Old fort garbage dump

[bbhofcollector]

There's an area near me where an 1870s era fort once stood. I understood from an old timer that a dump exists in proximity to it but he says he doesn't know where . Being retired military, I know there are regulations for just everything. Do you have any clues as to the direction or minimum distance away from the fort that a dump was established?

 

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[dances for eels]

From the reading I've done, I'd say that it really depended on local conditions. If there was a post surgeon, the location usually fell under part of his duties. The longer a post or fort stayed in one place and the more secure it's location, the more likely that rubbish could be taken farther away. I remember Fort Harker in Oklahoma having a large dump just south of it and another site just north of it. Sometimes these areas were 65 acres in size. Short of researching the exact fort that you are refering to, I'd be inclined to look for lower lying spots or ravines or otherwise marginal land within sight of the main fort. If you know that historically the area endured cholera and other epidemics, old dressings and rags were probably burned there as well. Just to keep your interest up and to give you a single example, here is some reference reading; notice footnote #1.

http://www.narhist.ewu.edu/pnf/articles/s1/ii-1a/excavations/excavations.html

 

[CWnut]

taking into account the topography of the area remember that usually "out of sight is out of mind"...as stated earlier look for a gully, sink hole, hillside etc. that was handy to the fort. Get into the area when the sun is at a low angle and look for traces of old wagon roads leading away from the fort. Take pictures and review these later on your computer, you can sometimes pick up on something you missed while walking the area

 

[fossis]

Welcome to Treasure-net, & thanks for your service.

Fossis.............

 

[VWandSTUDEBAKER]

What is the name of the fort? There might be some old maps somplace to tell you exactly where things were placed. Just a thought.

 

[K Zack]

A Dump site of that age would be alot of fun.
We hunted one down at Camp Clay Banks, a base from the 50's, The part of this base we hunted was Owned by Clay Banks Township. We hunted this site in about 1990, Trust me, It was NOT a Good Time. We were only there about an hour, I could not get back to the Truck Quick enough. So be Careful.

http://www.lrl.usace.army.mil/p3md-me/default.asp