OP
OP
- Thread starter
- #41
Wow - I love all those face shots! 
lol
8)
No gps coordinates?
lol8)
No gps coordinates?
The Battle Of Medina - an invitation to solve a mystery!
- Thread starter Marc
- Start date
cooltone23
Sr. Member
IT was great fun and a great turn out. Not much was found and the battle site of Medina still alludes us all.
On the plus side though. Just less than an hour before I had to leave I got a big surprise. Amongst the old oaks, I decided to head back and take this trail that led to a bunch of younger oaks. Then i got a loud hit. I dug about a foot when I hit iron. I found one end and to my surprise it was round and had rolls. I suddenly got a rush and that small hole turned into a 2.5' ft x 1'ft hole one foot deep. I knelt there shaking with excitement then
I called for the remaining few people that were there. They followed my voice and when Mr. Arellano got there. He let out a big "Oh my God!!!".
The first couple pictures are the event and some old nails/bolts I found. Then the other pics are the ones that brought all the excitement at the end. When you unearth something like that, anyones imagination can run wild. We still don't know what it is and would appreciate any feed back on it.
Marc thanks for the cap. Its awsome. TC, wish you could have seen it.
Tony
On the plus side though. Just less than an hour before I had to leave I got a big surprise. Amongst the old oaks, I decided to head back and take this trail that led to a bunch of younger oaks. Then i got a loud hit. I dug about a foot when I hit iron. I found one end and to my surprise it was round and had rolls. I suddenly got a rush and that small hole turned into a 2.5' ft x 1'ft hole one foot deep. I knelt there shaking with excitement then
I called for the remaining few people that were there. They followed my voice and when Mr. Arellano got there. He let out a big "Oh my God!!!". The first couple pictures are the event and some old nails/bolts I found. Then the other pics are the ones that brought all the excitement at the end. When you unearth something like that, anyones imagination can run wild. We still don't know what it is and would appreciate any feed back on it.
Marc thanks for the cap. Its awsome. TC, wish you could have seen it.
Tony
Attachments
- Jan 6, 2006
- 20,846
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In the News...History buffs hunt for evidence of 'forgotten battle' before Alamo
Web Posted: 01/27/2008 12:08 AM CST
Hernan Rozemberg
Express-News
"Remember The Alamo!" goes the popular battle cry. But for a small cadre of dogged history buffs, truth seekers still have a thing or two to learn about a lesser-known military clash that took place two decade earlier and marked the first Texas revolution. Led by a couple of proud Tejanos — the original term for Texans of Mexican descent — and with the full blessing of the property owner, a group of about 50 metal detector-toting volunteers set off on 600 acres of pasture in far Southeast Bexar County on Saturday in search of any remaining evidence of the Battle of Medina.
Dubbed the "forgotten battle," the bloody confrontation took place Aug. 18, 1813, just 20 miles south of and 23 years before the struggle at the Alamo, pitting Anglo settlers, American Indians and Tejanos against the defending forces of the Spanish crown.
The rebels were brutally crushed in the four-hour standoff. More than 1,000 were killed — their bodies left to rot for nearly a decade — while fewer than 100 escaped. The victorious royalist camp suffered only 55 losses, all receiving a proper burial next to a nearby church.
To this day, the precise location of the battleground remains unknown, though Dan Arellano and Rick Reyes, along with other amateur historians including Chuck Toudouze, the ranch owner who hosted the group, bet that it happened on Toudouze's land.
While Arellano and Reyes led Saturday's expedition with a mission to give due credit to their Tejano ancestors, other volunteers showed up early on a chilly Saturday morning from near and far with hope of literally making history by digging up remains.
Larry Dickman of Windcrest explores on the Toudouze Ranch in far Southeast Bexar County. He and about 50 others were looking for evidence of the Battle of Medina, which took place Aug. 18, 1813.
Volunteers look for relics from the Battle of Medina, whose precise location is unknown.
"I've been looking for this battle site for eight years," said Arellano, a real estate broker in Austin and author of "Tejano Roots: A Family Legend."
"There's a plaque on another ranch 3 miles down the road, but that's not where it happened. It happened right here, I know it," added Arellano, surveying a vast, empty pasture.
And so the giddy bunch set off, armed with metal detectors in one hand and shovels in the other, spreading out in groups in search of history.
By midday, after some false alarms rendering mostly contemporary materials such as tin pieces, some promising results: Diggers found three marble-sized musket bullets.
Albert Patty and daughter Julie trekked 200 miles from Cameron. They and most others found out about the event through a popular diggers' Internet site.
