Hello from the Deep Fried South!
So I have to start this story a week ago, because it is about three hunts, ending with yesterday's hunt and a fantastic find to cap off an incredible season.
Shanegalang and I went on what we thought would be one last hunt to our straggler field, which the farmers said was going to get planted by Monday (last week). We dug for a while, locating another house site in that vast field, which unfortunately was early 20th century. We dug a while there, getting a few older things including some buttons and a nice GR keyhole cover (Georgius Rex), and Shane dug a nice 1896 Barber Dime (unfortunately not an "O"). We thought it was cool that the season began for Shane with a 1796 Spanish and ended with an 1896 Barber. Well, we finally got sick of the muddy mucky mess and heat and had to leave. This photo of Shane's Barber below will show you the type of mud we were fighting:
Anyhow, I had brought a little flask of New Orleans Tafia (that's un-aged Rum, for all you non-Colonial, non-Louisianans). We drove to our tavern site and toasted to a great season. It was a great feeling, to realize that this was the first time Rum had been consumed on the site in close to 200 years.
The finds were thin that day. This was all I brought home. A heel plate, the keyhole cover, a flat button, an odd little metal bird (lower right), and some eyeball finds:
Well, as it turned out, Shane went to see if the field was planted on Saturday, and to his surprise it wasn't. Well, Diggergirl and I had to hit it once more before the plow, so we went out early Monday morning to fight the Mosquito Army. The field was very dry, which was a bonus for us this time of year. We hadn't seen it that dry for well over a month. We stayed and hunted quite a while. Luckily, the sun stayed behind clouds most of the morning, so the heat index wasn't bad until noon. We found quite a bit. One great find that didn't make it into the post-cleaning photos is the brass spur rowel in the center right of the first shot:
Diggergirl got her first Buffalo nickel, a china doll torso, a spring balance piece, and some great pottery.
I was all business, and ignoring many of the pottery pieces in favor of metal finds. I got another heel plate, clay pipe stem, two grubby wheat pennies, and a bone button that looks like it was turned on a lathe and then drilled. That was a first for me.
The greatest find of the hunt was towards the end, when we finished a grid on a section of the field. I got a normal beep, figured it was a brass target, and saw a little disc. I asked "What are you?" as I picked it up. It was black, and I actually rubbed it with my glove because I couldn't see a darned thing on it. I thought it might be a pack rivet washer or similar. It shone silver on the edge. "I've got a half dime!!" I yelled. Left my camera at home, so no great field shots this time. The coin was not damaged by my glove. Normally I Never rub a silver coin--Ever. In this case, I didn't even know what I had. At any rate, the coin is a beaten, bedraggled, tarnished, burned 1853-O. Seated Silver is always Sweet though, no matter the condition.
Well, I called Shane to tell him about my good news, and when I'd gotten home and cleaned the finds I thought I might as well get up before dawn and try one last time. DG was too busy to go, so it was a solo hunt. As I was driving through the swamps in the pre-dawn darkness I was thinking about how unforgiving a place Southern Louisiana must have been in the distant past. I passed a bear crossing sign. A Nutria scampered across the road as I approached the straggler field. As soon as I opened the car door, I heard the mosquitos buzzing, attacking. I sprayed down with repellent, put the camelbak on, and headed out into the darkness. Within minutes, it started getting light.
That is the magical time to be in a field in Southern Louisiana--between darkness and the time when the sun comes peeking up across the sugar cane. As soon as that sun comes, it gets hot, hot, Hot. Anyhow, I started down a row to continue the grid, with the intention of searching the bottoms of the rows that had been flooded in water before. I started getting mid-19th c. items right away. A metal comb, drawer decoration, oil lantern parts... Then in the bottom of a drainage ditch I dug a nice barrel tap key.
