Badger Tour WOW! IRON KNIFE & Great Lumberjack Era Relics! HELP ID?

Michigan Badger

Gold Member
Oct 12, 2005
6,797
148
Northern, Michigan
Detector(s) used
willow stick
Primary Interest:
Other
Badger Tour WOW! IRON KNIFE & Great Lumberjack Era Relics! HELP ID?

Met this oldtimer who told me the location of where a large lumberjack barn and bunkhouse once stood.

Best I can tell it's average; meaning 1860's to 1915 or so. After ca. 1915 it was used by kids for play and then finally torn down in the late 30's.

Sounded good to me so I drove way out into no-man's land as they say up here. I was concerned a couple of times about getting stuck but I made it.

The grass was like 8 to 20 inches tall and I could tell there hadn't been much happening there in a long time.

As I got out of the car I noticed some shiny gray in the two-track road but didn't bother with it.

I turned on the Tesoro and got hits right away. Yeah! I had the right place. I dug lots of old cans so I went to another spot and dug a maul! I did the "happy dance."

Soon I found two (2) Ax Heads! WOW! I couldn't believe it! This is a lumber era relic hunter's dream come true.

Then it was one relic after another. I dug the biggest horseshoe I have ever seen! Take a look at that bit! That horse was a giant!

NOTE: Can U identify the items on the gray boards? What are they?

On the way back to the car I picked up that piece of metal I saw in the road when I started out. It turned out to be a 170+ year old iron knife blade.

Thanks for looking at the Badger's old junk.

Extra Note: After the relics are dug I'll weed-whack the area and get the coins.

Photos removed to save space 6-17-06
 

Upvote 0

EDDE

Gold Member
Dec 7, 2004
7,129
65
Detector(s) used
Troy X5
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Re: Badger Tour WOW! IRON KNIFE & Great Lumberjack Era Relics! HELP ID?

shameless plug... ::) cool diggity diggs
 

S

stefen

Guest
Re: Badger Tour WOW! IRON KNIFE & Great Lumberjack Era Relics! HELP ID?

The one item is a straight snaffle bit.

The double spike is replicated today as a staple-type item to hold boards (logs) together.

The other spikes are most likely from logging pikes.

Contact Erik at 'Blue Ox Millworks' (www.blueoxmill.com) in Eureka and he can identify all items.

Blue Ox is one of several historic (working) museums.
 

OP
OP
Michigan Badger

Michigan Badger

Gold Member
Oct 12, 2005
6,797
148
Northern, Michigan
Detector(s) used
willow stick
Primary Interest:
Other
Re: Badger Tour WOW! IRON KNIFE & Great Lumberjack Era Relics! HELP ID?

stefen said:
The one item is a straight snaffle bit.

The double spike is replicated today as a staple-type item to hold boards (logs) together.

The other spikes are most likely from logging pikes.

Contact Erik at 'Blue Ox Millworks' (www.blueoxmill.com) in Eureka and he can identify all items.

Blue Ox is one of several historic (working) museums.

Thanks much! 8)
 

Boobydoo

Gold Member
Apr 24, 2006
6,338
28
Michigan
Re: Badger Tour WOW! IRON KNIFE & Great Lumberjack Era Relics! HELP ID?

Nice productive site for you Badger.
Great relics my friend, well done!

Smiles!
BDoo
 

Bavaria Mike

Gold Member
Feb 7, 2005
8,340
177
Bavaria Germany
Detector(s) used
Minelab XT70, Fisher 1280, Garrett Ace 250 and MH5
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Re: Badger Tour WOW! IRON KNIFE & Great Lumberjack Era Relics! HELP ID?

Nice finds MB! HH, Mike
 

jeff of pa

Super Moderator
Staff member
Dec 19, 2003
85,468
59,225
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Re: Badger Tour WOW! IRON KNIFE & Great Lumberjack Era Relics! HELP ID?

Nice Relics Mike.

I miss finding Relics.

I guess I have to Change my Locations again soon.

Jeff
 

warsawdaddy

Gold Member
Nov 23, 2004
5,595
69
Edwards,Missouri
Detector(s) used
MXT - DeLeon - Gamma 6000
Re: Badger Tour WOW! IRON KNIFE & Great Lumberjack Era Relics! HELP ID?

Great finds,Badger! I would already be weed-wackin'.Keep 'em coming.
 

Gypsy Heart

Gold Member
Nov 29, 2005
12,686
338
Ozarks
Re: Badger Tour WOW! IRON KNIFE & Great Lumberjack Era Relics! HELP ID?

Great digs! Love that Rusty Iron....I am finding I have a real attraction to it ...since its all I dig!
 