Used to having to sneak around construction sites, they didn't want to pass up the chance of roaming free on hundreds of acres that might hold a treasure trove.
"I was hoping to break the 1800s," said Patty, noting he had dug up a coin from 1835 near his home.
Larry Dickman of Windcrest has been "hunting" on and off for 20 years. He said he can only hope one day to shed the bad public image that amateur archaeologists have been given.
Not all diggers are money-grubbing thieves oblivious to historical preservation, he said, turning over to Arellano a dirt-covered musket bullet he had found.
"There's just nothing like being able to touch a piece of the past," sighed Dickman, as he put on large earphones, his metal detector beep-beeping for what he hoped would be a bigger discovery.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[email protected]
Web Posted: 01/27/2008 12:08 AM CST
Hernan Rozemberg
Express-News
"Remember The Alamo!" goes the popular battle cry. But for a small cadre of dogged history buffs, truth seekers still have a thing or two to learn about a lesser-known military clash that took place two decade earlier and marked the first Texas revolution. Led by a couple of proud Tejanos — the original term for Texans of Mexican descent — and with the full blessing of the property owner, a group of about 50 metal detector-toting volunteers set off on 600 acres of pasture in far Southeast Bexar County on Saturday in search of any remaining evidence of the Battle of Medina.
Dubbed the "forgotten battle," the bloody confrontation took place Aug. 18, 1813, just 20 miles south of and 23 years before the struggle at the Alamo, pitting Anglo settlers, American Indians and Tejanos against the defending forces of the Spanish crown.
The rebels were brutally crushed in the four-hour standoff. More than 1,000 were killed — their bodies left to rot for nearly a decade — while fewer than 100 escaped. The victorious royalist camp suffered only 55 losses, all receiving a proper burial next to a nearby church.
To this day, the precise location of the battleground remains unknown, though Dan Arellano and Rick Reyes, along with other amateur historians including Chuck Toudouze, the ranch owner who hosted the group, bet that it happened on Toudouze's land.
While Arellano and Reyes led Saturday's expedition with a mission to give due credit to their Tejano ancestors, other volunteers showed up early on a chilly Saturday morning from near and far with hope of literally making history by digging up remains.
Larry Dickman of Windcrest explores on the Toudouze Ranch in far Southeast Bexar County. He and about 50 others were looking for evidence of the Battle of Medina, which took place Aug. 18, 1813.
Volunteers look for relics from the Battle of Medina, whose precise location is unknown.
"I've been looking for this battle site for eight years," said Arellano, a real estate broker in Austin and author of "Tejano Roots: A Family Legend."
"There's a plaque on another ranch 3 miles down the road, but that's not where it happened. It happened right here, I know it," added Arellano, surveying a vast, empty pasture.
And so the giddy bunch set off, armed with metal detectors in one hand and shovels in the other, spreading out in groups in search of history.
By midday, after some false alarms rendering mostly contemporary materials such as tin pieces, some promising results: Diggers found three marble-sized musket bullets.
Albert Patty and daughter Julie trekked 200 miles from Cameron. They and most others found out about the event through a popular diggers' Internet site.
Used to having to sneak around construction sites, they didn't want to pass up the chance of roaming free on hundreds of acres that might hold a treasure trove.
"I was hoping to break the 1800s," said Patty, noting he had dug up a coin from 1835 near his home.
Larry Dickman of Windcrest has been "hunting" on and off for 20 years. He said he can only hope one day to shed the bad public image that amateur archaeologists have been given.
Not all diggers are money-grubbing thieves oblivious to historical preservation, he said, turning over to Arellano a dirt-covered musket bullet he had found.
"There's just nothing like being able to touch a piece of the past," sighed Dickman, as he put on large earphones, his metal detector beep-beeping for what he hoped would be a bigger discovery.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[email protected]
OP
OP
- Thread starter
- #44
Well, let's keep this on our list of things to do! 
cooltone23
Sr. Member
Amen to that!!!
OP
OP
- Thread starter
- #46
Can you read all the text of this, and if so what does it say?
OP
OP
- Thread starter
- #47
Re: In the News...History buffs hunt for evidence of 'forgotten battle' before A
DOH! No credit again! ... but I know who we are.... lol.
River Rat said:
DOH! No credit again! ... but I know who we are.... lol.
cooltone23
Sr. Member
Marc,
Thats all that was visible on it. The last several letters I believe are E-B-A-K(or R)-E. Hope it's not a K. K is not a letter in the Spanish alphabet. The shape is odd, it's not completely round. I think it may be and old wagon axle. Dan Arellano is tking it to his people and hopefully make something of it.
