Buried Treasure

[G-Vac]

On saturday I disced up a 1.5 acre plot that I plan to plant in buckwheat next weekend. When I finished I was picking up stones (always my best crop) when I came across something different - an old horse shoe, all caked in rust. I was really struck with the thought that some farmer was working this same field seventyfive or a hundred years ago when his draft horse lost a shoe for me to find today, so I picked it up knocked the gross chunks of rust of with a hammer, then hit it with a wire wheel. It cleaned up real well and I plan to hang it over the door at the cabin. Got me thinking about what some you guys may have come across while working your plots. Anybody ever unearth any little "buried treasures"?

[GVSUKUSH]

I found an old 7 up bottle years ago that had the slogan, "You like it, it likes you" on it. The funny thing was, it was in a neighbor's field right next door to the property that my dad grew up on. He told me that he plowed that field as a kid for the owner and that was probably his bottle. :lol:

[thedude]

we find lots of native american relics on our fields in indiana.

my fiance's father is somewhat of an expert and has a really impressive collection of things he's found in indiana. Axes, tomahawks, and thousands of points.

I once found some pinky-nail sized flecks of flint which he informed me were from a type of flint that was quaried by native americans in Mississipi and traded throughout the region. All that from a little piece of flint. amazing.

[wecker20]

I have found two horse shoes, bottles, straps, discs, wagon wheels, and some kind of old planter w/ a bent up wheel. This is all family own land since the late 1800's so it's kinda neat to find stuff that my great grandfather used.

[Big Al]

I found a hay hook with my front tire a couple of years ago. :mad:

[Anderson]

found a mercury dime once. Must have fallen out of somebody's pocket decades ago. I bet I wandered around for another hour looking and hoping to find the old farmers wallet.

[brokenarrow]

Now I feel cheated! About the only thing I seem to find that I unearth is ground hornet nests. Here is a secret on how to find one,,,,, Follow me!

[bishs]

The Miller brothers owned my land before me. They spent years cutting trees and burning stumps. Clearing the land, they had a berry farm. My grandfather sold them a horse, a few months went by and my grandfather stopped in. He noticed the horse had not been used. He spent a few days teaching them how to use her. The two brothers never married, they had electricity but their water came from a hand pump.

The last brother died around 1990, they donated the entire farm to the catholic church a few miles away. The church sold the land in an auction, that owner sold it to me in 1994.

When I bought the land, it was planted to soybeans. I have since planted thousands of tree. The poor old boys are probably rolling over in their graves. They treated them like weeds. I have found horse shoes, and dozens of rusted farm parts and old glass bottles. A few years back I was planting trees and hit something hard with the shovel. I discovered a 15 by 15 cement slab with 8 inches of soil on top growing too weeds. Probably an old blacksmith shop or work shop, it was 1/4 mile behind the house.

[fairfax1]

I've found a few complete points, probably a gallon or two of of flint chips, a few small potshards with incised lines, and firestones. My land is right near what was the traditional border between Ottawa land to the west and Ojibway to the east....at least in the 1700's and early 1800's. I'm unsure of what tribal affiliation could be tied to this land before then.

Regardless, it absolutely makes my day when I find one of the bigger pieces...broken or not.

[Tecumseh]

I have never found any native american relics/artifacts other then at archaeological digs. I did study Native American history extensively in college so if anyone is interested in what groups of people lived on their property where items have been recovered you can email me and I can try to find out who probably left the stuff behind.

[mike hartges]

Last weekend I found an old 410 shotgun shell. I have also found some unidentifiable chunks of steel. I never found any indian artifacts. A friend of mine has found over 200 indian arrowheads on his property in southern Ohio.

[Jacob Huffman]

I have a particular field in Saginaw that my dad has "picked" arrow heads in for over 30 years.I have been there several times and usually find a couple myself.My best find so far is 2 "white" flint arrow heads.Not sure how rare they are but he has found hundreds of "regular" heads but never any "white" heads.I made them both into necklaces with out damageing them.

[thedude]

at 2" it was probably a knife. a true arrowhead is typically quite small and thin.
I found one as a kid about that size, when i took it to the woman's dad, he told me that it was a knife, was originally about 4" long, broke, was redone to about 1 1/2". And -- get this -- the native who made it was probably left handed.

