last try at the 1812 site

johnnyi · Nov 30, 2009

I'm embarrased to even post these finds, but they're part of the picture out there in the marsh so what the heck. If you saw how inaccessable this area is, you'd know why I get excited over anything both old and man made found there :tongue3:

Hopefully this post will make some of you feel much better about what you've found today

I made a last ditch attempt at the marsh area where I'd dug the 1812 button and British swagger stick yesterday. Only had a couple hours because it began to rain. There was a lot more lead at a good depth which was one of the things I was looking for to confirm an encampment. No musket balls yet though. The iron looks pretty boring (is in fact pretty boring

) but it also was very deep, three inches above my elbow in the red gravel. It most likely would have came from the colonial-1816 salt works, or from the military guarding the works. There were no passageways through this marsh which pretty eliminates anything agricultural.
The little lion's paw seems to be lead rather than pewter, probably a leg to a vessel. It too was very deep, and in the same soil was the bit of pottery, also very deep and possibly unrelated. That's about it for today.....sad, huh?

Walking out to higher ground I dug a button, and I guess the detector gods felt sorry for me because they threw in a shabby 1860 indian head. (shotgun shells are everywhere in the marshes as you can see, and usually no more than eight inches down for the oldest ones.)

Iron Patch · Nov 30, 2009

When your avatar is a GW button I think that gives you a couple free passes for junk posts.

(It's at least something good to look at) :thumbsup:

Man that condition is harsh based on the last few posts!

johnnyi · Nov 30, 2009

Iron Patch said:
When your avatar is a GW button I think that gives you a couple free passes for junk posts. (It's at least something good to look at)

Man that condition is harsh based on that last few posts!

Ha! thanks for understanding IronPatch.

Yeah, harsh or not, the marsh has her hooks in me bad. It's sure a far cry from the sweet fields of Pa. where I could almost guarantee a large copper or two for the same time spent. The thing about the marsh that's got me fascinated is that there had to have been real desperation when the British ship was sunk off shore, and desperation can sometimes mean more than just things being 'lost'. I don't know man, I think I do need a rest from it for a while to preserve sanity :tongue3:

. Maybe tomorrow I'll try to get back to some easier digs before attacking the marshes again. It's definately needle in a haystack hunting, but that swagger stick yeaterday kind of proved to me that more must be out there besides the usual stuff. (note to self, stop thinking about the marsh! Go to field.

)