I rounded around to the next row and dug a pistol powder flask--both panels, but missing the top. Things were getting better! I picked up two clay pipe bowls, and dug a finial (cartridge box?). Then right after that I got a decent hit in the bottom of the row and out popped a button. I could tell it was two-piece, and a little bit of a puffy back...large size. I could only see the back, and wondered if it might be a WWI great seal (these have been dug in All of the fields we have hunted down here). When I turned it over, I saw a sleepy pelican staring me right in the face! I think I woke the neighbors up 3 miles away with how loud I yelled. A Confederate button has been on my list for 20 years. Living in Virginia, I had seen them dug by buddies, but never by me. In Kentucky, I'd stood by and watched Coinmaster and Hill Billy both dig one (CS Staff and a Block "I"). Now, after so many near-misses, it was my turn! This is one of the most beautiful things a digger can see:
After calling a few friends to share the excitement, I rounded the next row and dug an Eagle "I" cuff. I don't seem to find many cuff buttons ever, so I was happy to have it:
By this time, the sun was completely up and Shane had decided that it was too much for him not to get in on the dig, so he was on his way. The heat index was quickly approaching 100.
I dug the bootstrap piece to one of my spurs, then Shane called to say he was close by. At that moment, the tractor came into the field with a plow attachment. I went to talk to the farmer who was overseeing the work. He said it was fine for us to follow and detect the plowed rows, and that they'd be planting the next day. So that is what we did--until close to 4 in the afternoon! By that time, the heat index was 105, and I'd been in the field since 5:30 in the morning, so it was time to call it a day. We both made a few more good finds. On the way out of the field, I eyeballed a glazed stoneware inkwell.
The inkwell cleaned up quite well, and although the top is broken, it gives me hope for finding one whole in a plowed field here:
Here are my finds. Before:
And after:
The Louisiana button is an LA223A1. Backmark is *HORSTMANN & ALLIEN*/NY. I can't tell you how thrilled I am to make this find. Took a long time of living in Kentucky to find a KY button--and those were post-Civil War! Here is a close-up...
And an extreme close-up of my LA prize:
It was great to squeeze one more hunt in with Shane before the end of the season. And now that it's officially the end, I hope you've enjoyed reading about this year as much as I've enjoyed digging it.
This will be the last CaneField Bandit post until harvest, which around here takes place in mid to late December. So I'll get to read about all of your great finds during the fall, and I'll be ready to hit the cane rows again come early spring.
Best Wishes and Happy Hunting,
Buckleboy
and the CaneField Bandits
So I have to start this story a week ago, because it is about three hunts, ending with yesterday's hunt and a fantastic find to cap off an incredible season.
Shanegalang and I went on what we thought would be one last hunt to our straggler field, which the farmers said was going to get planted by Monday (last week). We dug for a while, locating another house site in that vast field, which unfortunately was early 20th century. We dug a while there, getting a few older things including some buttons and a nice GR keyhole cover (Georgius Rex), and Shane dug a nice 1896 Barber Dime (unfortunately not an "O"). We thought it was cool that the season began for Shane with a 1796 Spanish and ended with an 1896 Barber. Well, we finally got sick of the muddy mucky mess and heat and had to leave. This photo of Shane's Barber below will show you the type of mud we were fighting:
Anyhow, I had brought a little flask of New Orleans Tafia (that's un-aged Rum, for all you non-Colonial, non-Louisianans). We drove to our tavern site and toasted to a great season. It was a great feeling, to realize that this was the first time Rum had been consumed on the site in close to 200 years.
The finds were thin that day. This was all I brought home. A heel plate, the keyhole cover, a flat button, an odd little metal bird (lower right), and some eyeball finds:
Well, as it turned out, Shane went to see if the field was planted on Saturday, and to his surprise it wasn't. Well, Diggergirl and I had to hit it once more before the plow, so we went out early Monday morning to fight the Mosquito Army. The field was very dry, which was a bonus for us this time of year. We hadn't seen it that dry for well over a month. We stayed and hunted quite a while. Luckily, the sun stayed behind clouds most of the morning, so the heat index wasn't bad until noon. We found quite a bit. One great find that didn't make it into the post-cleaning photos is the brass spur rowel in the center right of the first shot:
Diggergirl got her first Buffalo nickel, a china doll torso, a spring balance piece, and some great pottery.
I was all business, and ignoring many of the pottery pieces in favor of metal finds. I got another heel plate, clay pipe stem, two grubby wheat pennies, and a bone button that looks like it was turned on a lathe and then drilled. That was a first for me.