He is planning a secound expedition on that land and has invited Treasure net to come. We were the experts out there
He is planning it for the summer. He said he would keep in touch.
Thats all that was visible on it. The last several letters I believe are E-B-A-K(or R)-E. Hope it's not a K. K is not a letter in the Spanish alphabet. The shape is odd, it's not completely round. I think it may be and old wagon axle. Dan Arellano is tking it to his people and hopefully make something of it.
He is planning a secound expedition on that land and has invited Treasure net to come. We were the experts out there
He is planning it for the summer. He said he would keep in touch.
OP
OP
- Thread starter
- #49
cooltone23 said:Marc,
Thats all that was visible on it. The last several letters I believe are E-B-A-K(or R)-E. Hope it's not a K. K is not a letter in the Spanish alphabet. The shape is odd, it's not completely round. I think it may be and old wagon axle. Dan Arellano is tking it to his people and hopefully make something of it.
He is planning a secound expedition on that land and has invited Treasure net to come. We were the experts out there
He is planning it for the summer. He said he would keep in touch.
THAT is very cool. Let's hope he keeps the channels of communications open..
I truly hope we (in the U.S.) can embrace the UK model of TH'ers and archaeologists working together.
PBK
Gold Member
- May 25, 2005
- 6,380
- 270
Looks like it might be an iron thimble-skein from an old wagon. A "thimble" on the end of the wooden axle turned inside another thimble, or "skein," inside the hub of the wheel. See photos below.
Also, I believe the lettering may be "STUDEBAKER." And no, I'm not trying to be funny. Before they made autos, they were wagon builders:
http://www.antiquefarming.com/studebaker.html
Also, I believe the lettering may be "STUDEBAKER." And no, I'm not trying to be funny. Before they made autos, they were wagon builders:
http://www.antiquefarming.com/studebaker.html
pushback
Greenie
yepper, I think I spoke too soon. I just moved into the Studebaker camp. Thanks PBK 
cooltone23
Sr. Member
I thought so. Thanks PBK!
OP
OP
- Thread starter
- #53
me too! Voila!pushback said:yepper, I think I spoke too soon. I just moved into the Studebaker camp. Thanks PBK
cooltone23
Sr. Member
Any ideas of the year?
PBK
Gold Member
- May 25, 2005
- 6,380
- 270
I'd guess maybe 1880's.
BTW, here's a bit of Texas history involving Studebaker wagons that you might find interesting:
http://www.texasgenealogy.org/fannin/studebaker_wagon.htm
BTW, here's a bit of Texas history involving Studebaker wagons that you might find interesting:
http://www.texasgenealogy.org/fannin/studebaker_wagon.htm
cooltone23
Sr. Member
Sweet!!! Thanks for the info.Pretty interesting story too. I will forward this info to Mr. Dan Arellanos. Its been a great journey. We might not have found the sight, but it was well worth the trip.
texan connection
Silver Member
Man cooltone that so looked like a little cannon in the hole.
I cant belive they dident name the Treasure net sight, but it was cool to get our name in the paper. Every time the camera went by I bent my head a little to give a good view of my hat. .
It was great to meet you cooltone, I bet Dan will be calling you back next time to hunt. I hope we get to hunt Galveston soon.
Dan had mentioned about soom cannonballs found at another sight but only had one experienced detector at the time, I belive what really needs to be found is a few personal items that helps confirm the sight. It would have been great if that axle could have been confirmed as older or spanish, but at least its age has been confirmed.
We really hardly touched the whole place, the lay out of the land sure looked like a great place for a large army ambush.
Sorry marc were arent allowed to divulge the GPS coordinates of the sight.
I cant belive they dident name the Treasure net sight, but it was cool to get our name in the paper. Every time the camera went by I bent my head a little to give a good view of my hat.
.It was great to meet you cooltone, I bet Dan will be calling you back next time to hunt. I hope we get to hunt Galveston soon.
Dan had mentioned about soom cannonballs found at another sight but only had one experienced detector at the time, I belive what really needs to be found is a few personal items that helps confirm the sight. It would have been great if that axle could have been confirmed as older or spanish, but at least its age has been confirmed.
We really hardly touched the whole place, the lay out of the land sure looked like a great place for a large army ambush.
