Items found in Monterey Veterans Park

missoiula4me · Apr 7, 2013

1) Looks like a musket ball but it really doesn't look like lead. I don't have a weight yet...no scale small enough

2) Looks like some kind of spike. No railroad track nearby.

3) This looks hand-made. There aren't any straight lines (like it was carved) & the hole aren't symmetrical

I found out this park was used by the Army back in the 1940's to bivouac. Monterey's history in general dates back to 1600's and earlier.

DoranHashemi · Apr 7, 2013

Scratch the ball a little and see if its soft. I know in ww1 and possibly ww2 they made musket style balls but weren't shot with a gun. Second find looks like a railroad spike and the third maybe a wrench type of tool

bigfoot1 · Apr 7, 2013

2nd and third....heavy tent stake and tent line tensioner

TheCannonballGuy · Apr 7, 2013

Check the small ball with a magnet.

missoiula4me · Apr 7, 2013

Thanks. The tent stake makes sense.

I'll try the magnet idea

vpnavy · Apr 7, 2013

Nice finds missoiula4me!

BosnMate · Apr 7, 2013

Big foot nailed it, stake and tensioner. If the round item is magnetic then I'd guess ball bearing. When I was a kid, if we could get a ball bearing we called it a "steelie," and we blew the other kids marbles out of the ring. Caused more than a few fights.

missoiula4me · Apr 8, 2013

Unfortunately, it was magnetic. Hoped it was lead but at least it resolves it.

dozer dan · Apr 8, 2013

flat thing with 2 holes, half of an old car leaf spring shackle.

calisdad · Apr 8, 2013

Actually there was a train that went through Monterey all the way out to the sand plant in Asilomar. There was talk of reviving it as a tourist attraction. The City of Pacific Grove didn't want to do so and tore up the tracks- end of discussion. Its now the bike path. If you've ever read Tortilla Flat you'll know there's stuff all over that forest. Steinbeck didn't make everything up.

missoiula4me · Apr 8, 2013

Yes, I know. I was referring to the area of the find. The park is up on the hill several miles from the R/R tracks. Actually, I've been trying to find the ara in Pacific Grove where the tracks were located. It was supposedly somewhere near Asilomar.

calisdad · Apr 8, 2013

Follow the bike path. It used to run right by Hayward lumber as well. I can see remnants on Google maps at Sinex and Crocker.

btw- I noticed from your other post you were at Monastery Beach. There's an old dump on the hill and to the north of the Monastery. I think its on Big Sur Land Trust property now but when Hotel Del Monte burned (one of the times) the just scooped everything up and dumped it, silverware and all.

missoiula4me · Apr 8, 2013

Wow! Where would I find that info? Ie., maps, photos, etc.? How did you learn about that?

calisdad · Apr 8, 2013

I was there a loooong time ago with a bottle hound friend. Porcelian shards all over, as is the poison oak. Look at the monastery on Google Earth/Maps. To the north east is a faint trail. I think that's the one. As I said it was a long time ago. Probably 30 years. It's not well known.

mccorpsman · Apr 9, 2013

The spanish used iron balls for muskets and I don't think they switched to lead until they started using rifles.

TheCannonballGuy · Apr 9, 2013

In all my decades of studying small-arms projectiles, I've never heard of the Spanish (or anybody else) using iron musketballs. But even so, I do NOT think I already know everything there is to know. Please cite your Historical source-information for your statement about Spanish iron musketballs.

kuger · Apr 9, 2013

calisdad said:
Follow the bike path. It used to run right by Hayward lumber as well. I can see remnants on Google maps at Sinex and Crocker.

btw- I noticed from your other post you were at Monastery Beach. There's an old dump on the hill and to the north of the Monastery. I think its on Big Sur Land Trust property now but when Hotel Del Monte burned (one of the times) the just scooped everything up and dumped it, silverware and all.

...beleive it or not but they dug that up....and are you ready for this........THEY HAULED ALL OF IT TO KETTLEMAN CITY TO THE TOXIC WASTE DUMP!!!THEY SAID THEY BOTTLES HAD LEAD IN THEM(WHAT MAKES OLD BOTTLES GET THAT RAINBOW SWIRLING ON THEM)I couldnt beleive what I was witnessing!!!!Also there is a bear trappers camp near there,from when the Grizzlies were hunted/trapped for the lard trade up and down the coast

kuger · Apr 9, 2013

missoiula4me said:
Wow! Where would I find that info? Ie., maps, photos, etc.? How did you learn about that?

....It was the Fish Ranch and then I beleive the Big Sur Land Trust....neither of which are you going to get permission to dig

calisdad · Apr 9, 2013

kuger said:
...beleive it or not but they dug that up....and are you ready for this........THEY HAULED ALL OF IT TO KETTLEMAN CITY TO THE TOXIC WASTE DUMP!!!THEY SAID THEY BOTTLES HAD LEAD IN THEM(WHAT MAKES OLD BOTTLES GET THAT RAINBOW SWIRLING ON THEM)I couldnt beleive what I was witnessing!!!!Also there is a bear trappers camp near there,from when the Grizzlies were hunted/trapped for the lard trade up and down the coast

Crazy. I guess they were less toxic in Kettleman City?
You didn't need permission back then- nobody cared. We picked up 'worthless' old silverware laying all over. I didn't know about the bear camp. I did hear of a coal mine about a mile east tho. Seemed like a strange place for one.

cw0909 · Apr 10, 2013

calisdad said:
Crazy. I guess they were less toxic in Kettleman City?
You didn't need permission back then- nobody cared. We picked up 'worthless' old silverware laying all over. I didn't know about the bear camp. I did hear of a coal mine about a mile east tho. Seemed like a strange place for one.

search kettleman city birth defects
at first i thought the iron balls were those iron ore pellets on the R&R