Possible time capsule hunt

[jagchaser]

I got a lead on a time capsule a couple months ago. There was an old lady who used to teach at a one room school house near me. Supposedly she told my 65 year old neighbor, some 30-40 years ago before she died, about her class burying a time capsule. He said they buried it and then planted an elm over it. The school house got dozed when they cleared the row for the highway back in the 40-50's, but the tree stood until the 60's as it was in the field next to the row. There was only one tree there. The tree was pushed into the row after it fell over. I finally got permission on the field, but can't find anyone who remembers where the tree actually was at. They all remember there was only one tree. There is no stump with the pile of logs from the tree. The field is alfalfa, and doesn't look like it has had any dirt work done. The school shows up on the 1904 plat map, I don't know how long after that it was still being used.

Im not sure what they would have even made a capsule out of back then, or how big it would have been. I figure its probably not more than 3 ft deep. Ive got a garrett atx and figured I would grid the field in that area, flagging all the good signals then go back with the ctx to check. What do you guys think, should I get a tm 808? Ive been itching to get one anyways, I just not sure how to go about this.

 

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[boogeyman]

Have you tried overlaying the 1904 map over Google Earth or even a modern map? Have you tried probing around the log pile as a start? Being as how humans are generally lazy, I wouldn't think they'd pile the logs more than a few steps from where they were cut. Now for the worst. You say there was no stump. Is there a possibility the stump got pulled by the highway construction crew? Sounds like a fun project either way!

 

[jagchaser]

The tree sat in the field next to the right of way, not in the right of way where they would have pulled the stump and removed all the wood when they built the highway. The owner of the field must have pushed the tree out of the alfalfa field (with a tractor I assume) when it fell, so he could farm more ground. And this happened in the 60's after the highway was built. Its very common for them to push stuff to the edges here so they can farm a little more. The 1904 map is vague and only shows the school located in the corner of the section, it doesn't show the tree. Its not really a large spot I need to grid.

My main concerns are if I am barking up the wrong tree thinking I can use the atx. I haven't ever played with a tm 808, but what Im reading says they ignore small metal on the surface. If that is correct it may be the perfect thing. I know my atx will sound on every nail and bottle cap along with the possible capsule. It may well reach a coffee can sized object at 3ft, but I might have to dig every nail before I can hear the sound of the can.

 

[boogeyman]

Sounds like a good excuse to get a two box!!! Understand the TN808 is going to take some time to learn (trust me) so count in the learning time. Finding the schools location would help narrow things down a lot. Have you thought of visiting the closest historical society? They might have pics & other info to help you. You might want to look at some of the newspaper archives on line for your area. If it's a small town things like the school burying a time capsule that seems like nothing now days, was more than likely a big deal back then. A couple days research can save you days of swinging & a lot of bootleather!

Check Craigs List etc for your TM808. I picked up one for $300 a few months back. Hope you find it!

 

[desertson]

Just a thought on Elms, we have a bunch of them left here on slopes, with roots not to deep. After to much water runoff from neighborhood yards, occasional rains, and some winds, they just fall over. Root ball and all leaving no stump except some tore up tap roots in the ground. I always look for these cause I just know even though no Gold was dug this close to the coast. Some day for sure I am going to find my one pound nugget in that root ball

 

[jagchaser]

I spent the morning at the library studying a couple books that might have mentioned it, no mentions. I went out there this afternoon with the pickax for the frost. Found an 1899 V nickel, an early shotgun shell end, a coverall button, 2 parts to a silver plated spoon, a piece to a watch. Everything was 4-5 inches. I gridded the field next to the right of way and spray painted all the good sounds from the atx. Then I went over them with the deus on wide open. All except one were just nails close to the surface. Here is a video from the one signal the atx blasted out, but the deus couldn't pick up. Let me know your thoughts. Ive never used it to try to find deep stuff like that. I know iron check will grunt out when its a shallow nail, but I don't know what it will do on deep iron.

 

[jagchaser]

Oh ya. My sweeps with the atx were from 1 ft above the surface. Im afraid whatever this is its 2-3 ft down.

 

[cw0909]

i know you said it is a small area, locating an img of the school and tree
would help narrow the area. try your local and county historical society
and library, may be a record of the event with imgs
try these to
NETR Online ? Historic Aerials
Nebraska Memories
CASDE | Virtual Nebraska

 

[Curtis]

you might try a Topographical (topo) map-free on line-they often go back to the early 1900s for a lot of areas...might have to ask your county engineer for use of his oldest one...it may have the location of the school on it...also-- have you checked the Sanborn maps? They are very old insurance maps-usually pretty actuate in locating buildings on streets...the library may even have some of your area....otherwise they are on line-might ask librarian to help you there as they have passwords that get you into the site. Good luck Its a cool project ..if you find it be sure to try to contact those old people that were kids! keep us updated!