OP
OP
Michigan Badger

Michigan Badger

Gold Member
Oct 12, 2005
6,797
148
Northern, Michigan
Detector(s) used
willow stick
Primary Interest:
Other
Re: Badger Tour WOW! IRON KNIFE & Great Lumberjack Era Relics! HELP ID?

jeff of pa said:
Nice Relics Mike.

I miss finding Relics.

I guess I have to Change my Locations again soon.

Jeff

I too get away from relics sometimes but I miss them so much I get back to them again. I get a pleasure out of them I can't find in coins. Coins are not much more than high class bottle caps. Relics were the tools that built this great country.

I get a great kick out of looking over a 110 year old ax head and seeing all the marks. Those marks were made while building present day America. They represent some man's life, or at least a part of it.

Some people only see rusty iron but I see lives and a major part of the history of our land.

The early Lumberjacks were a hard working lot and many never lived to see the ripe old age of 40. They worked and played hard.
 

Attachments

  • lumberjacks2.jpg
    lumberjacks2.jpg
    25.5 KB · Views: 319

RatRacer

Sr. Member
May 23, 2006
339
1
Trafford, PA
Re: Badger Tour WOW! IRON KNIFE & Great Lumberjack Era Relics! HELP ID?

Wonderful finds, Badger! Historical relic hunting is becoming my favorite. Places and objects from the past are waiting, and finding them doesn't necessarily require a detector!
A museum was interested in borrowing some of my father-in-law's old farm stuff for a show about Pennsylvania barns. One of the items they wanted was an Adze. My wife Lucy was in the barn, and asked me what an adze was used for, since it looks like a heavy sharp hoe. I pointed at the beam overhead and said "see those nicks in the beam where they flattened the log to square it off? They used this thing." I picked the adze up and held the blade against the beam, and it fit the nick perfectly. Then I realized something- I said "You know, the last time this blade touched that log was when it made that cut- in 1842."
I felt that 150+ years of history flooding through that barn. I felt it again last week, standing in the flight path of the Wright Brothers' first flights, and again on Tuesday, when I dug up the pieces of the potbellied stove from the schoolhouse that stood near that old barn.
This hobby of ours lets us reach back into the past and find what was lost. We certainly have an appropriate name for the rusted bits of junk we dig up that were discarded years ago.
Treasure.
 

OP
OP
Michigan Badger

Michigan Badger

Gold Member
Oct 12, 2005
6,797
148
Northern, Michigan
Detector(s) used
willow stick
Primary Interest:
Other
Re: Badger Tour WOW! IRON KNIFE & Great Lumberjack Era Relics! HELP ID?

RatRacer said:
Wonderful finds, Badger! Historical relic hunting is becoming my favorite. Places and objects from the past are waiting, and finding them doesn't necessarily require a detector!
A museum was interested in borrowing some of my father-in-law's old farm stuff for a show about Pennsylvania barns. One of the items they wanted was an Adze. My wife Lucy was in the barn, and asked me what an adze was used for, since it looks like a heavy sharp hoe. I pointed at the beam overhead and said "see those nicks in the beam where they flattened the log to square it off? They used this thing." I picked the adze up and held the blade against the beam, and it fit the nick perfectly. Then I realized something- I said "You know, the last time this blade touched that log was when it made that cut- in 1842."
I felt that 150+ years of history flooding through that barn. I felt it again last week, standing in the flight path of the Wright Brothers' first flights, and again on Tuesday, when I dug up the pieces of the potbellied stove from the schoolhouse that stood near that old barn.
This hobby of ours lets us reach back into the past and find what was lost. We certainly have an appropriate name for the rusted bits of junk we dig up that were discarded years ago.
Treasure.

Ah! I sense a kindred spirit!

Thanks for your wonderful post!
 

EDDE

Gold Member
Dec 7, 2004
7,129
65
Detector(s) used
Troy X5
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Re: Badger Tour WOW! IRON KNIFE & Great Lumberjack Era Relics! HELP ID?

good post RAT RACER your is ok to MB..... ::) ;D
 

goldencoin

Gold Member
Sep 27, 2005
5,669
446
Indiana
Detector(s) used
Whites DFX & Beach Hunter ID
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Re: Badger Tour WOW! IRON KNIFE & Great Lumberjack Era Relics! HELP ID?

Nice....all you need is a giant two man was and you can start your own logging camp!

HH
-GC
 

thompy

Bronze Member
Feb 19, 2005
1,271
7
Menominee, Michigan
Detector(s) used
T-2,
Re: Badger Tour WOW! IRON KNIFE & Great Lumberjack Era Relics! HELP ID?

nice finds Badger, I really like the horse bridal, i find a lot of that stuff up north, shovels axe heads, rigging for the workhorses. cool stuff. keep it up. planning to hit an old resort area this weekend with my father, told it was started in 1804, sounds a little to old for the area.
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top