Amazing preservation!!!

[el remolino]

I know the desert is dry, but to find two wooden dominoes in a small Asian labor camp, on top of the ground, blew my mind. They are 132 years old!!! They were most likely from the game pai gow.

Yes I did find another very small railroad labor camp but unfortunately two roads had been cut through therefore displacing most of the goodies. Plus it being so close to the main road, I'm sure folks have walked through it in years past.

Also found some old buttons, four coins, damper bowl scraper (made from wire), broken needle, a cutting implement/knife (with Chinese charaters stamped on the back of it), opium can lids, and one fan tan game piece (made to resemble a Chinese coin).

Unfortunately the site played out real quick. I only had about six hours total in it from yesterday and today.

Thanks for looking,
Kinley

Four Asian coins (2 Chia-Ching, Tao-Kuang, Vietnamese Minh-Mang (5 pieces)


Buttons, small flower, Fan Tan game piece


Two Pai Gow wooden dominoes


Cutting implement


Back of cutting implement with Chinese Characters stamped in


Opium damper bowl cleaner and broken needle or awl


Two opium can lids with makers marks stamped in.

 

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[rodarian]

Those are some really neat finds. No denying there asian...lol.

 

[Gold Maven]

my friend made an unusual find in a Chinese mining ghost town, back in the 70's.

Inside a wooden box, in an attic of an old building, he found a handmade, 4 piece, brass bong. Bamboo stems connecting the 4 parts.

It was wrapped in rags, and there was also a small brick of hash, wrapped in wax paper. He smoked the hash, and said it was ok.

I saw the bong, very cool, hand peened to a round shape, and joined together with a dovetailed seam.

 

[gwdigger]

Wow. Thats some real cool stuff.

 

[el remolino]

my friend made an unusual find in a Chinese mining ghost town, back in the 70's.

Inside a wooden box, in an attic of an old building, he found a handmade, 4 piece, brass bong. Bamboo stems connecting the 4 parts.

It was wrapped in rags, and there was also a small brick of hash, wrapped in wax paper. He smoked the hash, and said it was ok.

I saw the bong, very cool, hand peened to a round shape, and joined together with a dovetailed seam.

Yea, it seems you never know what you are going to find in those old Chinese camps. The camps I have been in so far have lots of opium relics scattered about.

 

[eyemustdigtreasure]

very good!
nice research.
that needle fragment might be a needle to ream a pipe?
paraphernalia!

 

[el remolino]

very good!
nice research.
that needle fragment might be a needle to ream a pipe?
paraphernalia!

Yea, That is a good point (no pun intended). I have found a few opium needles in the past.

 

[DigIron2]

Really neat.Just don't see people finding stuff like that very often.

 

[Texas Yankee]

There you go again... I'm amazed how you're able to find these camps.. The closes I have is the old Southwestern railroad which goes through Mount Riley and Columbus New Mexico. You have to tell me your secret finding those old camps along the railroad. keep posting those picks buddy!

 

[CoinandRelicMan]

Nice saves !!

 

[el remolino]

There you go again... I'm amazed how you're able to find these camps.. The closes I have is the old Southwestern railroad which goes through Mount Riley and Columbus New Mexico. You have to tell me your secret finding those old camps along the railroad. keep posting those picks buddy!

Thanks TY, yea, we will have to get together sometime and I'll show you the key signs to look for.

 

[Rick (Nova Scotia)]

Wooden domino...cool.
I also like the "flower" button. Don't see many like that...I've never got one.

 

[Tony in SC]

Yep!! Can't say that I've ever found anything like that in S.C., Tony

Really neat.Just don't see people finding stuff like that very often.

 

[pepperj]

Very cool saves, it's a part of history of NA that's often overlooked or just plainly dismissed as the finds aren't war related or from early settlers from Europe. The cheap labour was brought in to build the Railways and other large projects, or the lure of getting rich from prospecting. Digging railroad construction camps we often came across the tins and bottles directly linked to Chinese workers that camped in the area during the construction periods. In the area we hunted it was almost a sure thing to have a construction camp on either side of a large rock cut or small tunnel that would of taken months to cut through.

 

[I-DIG-IT]

Nice digs.

 

[Old Dude]

Great finds. It really is remarkable to find things preserved that should have disappeared years ago, isn't it?

 

[SilverDreams]

Very cool, especially the dominoes!

 

[zdawg3579]

Thanks TY, yea, we will have to get together sometime and I'll show you the key signs to look for.

Where do you live? I live in Arizona.

 

[el remolino]

Thanks to everyone for their comments. I kind of got hooked on this part of history by accident, but am now truly enjoying every part of it.

 

[el remolino]

Very cool saves, it's a part of history of NA that's often overlooked or just plainly dismissed as the finds aren't war related or from early settlers from Europe. The cheap labour was brought in to build the Railways and other large projects, or the lure of getting rich from prospecting. Digging railroad construction camps we often came across the tins and bottles directly linked to Chinese workers that camped in the area during the construction periods. In the area we hunted it was almost a sure thing to have a construction camp on either side of a large rock cut or small tunnel that would of taken months to cut through.

Thanks pepperj, I appreciate your input and acknowledgement of this time period. I have found that indeed there are camps near major cuts, or crossing drainages. Their cans and broken bowls are a dead give away.