Appomattox River In Petersburg, Va.

[glw54]

Hello!

Legend has it that, "families, upon approach of Union soldiers in Petersburg, Virginia, hid a lot of valuables on the "SOUTHERN BANK(S) of the Appomattox River in Petersburg. I live in Petersburg. Although this legend, or fact? is widespread, I've never seen anyone down there on that river. Last year in 2003, I became interested in this legend(AGAIN) and went down there taking pictures of likely spots. I didn't stop there, but enlisted the help of an anonymous friend to try and help me locate some things. He did, but I won't say here and now how he did it. I used an ETREX GPS unit and locked in about 11 or 12 spots that I can go back to day or night. There are a lot of "bad things" on that river that one would/could possibly encounter in the Spring, Summer, or Fall. The Winter would be the best time to go down there and search, as the"bad things" will then be dead or hibernating! Targets are supposedly only about 2/3 feet deep and some have become one with the river. I don't have my Garrett MD anymore, and has been suggested that I use: 1-L-Rods to locate the spots, combined with a GPS unit, and deep-seeking MD. Some of us might recall that many successful recoveries have been accomplished with nothing more than a Pendulum(that I have), L-Rods, and a map! Does anyone live in/nearby Petersburg that would be willing to join forces and try and make a recovery?

[Darren in NC]

Hey glw54 - I'm genuinely interested in the legend. What more can you tell me? Was there flooding shortly after the valuables were buried? That would've washed away markers that were put in place for recovery. How do you know there are still targets? Is the river still running the same course it did during the war? What of erosion? Any river and its banks is a tricky place to define targets due to all kinds of debris washed up over countless floods.

I live about three hours from Petersburg. I have a deep seeking detector and may be willing to make a trip this winter if I can get better details. Email me if need be. Thanks for posting

[Freck]

I am from Petersburg, Va. Back in the 1970's I did alot of scuba diving in the Appomattox river and found a few Civil War relics and other items. We dove from Lake Chesdin to City Point. e-mail address (KeithLBarker@aol.com)