Don in SJ
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18th Century Knee Breech Buckle and couple IH's
My son and I went out this afternoon to check out a possible site that back around 1760 or so was a sawmill site for a few decades. We found the old washed out dam breast right away, but the side of the stream we were on was like a big burrow pit, and I don't think it was from digging there to make the old dam breast, I think it was the work of the state or county back in the WPA days of road and bridge building that made the burrow pits for taking dirt for road fill. Unfortunately we think that perhaps that is where the homesite or building associated with the sawmill might have been located.
So we crossed the stream and 4 wheeled it back a few blocks to get to the other side of the washed out dam, in hopes of finding long lost homesteads on that side. Well, no luck, lots of deer and turkey tracks, but iron hits were far and few in-between...
But, very near the old dam breast I did manage a funky coin signal that turned out to be too quite a bit more modern coins(1903 &1907 Indianheads) that I expected from such an old site, but better than nothing. The sugar sand soil there IS kind to the copper coins and I could just visualize a KGI copper in immaculate condition popping out of the ground, but that was not to be.
Not too far from the area I got the two Indianheads, I did get to my delight, another, basically complete mid 1700's (I believe) knee Breech buckle. It was a funky signal due to the iron rust with the buckle. I have not figured out yet how to protect that from falling apart, I am afraid, it is all rust and that electrolysis will destroy it so I just may lightly pick off the loose particles and then spray the entire buckle with satin lacquer.
My son was very disappointed with our lack of finding a homestead at this sawmill, but we tried and evidently no evidence of a building exists in what is left of the original saw mill site. He got one musketball and that was all for his keepers.
Don
My son and I went out this afternoon to check out a possible site that back around 1760 or so was a sawmill site for a few decades. We found the old washed out dam breast right away, but the side of the stream we were on was like a big burrow pit, and I don't think it was from digging there to make the old dam breast, I think it was the work of the state or county back in the WPA days of road and bridge building that made the burrow pits for taking dirt for road fill. Unfortunately we think that perhaps that is where the homesite or building associated with the sawmill might have been located.
So we crossed the stream and 4 wheeled it back a few blocks to get to the other side of the washed out dam, in hopes of finding long lost homesteads on that side. Well, no luck, lots of deer and turkey tracks, but iron hits were far and few in-between...
But, very near the old dam breast I did manage a funky coin signal that turned out to be too quite a bit more modern coins(1903 &1907 Indianheads) that I expected from such an old site, but better than nothing. The sugar sand soil there IS kind to the copper coins and I could just visualize a KGI copper in immaculate condition popping out of the ground, but that was not to be.
Not too far from the area I got the two Indianheads, I did get to my delight, another, basically complete mid 1700's (I believe) knee Breech buckle. It was a funky signal due to the iron rust with the buckle. I have not figured out yet how to protect that from falling apart, I am afraid, it is all rust and that electrolysis will destroy it so I just may lightly pick off the loose particles and then spray the entire buckle with satin lacquer.
My son was very disappointed with our lack of finding a homestead at this sawmill, but we tried and evidently no evidence of a building exists in what is left of the original saw mill site. He got one musketball and that was all for his keepers.
Don
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Keep at that site there has to be more!
