CanadianTrout
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I live in Kitchener Ontario which has a very rich Mennonite and farming history. Being on the Grand River (major water shed in this area) I have read accounts of fur traders as far back as the 1700's coming through here. This area also had a large Native population. Even the early 1800's saw the beginning of settlements and farming communities starting to pop up. There is literally nothing but farm fields between towns and cities.
From Wiki ---> "In 1783, the British government granted the Grand River Valley to the Iroquois, who had supported the Loyalists in the American War of Independence, to compensate them for the loss of their land in New York. The Iroquois settled in the lower Grand River Valley (now The County of Brant), and sold the land which now comprises Waterloo Region to Colonel Richard Beasley, a United Empire Loyalist.
The land owned by Beasley appealed to a particular group of Pennsylvania German Mennonite farmers. They pooled resources to purchase all of the unsold land from Beasley, forming the German Company Tract and dividing the lands into 128 farms of 18,100 square metres and 32 farms of 12,000 square metres each for distribution. By the 1840s, the presence of the German-speaking Mennonites made the area a popular choice for German settlers from Europe. These Germans founded their own communities in the south of the area settled by the Mennonites, the largest being the town of Berlin (changed to Kitchener, named for Lord Kitchener, due to anti-German sentiments during World War I)."
Obviously a farm field covers a large area so is it worth the time detecting in it? I don't really want to waste hours walking back and forth in a big empty field. I am awe struck by the finds our European detecting brothers continually pop out of farm fields. Like this ---> http://metaldetectingworld.com/recovery_of_coin_cache_in_the_field_p1.shtml for instance; or even read some of Crusader's finds in the Today's Finds section of the forums.
Obviously here in Canada we don't have that kind of history, but a 1700's (extremely lucky) or a 1800's (likely) find would be totally thrilling for me. So is it worth my time and effort to walk the fields or should I concentrate around the actual farm houses more? I just don't want to be working tot-lots and parks the rest of my life LOL. Any ideas?
Sorry for the long post...
From Wiki ---> "In 1783, the British government granted the Grand River Valley to the Iroquois, who had supported the Loyalists in the American War of Independence, to compensate them for the loss of their land in New York. The Iroquois settled in the lower Grand River Valley (now The County of Brant), and sold the land which now comprises Waterloo Region to Colonel Richard Beasley, a United Empire Loyalist.
The land owned by Beasley appealed to a particular group of Pennsylvania German Mennonite farmers. They pooled resources to purchase all of the unsold land from Beasley, forming the German Company Tract and dividing the lands into 128 farms of 18,100 square metres and 32 farms of 12,000 square metres each for distribution. By the 1840s, the presence of the German-speaking Mennonites made the area a popular choice for German settlers from Europe. These Germans founded their own communities in the south of the area settled by the Mennonites, the largest being the town of Berlin (changed to Kitchener, named for Lord Kitchener, due to anti-German sentiments during World War I)."
Obviously a farm field covers a large area so is it worth the time detecting in it? I don't really want to waste hours walking back and forth in a big empty field. I am awe struck by the finds our European detecting brothers continually pop out of farm fields. Like this ---> http://metaldetectingworld.com/recovery_of_coin_cache_in_the_field_p1.shtml for instance; or even read some of Crusader's finds in the Today's Finds section of the forums.
Obviously here in Canada we don't have that kind of history, but a 1700's (extremely lucky) or a 1800's (likely) find would be totally thrilling for me. So is it worth my time and effort to walk the fields or should I concentrate around the actual farm houses more? I just don't want to be working tot-lots and parks the rest of my life LOL. Any ideas?
Sorry for the long post...
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