Sorry marc were arent allowed to divulge the GPS coordinates of the sight.
cooltone23
Sr. Member
Oh man TC!!! I was shaking beacause I thought the same. I didnt want to yell out that I had found a cannon until Dan got there. His first word s were ""Oh my God!!!" He had someone on the phone and told them we found a cannon. "El Canonsito" the littl cannon are the name that the Mexicans gave to thier small artilery guns. I thought fore sure it was one but when we got it out of the hole, I knew it wasn't one. But oh man the excitement. That right there made the trip up there. I am for sure returning to the spot, given the chance and search the southwestern and the northern most part of the ranch.
It was great meeting you and your family too. Fore sure call me up about the Galveston trip. My MD is always ready for the earth to yield its booty... AARRRGGGGG!!!!
It was great meeting you and your family too. Fore sure call me up about the Galveston trip. My MD is always ready for the earth to yield its booty... AARRRGGGGG!!!!
TXDIRTFISHER
Sr. Member
I don't have any pictures to post due to the fact that I didn't find anything worth taking pictures of. I'm not saying he didn't....but we were told at the pre-hunt brief that the rancher had found some artifacts on his ranch. I found it odd that they didn't direct us to the location where the artifacts were found to start off. I also found it odd that we were not shown any of the artifacts that were found. IMO there were never any significant artifacts ever found on that location.
I ended up finding 3 small nails, one old but not Battle of Medina bullet, and one beer can. All in all I had a good time and I learned a lot about the hard to learn relic mode on my DFX. I wish we could have found some artifacts that would point to that being part of the battle site, but we didn't. I don't count two or three small caliber rounds balls to be significant, but it was a good find none the less.
I got to meet Texan Connection and I got a hat. Thanks for the hat TC and Marc. When the local reporter asked us how we found out about it we told him all about t-net (no charge for the publicity) and what it was, how it works, etc.
ps - I did run across a fellow detectorist who told me he had a signal at six-feet with his bounty hunter. I wasn't aware that BH made a model that could find something at six-feet. Maybe he had some super prototype......but I doubt it. I didn't laugh at him but I did think it was funny.
I ended up finding 3 small nails, one old but not Battle of Medina bullet, and one beer can. All in all I had a good time and I learned a lot about the hard to learn relic mode on my DFX. I wish we could have found some artifacts that would point to that being part of the battle site, but we didn't. I don't count two or three small caliber rounds balls to be significant, but it was a good find none the less.
I got to meet Texan Connection and I got a hat. Thanks for the hat TC and Marc. When the local reporter asked us how we found out about it we told him all about t-net (no charge for the publicity) and what it was, how it works, etc.
ps - I did run across a fellow detectorist who told me he had a signal at six-feet with his bounty hunter. I wasn't aware that BH made a model that could find something at six-feet. Maybe he had some super prototype......but I doubt it. I didn't laugh at him but I did think it was funny.
texan connection
Silver Member
I think Dan could use some real pros like I know are on this sight to help with the possible location, I asked the land owner about actuall artifacts his family had found and he said, they had found none.
But we did no doubt help generate intrest in the quest, and I am sure help with the williness of the neighbors future sights being explored. I am sure some of the new dectetorist learned a few things. I only saw a few veterans.
It was great to meet fellow treasurenetters excited and "hot on the trail" of History, There was also some great history buffs present, some with ancestor connections on both side of the battle, I bet a few stories not in the books.
I wonder if some past detectorist have actually stumbled across the sight, maybe a few buttons retrived but dont want to be accused of "Treasure hunting",rather than be rewarded for there efforts,Or dont know what the signifcance is. I'll bet much has been lost already.
Marc if your wanting to help out Dan in the futur I'm in, I am wondering about the report of cannonballs found and where.
It was great to meet Txbluzman and diginbanndera, Sorry I lost ya'll during the hunt.
Ya'll Thank Marc for the hats though, I just got the pleasure of handing em out.
Thanks Marc
But we did no doubt help generate intrest in the quest, and I am sure help with the williness of the neighbors future sights being explored. I am sure some of the new dectetorist learned a few things. I only saw a few veterans.
It was great to meet fellow treasurenetters excited and "hot on the trail" of History, There was also some great history buffs present, some with ancestor connections on both side of the battle, I bet a few stories not in the books.
I wonder if some past detectorist have actually stumbled across the sight, maybe a few buttons retrived but dont want to be accused of "Treasure hunting",rather than be rewarded for there efforts,Or dont know what the signifcance is. I'll bet much has been lost already.
Marc if your wanting to help out Dan in the futur I'm in, I am wondering about the report of cannonballs found and where.
It was great to meet Txbluzman and diginbanndera, Sorry I lost ya'll during the hunt.
Ya'll Thank Marc for the hats though, I just got the pleasure of handing em out.
Thanks Marc
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