Interesting button from the hillside above Ft. Steilacoom

juju · Apr 27, 2009

Howdy all,
Although I didn't cover much ground, I didn't come away empty handed. The brush on this slope is extremely thick, and swingin is slow. In 1868 the fort handed the land over to Washington Territory for us by the Washington Territorial Insane Asylum. Later the Asylum was re-named Western State Hospital. The hillside I was hunting has the foundation for the dormitory which housed the caretakers of the farm below. So finding stuff from this era is also cool. The button is stamped A.J Towers Company, Boston. With a little research I found an ad printed Sept. 30, 1899. Not the holy grail of buttons but neat all the same. I also managed a couple more .58 cal miniballs, and the usual clad and trash. I think that with a ton of patience, this hillside might hold the best stuff yet. All the good targets are 6 to 7 inches, so real easy to miss. Gonna give it another shot tommorrow. Thanks for lookin.
:icon_pirat:

JuJu

oldschool · Apr 27, 2009

good luck with this spot and keep us posted.
GL Randy

juju · Apr 27, 2009

oldschool said:
good luck with this spot and keep us posted.
GL Randy

That hill sucks for movin around, but I aim to get what I can outta there.
JuJu

vanoldschool · Apr 27, 2009

Anything with History is a good find JU JU, I will have to make it over there again soon and walk the whole field nice and slow, what was the cross street on Mile road you were tellin me about in PO??

juju · Apr 27, 2009

vanoldschool said:
Anything with History is a good find JU JU, I will have to make it over there again soon and walk the whole field nice and slow, what was the cross street on Mile road you were tellin me about in PO??

It should be Retsil Road. The Red Dog tavern is in the corner.
:icon_pirat:

JuJu

Detectingfreak · Apr 27, 2009

very nice job on the button JuJu! Keep on digging!

STH69 · Apr 27, 2009

For sure keep us up to date

zaxfire69 · Apr 27, 2009

Hey Ju Ju I dug one of those buttons down here in Natchez, Ms. Identical to yours.

jimbob450 · Apr 27, 2009

Very interesting. Keep working that area JuJu. Jimbob

ringfinder · Apr 27, 2009

Neat button, can't wait to see what else you dig out of that site.

HH, Ringfinder

juju · Apr 28, 2009

plehbah said:
The A.J. Tower buttons were in use for awhile, and actually the earliest A.J. Tower clothing that I am familiar with is as early as the 1860s.

I have one A.J. Tower button that I have ever found. It was at a stage station from the years of the Civil War and shortly thereafter, and I found it along with an 1860s eagle cuff button, a very crisp 1864 L IH penny, and some Henry and Spencer cartridge casings.

I am not sure on dating the variations of the button, but it could be earlier or later.

This button still had a little rotted fabric attached to the back when it was dug. I am hoping this means the whole garment might have been there at one time. If so there might be more buttons or the contents of the pockets..
:icon_pirat:

JuJu

Ray in CA · Apr 28, 2009

Nice button, Juju!! To me it's as much fun finding out the history of an item like this as it is actually finding it. Hope you strike some silver next time out!

Ray