposedly packed in grease and never found.

I dont know anything about your pot.

 

[bradyboy]

wow - wow -wow
great piece
cant wait to see the response your your post
so very cool
Brady

 

[chipveres]

Electrolytic reduction

I suggest electrolytic reduction to remove the rust and salt. It's not complicated just takes patience. Get a plastic pail or pot and fill with enough water to hold the part. Stir in half a pound or so of sodium carbonate (washing soda). Find a place on the part where you can scrape down to bare metal, maybe a leg. Use a clamp to make a nice tight connection from your bare spot to an electrical wire. Find a piece of stainless steel you don't care about like maybe a knife from a junk shop. Clamp another wire to it. Get a small electric power supply or battery charger of 12 to 18 volts. Nothing critical here, less is actually better. Put the part and the sacrificial electrode in the bucket so they don't touch. Hook up the power so the negative wire goes to the part being cleaned and the positive wire goes to the sacrificial electrode. Get your hands clear and turn on the power. Before you touch anything in the setup, shut off the power first! You should observe the object to be very lightly bubbling. Over time you will actually see the rust leave the part and accumulate on the sacrificial electrode. Leave it in there a month. Pour out the carbonate solution and replace it with fresh water. Turn the electricity back on and leave it another month. Take it out and bake dry in your home oven. Paint it with XO Rust and flat black from the auto supply. Practice up on the "Double, Double toil and trouble" speech from MacBeth.

Chip V.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Here is mention of the Colt Revolving Rifles that Harney bought for his men. There is a canoe load of these extremely rare muzzleloaders at the bottom of the Caloosahatchee River somewhere waiting to be found.
No more clues. http://209.85.215.104/search?q=cach...ney+revolving+rifles&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us

 

[Urban Grund]

Nice find! Would love to know the time frame of its use.

 

[extractor]

I'm no expert ,but it does look like about that time period.

 

[JT]

Just thinking out loud..if it's iron, and had been underwater (saltwater) for a considerable length of time, wouldn't it be corroded much worse?

You found it during a very low tide, buried a foot deep...is there any kind of bluff or higher bank it could have eroded out of, and rolled into the water? That might explain why it looks reasonably good for it's possible age. If it rolled down into the water fairly recently, started attracting oysters/barnacles, then sunk into the mud...it shouldn't attarct oysters or barnacles 12" under the mud, and it seems that if it was in the water from that time frame, it would likely be an unrecognizable lump of rust.

 

[allen_idaho]

Unless you can find any sort of manufacturer's stamp on that cauldron, it isn't going to be easy to determine the age. Just as an example, here are a few pictures to compare. The large picture is an 18th century british cooking cauldron. The other two are modern cauldrons for those crazy wiccan types to play with.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Witches in Cape Coral?

Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,—
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble!

 

[cjprice]

BigCypress,

No witches in cape coral....... Other than the nasty bluehairs at Publix, and Wal-mart!!!

Thanks for the info!

~Chris

 

[cjprice]

Re: Electrolytic reduction

I suggest electrolytic reduction to remove the rust and salt. It's not complicated just takes patience. Get a plastic pail or pot and fill with enough water to hold the part. Stir in half a pound or so of sodium carbonate (washing soda). Find a place on the part where you can scrape down to bare metal, maybe a leg. Use a clamp to make a nice tight connection from your bare spot to an electrical wire. Find a piece of stainless steel you don't care about like maybe a knife from a junk shop. Clamp another wire to it. Get a small electric power supply or battery charger of 12 to 18 volts. Nothing critical here, less is actually better. Put the part and the sacrificial electrode in the bucket so they don't touch. Hook up the power so the negative wire goes to the part being cleaned and the positive wire goes to the sacrificial electrode. Get your hands clear and turn on the power. Before you touch anything in the setup, shut off the power first! You should observe the object to be very lightly bubbling. Over time you will actually see the rust leave the part and accumulate on the sacrificial electrode. Leave it in there a month. Pour out the carbonate solution and replace it with fresh water. Turn the electricity back on and leave it another month. Take it out and bake dry in your home oven. Paint it with XO Rust and flat black from the auto supply. Practice up on the "Double, Double toil and trouble" speech from MacBeth.

Chip V.

Thanks for the info, I'll be trying this shortly.

~Chris

 

[cjprice]

Just thinking out loud..if it's iron, and had been underwater (saltwater) for a considerable length of time, wouldn't it be corroded much worse?

You found it during a very low tide, buried a foot deep...is there any kind of bluff or higher bank it could have eroded out of, and rolled into the water? That might explain why it looks reasonably good for it's possible age. If it rolled down into the water fairly recently, started attracting oysters/barnacles, then sunk into the mud...it shouldn't attarct oysters or barnacles 12" under the mud, and it seems that if it was in the water from that time frame, it would likely be an unrecognizable lump of rust.

There is a VERY good possibility that the pot was on higher ground there is about a 4' drop-off from a bank close by, and the pot was only about 15' from the shoreline.

 

[BlueDiamonds]

Chris,

Check out this story

http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=9b60d6b5-4ff5-458b-9cff-f1cdb92766e3


It looks like your cauldron but this one was found in the water near the courtney cambell bridge (Tampa) and it had a human skull in it. It was probably used for some type of ritual at one time? Maybe yours was too.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Chris,

Check out this story

http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=9b60d6b5-4ff5-458b-9cff-f1cdb92766e3


It looks like your cauldron but this one was found in the water near the courtney cambell bridge (Tampa) and it had a human skull in it. It was probably used for some type of ritual at one time? Maybe yours was too.

OMG. Interesting story Blue. How far are you from this Tampa bridge?

 

[BlueDiamonds]

Hi Big... I'm about an hour north of that area. After reading Chris' post, I remembered the story that was on the news not that long ago about the skull being found. I haven't heard anything on the news since then either so not sure if they figured out who the skull belonged to or if someone dug it up out of a cemetery. creepy to say the least and probably freaked out the people that found it a little. Imagine snorkeling along and
looking down and seeing that!

 

[Apolla]

FYI.. It is common practice in the Wiccan tradition to toss things like that into the water and.... what better place to do it... than a Bridge. I'd throw it back! LOL!