 

[jagchaser]

i know you said it is a small area, locating an img of the school and tree
would help narrow the area. try your local and county historical society
and library, may be a record of the event with imgs
try these to
NETR Online ? Historic Aerials
Nebraska Memories
CASDE | Virtual Nebraska

I couldn't find any pictures of the school, but I DID find in on the 1950 aerial image from NETR!!! Thanks! It looks like I was in the right spot, maybe just need to be 10 ft further west from where I stopped checking. It is out in the country, in a field. It also looks like when they built the highway, the right of way line cut the building in half.

I found some coins out there in what would have been the driveway or right on the west side of the driveway. 1899 V, 1894 V, 1887 IHP, 1920 Merc. So I know Im in the right spot.

 

[foiler]

If your detector has manual ground balance you can use it to locate the tree site.

 

[jagchaser]

If your detector has manual ground balance you can use it to locate the tree site.

Can you go into more detail? I can do a manual balance on the ctx for sure.

 

[Gold Maven]

interesting project.

I'm a little surprised that they would plant a tree directly on top of the capsule, good luck and keep us posted.

 

[jagchaser]

interesting project.

I'm a little surprised that they would plant a tree directly on top of the capsule, good luck and keep us posted.

It doesn't make much sense to me either, but who knows. I did manage to talk to a lady who went to school there in the 40's today. She thinks she is the last person alive that went there. She didn't remember anything about a time capsule, but she said the teacher who relayed the story about the capsule was there 20 years before she was. She did remember a young tree east of the building, closer to the east road.

She did say that the outhouse was west of the schoolhouse on the other side of the driveway. Thats where I found most of the coins I think, and it makes sense. On my aerial view I thought that was a tree, but on closer examination it does look like a square.

 

[MadPoetLaw]

Heres a quick idea. If the tree fell over naturally or was knocked over with heavy equipment then it likely still had a large root ball still attached to the trunk.
A long shot here but if the grou nd is bare and somewhat dry it might be possible to visually spot a circular pattern of where the tree once stood. The bigger the color difference between the topsoil and the substrate the more noticable that spot might still be. It the tree toppled then the root ball will carry away the top soil exposin g the substrate.
No doubt the field has been ploghed and tilled many times since the 60's

If i were you though id start by pinpointing as close as possible the exact location of the schoolhouse using the platt map. I doubt the tree would be much more than a stones throw away from it.

 

[jagchaser]

Heres a quick idea. If the tree fell over naturally or was knocked over with heavy equipment then it likely still had a large root ball still attached to the trunk.
A long shot here but if the grou nd is bare and somewhat dry it might be possible to visually spot a circular pattern of where the tree once stood. The bigger the color difference between the topsoil and the substrate the more noticable that spot might still be. It the tree toppled then the root ball will carry away the top soil exposin g the substrate.
No doubt the field has been ploghed and tilled many times since the 60's

If i were you though id start by pinpointing as close as possible the exact location of the schoolhouse using the platt map. I doubt the tree would be much more than a stones throw away from it.

I found 1950's aerial photos of the schoolhouse and have over laid the with current pics of the highway right of way. I also talked to a lady who went there, and she told me which side of the schoolhouse the tree was on.

I going to pic up a tm808 from a guy in Omaha this week, then wait for the ground to thaw.

 

[Curtis]

Again - check out Sanborn maps they have a lot of detail....you might be able to orient some other land mark.

 

[jagchaser]

I picked up a TM 808 last week. Took it out there today and ran a grid. I only came up with one signal, and it was almost exactly where I figured the one tree to be based on the 1950 aerial photo. I dug the signal and it was at least 2 ft deep. It was a mostly intact oil can surrounded by pieces of rotten roots. It had holes rusted in it and had filled with dirt, and the can fell apart when I got ahold of it. It was hard to be sure, but it really looked like there had been paper of some kind in there. It all disintegrated as soon as any dirt shifted, kind of like ashes, but with an obvious paper form for a second. Other than that there were pieces of decorative china and old glass bottles in the hole too.

Im thinking that I did find what they left as a time capsule, but that time had got the better of it.

I did dig another ihp there this afternoon, a 1889.

 

[cw0909]

sounds like it was a classroom time capsule project, maybe during/
after ww1, or stock market crash/great depression