parsonwalker
Bronze Member
(Small) Civil War Site mystery solved . . . the corn that wouldn't grow!
The owner of the land where I hunt (Yankee short-term camp) told me of a slight depression in his field where crops won't grow well. The depression was about the size of a large car. He said they never have, and he's in his mid 80s. When a boy, he would walk that spot after a rain and pick up percussion caps by the handful. Crops would always come up, but they would only grow half as high as normal, and never produce. Soil test revealed very high levels of magnesium. Of course, I'm hoping for an ammo dump, or some other spectacular thing. After a year there, he tells me I can try that spot! I'm out there like a shot cat. Well guys, there was an area about 40' long and 10' wide that was absolutely LOADED with melted lead. Like somebody had sowed it like grass seed! There would be 3 or 4 readings in the size of a 5 gallon bucket. I dug 'em ALL for about 20 minutes and it was wearing me OUT. The ground was LITTERED with this stuff. Mixed in were sure enough . . . percussion caps. Most fused to melted lead. After a while I started only digging the larger readings, which were just larger hunks of melted lead. I did pull out two dropped three ringers, and the dented face-only of a New York State cuff button. I feel sure it was just a large campfire which 160 years of plowing has dragged out about 40 feet. But here's the weird part. I located the edges of the lead-bonanza and worked the periphery and fanned out in all directions. NOTHING. It just turned off like a spigot. People have joked that Virginia soil must be lead-poisoned in spots because of the CW bullets here - in this case, they might be right. Can't figure out the high concentration of magnesium though. Would lots of lead stunt the growth of crops?
Anyway, I got exhausted and moved to another part of the farm and scored some bullets, shrapnel from the rear of a shenkel shell, a grape shot, a button back, a nice New York Cuff complete, the barely-recognizable remains of a springfield musket wrench and a religious charm which I wish I could date to the CW. Found it online, but can't date it. Any help anybody??
The owner of the land where I hunt (Yankee short-term camp) told me of a slight depression in his field where crops won't grow well. The depression was about the size of a large car. He said they never have, and he's in his mid 80s. When a boy, he would walk that spot after a rain and pick up percussion caps by the handful. Crops would always come up, but they would only grow half as high as normal, and never produce. Soil test revealed very high levels of magnesium. Of course, I'm hoping for an ammo dump, or some other spectacular thing. After a year there, he tells me I can try that spot! I'm out there like a shot cat. Well guys, there was an area about 40' long and 10' wide that was absolutely LOADED with melted lead. Like somebody had sowed it like grass seed! There would be 3 or 4 readings in the size of a 5 gallon bucket. I dug 'em ALL for about 20 minutes and it was wearing me OUT. The ground was LITTERED with this stuff. Mixed in were sure enough . . . percussion caps. Most fused to melted lead. After a while I started only digging the larger readings, which were just larger hunks of melted lead. I did pull out two dropped three ringers, and the dented face-only of a New York State cuff button. I feel sure it was just a large campfire which 160 years of plowing has dragged out about 40 feet. But here's the weird part. I located the edges of the lead-bonanza and worked the periphery and fanned out in all directions. NOTHING. It just turned off like a spigot. People have joked that Virginia soil must be lead-poisoned in spots because of the CW bullets here - in this case, they might be right. Can't figure out the high concentration of magnesium though. Would lots of lead stunt the growth of crops?
Anyway, I got exhausted and moved to another part of the farm and scored some bullets, shrapnel from the rear of a shenkel shell, a grape shot, a button back, a nice New York Cuff complete, the barely-recognizable remains of a springfield musket wrench and a religious charm which I wish I could date to the CW. Found it online, but can't date it. Any help anybody??
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