The greatest find of the hunt was towards the end, when we finished a grid on a section of the field. I got a normal beep, figured it was a brass target, and saw a little disc. I asked "What are you?" as I picked it up. It was black, and I actually rubbed it with my glove because I couldn't see a darned thing on it. I thought it might be a pack rivet washer or similar. It shone silver on the edge. "I've got a half dime!!" I yelled. Left my camera at home, so no great field shots this time. The coin was not damaged by my glove. Normally I Never rub a silver coin--Ever. In this case, I didn't even know what I had. At any rate, the coin is a beaten, bedraggled, tarnished, burned 1853-O. Seated Silver is always Sweet though, no matter the condition.
Well, I called Shane to tell him about my good news, and when I'd gotten home and cleaned the finds I thought I might as well get up before dawn and try one last time. DG was too busy to go, so it was a solo hunt. As I was driving through the swamps in the pre-dawn darkness I was thinking about how unforgiving a place Southern Louisiana must have been in the distant past. I passed a bear crossing sign. A Nutria scampered across the road as I approached the straggler field. As soon as I opened the car door, I heard the mosquitos buzzing, attacking. I sprayed down with repellent, put the camelbak on, and headed out into the darkness. Within minutes, it started getting light.
That is the magical time to be in a field in Southern Louisiana--between darkness and the time when the sun comes peeking up across the sugar cane. As soon as that sun comes, it gets hot, hot, Hot. Anyhow, I started down a row to continue the grid, with the intention of searching the bottoms of the rows that had been flooded in water before. I started getting mid-19th c. items right away. A metal comb, drawer decoration, oil lantern parts... Then in the bottom of a drainage ditch I dug a nice barrel tap key.
I rounded around to the next row and dug a pistol powder flask--both panels, but missing the top. Things were getting better! I picked up two clay pipe bowls, and dug a finial (cartridge box?). Then right after that I got a decent hit in the bottom of the row and out popped a button. I could tell it was two-piece, and a little bit of a puffy back...large size. I could only see the back, and wondered if it might be a WWI great seal (these have been dug in All of the fields we have hunted down here). When I turned it over, I saw a sleepy pelican staring me right in the face! I think I woke the neighbors up 3 miles away with how loud I yelled. A Confederate button has been on my list for 20 years. Living in Virginia, I had seen them dug by buddies, but never by me. In Kentucky, I'd stood by and watched Coinmaster and Hill Billy both dig one (CS Staff and a Block "I"). Now, after so many near-misses, it was my turn! This is one of the most beautiful things a digger can see:
After calling a few friends to share the excitement, I rounded the next row and dug an Eagle "I" cuff. I don't seem to find many cuff buttons ever, so I was happy to have it:
By this time, the sun was completely up and Shane had decided that it was too much for him not to get in on the dig, so he was on his way. The heat index was quickly approaching 100.
I dug the bootstrap piece to one of my spurs, then Shane called to say he was close by. At that moment, the tractor came into the field with a plow attachment. I went to talk to the farmer who was overseeing the work. He said it was fine for us to follow and detect the plowed rows, and that they'd be planting the next day. So that is what we did--until close to 4 in the afternoon! By that time, the heat index was 105, and I'd been in the field since 5:30 in the morning, so it was time to call it a day. We both made a few more good finds. On the way out of the field, I eyeballed a glazed stoneware inkwell.
The inkwell cleaned up quite well, and although the top is broken, it gives me hope for finding one whole in a plowed field here:
Here are my finds. Before:
And after:
The Louisiana button is an LA223A1. Backmark is *HORSTMANN & ALLIEN*/NY. I can't tell you how thrilled I am to make this find. Took a long time of living in Kentucky to find a KY button--and those were post-Civil War! Here is a close-up...
And an extreme close-up of my LA prize:
It was great to squeeze one more hunt in with Shane before the end of the season. And now that it's officially the end, I hope you've enjoyed reading about this year as much as I've enjoyed digging it.
This will be the last CaneField Bandit post until harvest, which around here takes place in mid to late December. So I'll get to read about all of your great finds during the fall, and I'll be ready to hit the cane rows again come early spring.
Best Wishes and Happy Hunting,
Buckleboy
and the CaneField Bandits
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(I can feel your excitement when you realized what you had.) 
