During my early childhood, growing up on what was the Chalmette Plantation, (the site of the main Battle of New Orleans) I was told stories of pirate treasures and sunken ships. My grandfather was a Riverboat Captain and he could tell some whoppers. My brothers and cousins and I would go out in the yard and dig for nonexistent treasures and find junk. It turned out we were actually finding items from the battle. Cannon balls, lead shot, copper enameled British unit crest, brass buttons, etc... Not knowing the value of them, they were quickly discarded.
One of my cousins and I would pick pecans at the National Park, one day we went and they were excavating the site of where the U.S. Forces manned the cannons and asked if we could help. The Ranger said yes, but we had to turn over what we found. We agreed and we found a pistol we thought was from the battle. It was a U.S. Colt from the Civil War.
At some point I started collecting the stories and by the time I was 22 I had boxes of them. By the time I was 30, I had a room full of them along with items I had found.
One summer I flew to Sacramento, California to attend classes on prospecting. Went up in the hills and found gold. Later realized I just had to go the Yellow River in Sacramento to find it.
Continuing my education and collection I took more geological classes. After that the sky was the limit. I wrote a book, "Treasure in Louisiana: The Treasure Hunter's Guild to the Bayou State."
Then came Hurricane Katrina and it took everything.
Knowledge is the key.
Johnny
