West Texas Hunters

I am in Abilene and am looking for new places as well!!!
 

I also live in Midland but work in Iraq. I have detected most of the areas in Midland for years. I get home every 4 months or so and we could meet up. I have one place that I think will be very good if I can get to it before they cover it up with concrete or pave it. I detected it years ago with a cheap detector and would like to go back with my new one.
 

You guys ought to try the southeast side of Wink. Was a big tent city in the early 20's.
 

I live in Abilene, TX and I have had some success here. Mainly wheaties and a few silver coins. I would like to start a club in Abilene or even an organized hunt. Is there anyone interested?
 

Where in Buffalo Gap can you go MD at? I thought the settlers grounds was a historical site.
 

I haven't been back since 1960. Sorry, I just knew there was a treasure yarn
associated with BG.
 

Hey you MD owners down south of me in W. TX need to find places to go hunt
If there is a local museum or historical society go ask about the old places not
around anymore. You probably know all the backroads or do you? Can you
spot where old houses once stood. A row of neglected trees that once surrounded
the homeplace. I know it's bone dry down there 9 months out of 12 but those
trunks were nurtured by some long gone housewife desparately needing shade.
Kids are the source of backyard wheaties and Indian Heads and rarely silver too.
If you're after bigger yields scan the fenceline for post hole banks and around old
outhouses, yeah the 'house may gone but they are still there and can be found.
Don't get your wand out til you walk all around eyeballing the grounds. This"ll
tell you where to start. Closelines are priorority 1, I got a real nice wedding ring
that fell from a pocket. You get a special feeling finding that out-of-the-way spot
and having time to hunt alone without prying eyes. Trust your instincts and you
will know when it's time to saddle up.
 

You might do some research. Go to your local library and start digging around in the Handbook of Texas [4 Volumes last I looked], the various references concerning the Texas Ranger Companies operating in West Texas during the Civil War patrolling for Comanche, and their numerous camps and later chasing cow thieves. Read up on where Ranald McKenzie has his incidents, Comanche Fights, disasters, encounters with cow thieves. Locate the hundreds of small communities and schools out there that haven't existed in 40 years. Read Charles Goodnight by Evetts Haley and learn as much as you can about his route and layovers on the Goodnight Trail. Read Great River by Paul Horgan and you'll learn about a thousand places and events you never heard of that might be worth locating and MDing. Find the Wilbarger book on Indian Depredations in Texas mid 19th Century.

Get a copy of Roadside History of Texas
http://www.amazon.com/Roadside-History-Texas/dp/0878422943?tag=dogpile-20
http://snipurl.com/28w3m [www_amazon_com]


Roadside Geology of Texas
http://geology.com/store/roadside-geology-texas.shtml
http://snipurl.com/28w3p [geology_com]


Visit Texas Escapes

http://www.texasescapes.com/Texas_architecture/TexasSchoolhouses/TexasSchoolhouses.htm
http://snipurl.com/28w3r [www_texasescapes_com]

If you're in the Brownwood area look up a man named Dana Evans at his place near Cheatham, and tell him I said 'Hi', and that he might be able to tell you some good places all over that area .... might even give you permission to MD on some of his lands, almost certainly some better ones not too far away, and who to contact for permission.

Other sites:


Texas Heritage Trail Regions
Passport to the Past
http://tourtexas.com/thc/index.html
http://snipurl.com/28w4m [tourtexas_com]



http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/exhibits/railroad/oil/page4.html
http://snipurl.com/28w54 [www_tsl_state_tx_us]


http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/DD/hld18.html
http://snipurl.com/28w56 [www_tshaonline_org]


http://www.jcs-group.com/oldwest/war/more1.html
http://snipurl.com/28w57 [www_jcs-group_com]


http://www.texasranger.org/history/Timeenforce.htm
http://snipurl.com/28w59 [www_texasranger_org]

POW Camps in Texas
http://www.gentracer.com/powcampsTX.html

Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields:

Texas,
http://members.tripod.com/airfields_freeman/TX/Airfields_TX.htm
http://snipurl.com/28w6y [members_tripod_com]

U.S. Army on the Texas Frontier
http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/forts/military.html
http://snipurl.com/28w70 [www_texasbeyondhistory_net]


Ghost Towns in New Mexico and Texas
http://www.rbs0.com/abandon.htm
http://snipurl.com/28w73 [www_rbs0_com]

Takes some work to find good places, but but the easy way ain't worth the trouble it doesn't take.
 

