This forum has been discontinued.
January 22, 1999 at 19:05:59
The Mansfield Hunt Last Week.....
we didn't get to bed until 11:45 p.m. saturday night, so getting up at 2:00 a.m. was a bit slow. however, with the thoughts of our very first civil war hunt about to begin,
my 15 year old son paul and i, finally got everything together, and got started off in the cherokee at 3:00 a.m..
everything was quiet in mesquite at that hour, so getting out of town was no problem. we did take considerable note of the fast moving low clouds pouring in from the gulf, as we loaded the detectors and equipment into the jeep, and hoped that it didn't warn us of rain coming soon. our hopes were very high that morning, with the prospect of both of us digging up our very first civil war relic. this was also paul's first time to hunt with a detector.
as we traveled the 212 miles from mesquite texas to mansfield louisiana, we enjoyed each other's company, discussing the possibility of even finding a buckle, but both being quite content to accept even a musket ball apiece.
the trip to mansfield went without a hitch, even though neither of us had been there before, and it was even paul's first time to ever cross the line into louisiana.
we arrived at the mansfield inn, the appointed meeting place for the beginning of the day's hunt, a little before 7:00 a.m.. there were a couple of th'ers already in the little cafe when we arrived. shortly after our breakfast had been served, more th'ers arrived, including keith wills. we had a few greetings around, and finished our breakfasts, with much enthusiasm. the excitement, in the air of the little cafe, was thick enough to cut with a knife, as one of the men had uncovered a union buckle the day before, and keith had found a very "rare" civil war bullet.
after keith answered a truckload of questions, we devided up into a couple of groups, to hunt two different locations around the battlefield. i don't know about paul's, but my heart pounded with the anticipation of actually retrieving a relic that had been lost during the battles, between the towns of pleasant hill and mansfield.
we kept a close eye on the sand colored f-250 pickup ahead of us, occupied by the driver (jess) and two passengers, as they were leading the caravan from the cafe to the site. a few vehicles turned off just south of the commemorative site, to hunt on permitted locations east of the highway. we continued on southward another few miles to a new site that had just been opened after clear cutting and bulldozing. the area definitely looked like a battlefield, with all the trees down, and brush everywhere.
as soon as we arrived at the site, everyone immediately hit the field like dogs coming to dinner. though there was conversation amoung the th'ers, it was readily apparent why everyone of the th'ers were there. i was amazed at the lack of trash in the entire area, and the adrenalin was doing it's job on me. paul cut out like a new puppy, even though he had only had the borrowed detector for a day, and had not even had the opportunity to try it out in the yard, as we had been obligated with other things previous to heading out to mansfield.
several hunters around both of us found mini balls, and round balls, both fired and dropped. we searched all morning, with fast rolling gulf clouds overhead, and the
objects of our search hopefully just ahead. after searching for about 3 1/2 hours, the results of paul's search was a piece of gigantic sized chain with a large hook on one end, and a few pieces of trash. my total was a large ripper off a caterpillar.
we continued to hunt even past lunch time hoping to find our first bullet. i was so proud of my son, who stopped hunting only long enough to get a single drink of water. i fully believe that, even though i have had the detecting bug for about 17 years now, paul seemed even more determined to find a civil war relic than i was.
paul and i continued to hunt, even though we noticed that half of the vehicles, and hunters, had left the site already. i figure that they had decided to head for the feed
bag. at some point in time, around 1:00 p.m., we found that everyone but the two of us had left the site. i decided that it might be a good time to see if we could find the rest of the th'ers, who had turned off just south of the commemorative site first thing that morning, hoping that maybe our own relics might be awaiting us there instead.
we found the big grouping of th'ers just south of the "off limits" park area. after talking with a few of those who new their way around, paul and i headed off into the thickets and woods, detectors humming, and hearts pounding. the rain never showed, but the day was unseasonably warm, and i was working up a pretty good sweat. the two of us hunted for about two more hours, before deciding that we'd better be heading back to mesquite.
we didn't find any civil war relics, but we came home extremely happy and tired, and we both considered it a profitable day, considering the great folks we had met. we
also left with the tremendous expectations of another hunt there within the next two weeks.
you can't imagine how it hit us both, when we found out a few days later that mansfield is now off limits. our disappointments came like the blow of a sledge hammer.
however i am an optimist, and know that if paul and i never get to hunt a civil war area again, that we had a tremendous time together (certainly worth more than any relic), and that we can at least find a few coins together in the local parks. i look forward to many hours together with my son paul, and with my son mark (14 years of age) who wanted to come with us, but already had a previous engagement with some of the teens of our congregation.
treasure hunting is a wonderful thing, even when you don't dig up any treasure, as i found in the treasure of being with my son.
eshel travis
[ ||XJ|| ] eshel
(support your right, and privilege, to keep and bear arms, for the protection of your family and self- join the NRA)
Follow Ups:
Post a Followup