I thought he was joking about the left handed part until he showed me some points he made (right handed). :lol: :lol:

[Setter]

While putting in a new plot this spring, I was picking out sicks and stones and noticed a small furry ear sticking out of the ground, thought it was a rabbit, possibly disced up a nest. When I pulled it out of the ground it was the head of a new born fawn that a coyote had killed and buried. I also found one of its legs. The poor thing never had a chance.

[BGB]

I Love To Bring An Old Interesting Thread Alive.

Lets See What Turns Up This Year

Could Be An Interesting Sub Forum

[farmlegend]

This past winter, while on a post-season scouting venture, I spotted something on a hillside, in thick brush, within one of my woodlots. Believe me, when there's no snow in the ground, this thing is utterly invisible. The only reason I found it was due to the horizontal lines formed by the contrast between the stones and the melting snow:

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/539/medium/oldfirebox.jpg

This thing is no more than 3 feet wide, and made from old fieldstones. Barely visible in the pic is the exhaust hole in the back of it, which may have connected to some sort of chimney. Nothing remains of whatever structure surrounded it. Based on some research, this thing could date to the civil war era, or even previous. It is a good half mile away from the nearest road, and even further from the nearest dwelling unit.

[BGB]

FL,

Cool! You know over the years I have trudged miles where I thought no one had ever been. But , only to find an age old concrete monolith from who knows where and miles into the bush.

Yours is an interesting structure. You are probably too far south to be a logging era relic. Let us know its genesis when and if you discover it.

[farmlegend]

BG, southern Michigan was logged a long time before northern MI. In my area, the forests were cleared in the 1840's. Countless gigantic hardwoods were felled(according to the original land surveys, bur oak, swamp white oak, american elm, basswood, and hard/soft maple) mostly to be burned to clear the way for farm ground. Wheatland Township was so named because the settlers achieved wheat yields from the rich loam which were, at that time, unprecedented. Lots of black walnut timber found its way into being used as beams for barns.

The oldest existing aerial photo of the section was taken in 1938, and it shows the area where this artifact lays was wooded at that time, as it likely was back when whitey arrived. The only record of dwellings in the vicinity show them as located alongside nearby roads.

[bigmike]

I found a cow skull and bones back in my field. Very old looking.;) Cool topic:D

[eddiejohn4]

I have found old moonshine stills,and old foundations where I never whould havew thought a home would be.

[Backwoods-Savage]

Using a metal detector, we have found some interesting things. In one particular field of my father-in-law's there was once an old home.This was far from a road too. Every Spring new things would push up to the top. We have parts of dishes too, but one of the strangest finds of my father in law was one time he was disking and disk up part of a pair of false teeth! We still laugh about that one.

[BGB]

I have found old moonshine stills,and old foundations where I never whould havew thought a home would be.

FL,

I guess I never considered logging camps in southern MI. I always thought that the settlers cleared it. If you are interested in early MI pioneers, read the Bark Covered House. Interesting stuff including chasing four bears through what is now Detroit Metro Airport.

In reference to the quote, maybe that is why your structure is so far off the beaten path.

[HTC]

A friend of mine has found over 200 indian arrowheads on his property in southern Ohio.

Musta been a 3-D course for them.

[FREEPOP]

I found an old horse halter in the middle of a big woods, some of the oaks there are probably a couple hundred years old. I hunt a section of old railroad tracks and find spikes once in a while and I have three old green glass insulators from the power lines that ran adjacent to the tracks.

[Rustyaxecamp]

Found a rusty double bit axe head at the property we hunt at in the UP (hence the camp name / username).

I have found several old crock wells, and while canoeing in Canada, many old trapper/fishing camp/cabins.

[Ferg]

The oldest existing aerial photo of the section was taken in 1938, and it shows the area where this artifact lays was wooded at that time, as it likely was back when whitey arrived. The only record of dwellings in the vicinity show them as located alongside nearby roads.

Any chance old roads long forgotten from 19th century ? I would be very very interested to see it up close and personal - but - I'm down here - I really like the idea of civil war camp maybe - any more pictures ?

ferg....
Just how cool is a find like that? Dang cool I say - :)