metalev4
Bronze Member
- Aug 12, 2006
- 1,165
- 565
The western forts housed some of the toughest indian fighters in history. Crook, Custer, Reno and many others inhabited these sites and their exploits went down in history. Extremely remote, with brutal men and climates seem to be overarching themes when researching and attempting to locate these sites. I have had the pleasure of exploring one such site a couple of times per year (when time allows) over the last 3 years. This weekend my brother and I ventured out for a couple of days of camping and relic hunting. We met 2 friends who have explored this site for years with excellent results. The privies have remained elusive, due to my limited experience and the difficulty of reading terrain that has changed drastically over the last 145 years. This weekend, after serious probing and a couple of test holes I found myself in an undug hole behind what was once a cavalry stable. Iron trouser buttons, and knap sack brass accompanied me to the bottom of what turned out to be a red fir lined 6 footer. Pieces of uniform with corroded eagle buttons surfaced in the use layer and periodically I heard updates as various small artifacts including iron buckles and glass buttons turned up on the sifter. As the hole got deeper It became more and more difficult for me to toss dirt from the hole onto the sifter above. Right before I made the decision to start bucketing out the last couple of blackberry seed filled feet, I heard shouting from above, which mainly contained expletives and the word "Knuckles!" intertwined. With my last shovel full of dirt I had tossed a set of period brass knuckles on to the screen! Apparently close to 150 years ago a cavalry trooper dropped his pants and inadvertently deposited his brass knuckles in the outhouse depths. The rest of the hole yielded broken glass, a few more buttons and ration cans. A shallow trash trench gave up a nice Lea Perrins bottle and I later sifted up the matching stopper. With our companions departed, the sun beating down on us and the afternoon fading, we decided to finish off the weekend with a little detecting in a grove of shade trees. Not ten minutes later I heard my brother yell out, "I got something good." He proudly held up a perfect set of crossed sabres, which had lain undisturbed beneath the pine straw since they dropped from a troopers hat a century and a half earlier. Thanks for looking and good luck with your next adventure! When I figure out how to resize pictures I will post some pics from the field.
-Ev
-Ev
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