Re: West Texas Hunters - A few other links that might give you some ideas

Nailing down exact locations will require a little research but here's a kick-start:

Ranald McKenzie Red River Campaign

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_North_Fork_of_the_Red_River
http://snipurl.com/2afvd [en_wikipedia_org]

The Battle of North Fork
The army had caught the village completely unaware, and captive Clinton Smith in later years would accuse Mackenzie and the army of a massacre. Mackenzie reported officially twenty-three Comanches killed, although the Comanches claimed more, and almost certainly at least 50 were killed. The warriors, who sustained heavy casualties, threw some of their dead into a ten-foot-deep pool to keep them away from the Tonkawas' knives and cooking pots; the Tonkawas were reputedly cannibals.[2]

As justification for the attack, the army claimed it found overwhelming proof of the Band’s raids on white settlements in the wreakage of the village. For instance, a survivor of the wagon train massacred at Howard's Wells the previous spring, recognized forty-three of its mules.[2]

Almost 3,000 horses and mules were rounded up by the troops. The lodges, along with the stores of meat, equipment, and clothing, save for a few choice robes, were burned. About 130 Comanches, mostly women and children, were taken prisoner, but six of these were too badly wounded to be moved long distances.[2]

After dark, Mackenzie's command moved to the hills several miles away from the burned village and camped. Fearing that the captured pony herd would stampede the cavalry horses, Mackenzie had them corralled. That night and the next, however, the Comanches succeeded in recovering most of their horses, plus those of the Tonkawa scouts. The Comanche prisoners were kept under guard as the command rejoined its supply train and retraced its route back south to the main supply base on Duck Creek, where the Indians were transferred to Fort Concho, where they were kept prisoner through the winter. MacKenzie used the captives as a bargaining tool to force the off-reservation Indians back to the reservation, and to force them to free white captives.[2]

Aftermath
MacKenzie’s stratagem worked, for shortly after the battle, Mow-way and Parra-o-coom (Bull Bear) moved their bands to the vicinity of the Wichita Agency. The Nokoni chief Horseback, who himself counted family members among the Indian prisoners, took the initiative in persuading the Comanches to trade stolen livestock and white captives, including Clinton Smith, in exchange for their own women and children.[2]

The Red River Campaign
This marked the first time the United States had successfully attacked the Comanches in the heart of the Comancheria, and showed that the Llano Estacado were no longer a safe haven. Further, this battle emphasized that if the army wished to force the wild Comanches onto reservations, the way to do it was destroy their villages and leave them unable to survive off-reservation. MacKenzie's tactics were such a success that William T. Sherman empowered him to use them further during the Red River War of 1874. His attack on the village at Palo Duro Canyon, and his destruction of the Comanche horse herd at Tule Canyon, both in 1874, mirrored this battle in strategy and effect.[1]

Fort Clark and the Rio Grande Frontier
http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/forts/clark/saddle.html
http://snipurl.com/2afvf [www_texasbeyondhistory_net]

The Most Dangerous Prairie in Texas
http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/forts/griffin/prairie.html
http://snipurl.com/2afvh [www_texasbeyondhistory_net]

Battles & Massacres of the Indian Wars
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/NA-IndianWarsBattles-4.html
http://snipurl.com/2afvk [www_legendsofamerica_com]


Battles for the Nueces Strip
http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/forts/clark/battles.html
http://snipurl.com/2afvm [www_texasbeyondhistory_net]
 

Hats off to Highmountain for such great threads to follow. One other book,
"Texas Trails of the Red River War" is another good source for Panhandler's.
 

Hi everybody, Its been a while since iv been here, but I was told something by my brother and I thought I would tell you about it. My Brother lives close to Ft.Lancaster and was talking to a Park Ranger. Park Ranger told him that the state is going to spend allot of money on the fort and build a new museum and wanted to find stuff to put in it. He said they might let us come in to the area with the MD's to see what we find. Of cores we wont be able to keep any of it, but it would be fun. If I hear any more ill be sure to let everyone know.
 

Metal detecting in Fort Stockton sounds like fun. Keep us posted. I would love to come down from Abilene.
 

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