Found a genuine military artifact on the Gettysburg Battlefield today

[earthsciteach]

Our 8th graders went on the annual trip to Gettysburg today. On the way, I was telling one of the kids how I always look around the base of trees to see if I can find any bullets, flint, or anything else interesting. The roots upheave the ground around the base. Never really found anything of the field before, but am always on the lookout.

Today, as I was casually strolling around a tree, I look down and there is a cartridge. I picked it up and asked the tour guide if they have poachers on the battlefield. He said back in the '90's the deer population was out of control and they culled the herd. I guessed it was a 30-06 cartridge by its size.

Once back on the bus, I googled up the markings on the bottom. It is from the Frankford Armory in Philadelphia, PA, mfr'd in 1918. I mentioned this to the guide and he said the US Army used the battlefield as part of a base during WWI. Googled that and found that it was Camp Colt, "the birthplace of the tank corps of the US Army." It was commanded by none other than Captain Dwight D. Eisenhower. It wasn't from the civil war, but I think it is a pretty cool find!

[Fishbonez]

Nice,
Big fan of American History

[CrimzonRider]

Great Find, I use to have a knack for finding arrow heads here at my farm, I think I have found five. Pretty cool to find a old piece of history, which gives me a thought, I wonder if I buried all my crashed planes, 200yrs from now, someone would find it and say, "COOL, EPO PEANUTS".

have a good one
cr

[firemanbill]

That's pretty cool! Nice find, and good info to boot.

[RUSH]

Funny, I was digging up a section of my backyard yesterday to plant vegetables and found an old medicine bottle. Inside was a section of the LA Times from Nov. 23rd, 1964 titled "Paying Homage to Kennedy." Unfortunately, the top had broken off at some point, so the paper isn't in the best shape.

I guess that's a little bit of history too. Wonder who the heck would bury something like that?

[Fishbonez]

Originally Posted by RUSH

Funny, I was digging up a section of my backyard yesterday to plant vegetables and found an old medicine bottle. Inside was a section of the LA Times from Nov. 23rd, 1964 titled "Paying Homage to Kennedy." Unfortunately, the top had broken off at some point, so the paper isn't in the best shape.

I guess that's a little bit of history too. Wonder who the heck would bury something like that?

Wow that is amazing. What a huge find not to take anything from the OP
When was your house built?

[kevinm]

Originally Posted by CrimzonRider

Great Find, I use to have a knack for finding arrow heads here at my farm, I think I have found five. Pretty cool to find a old piece of history, which gives me a thought, I wonder if I buried all my crashed planes, 200yrs from now, someone would find it and say, "COOL, EPO PEANUTS".

have a good one
cr

i was working at a condo complex 40 years ago and they were bringing in dirt from the property just south of the complex cuz it was a bit low in the middle i guess and i was walking across the dirt looking down and right on top the earth- movers had left a perfect arrowhead with no dirt on top of it- the area may have been filthy with arrowheads acorrding to my find
im thinking it mustve been a full time job just looking for that type of stone to make them in pre white man america
more amazing its not a lost art, new ones can be bought at museums zoos etc i cant imagine how its done but would be interesting to watch one being chipped into shape
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Projectile_point

[earthsciteach]

That is very cool! Maybe it was placed there as a time capsule? Too bad the paper was not sealed up.

[kevinm]

my dad knew which of the hills by the outlet of the lake i grew up on were indian burial mounds but kept it secret cuz someone would be out there digging- the indians had a reservation there on Jordon lake--on Friday and Saturday nights whites would go there to pick up a date

[earthsciteach]

The art of making arrowheads and stone projectile points is 'flint knapping.' There are a few people who still do this. I've played around with it with quartz. Inevitably, I end up with little specks of quartz, bleeding fingers and nothing resembling a projectile point in any way.

There absolutely was an art to finding the right kind of rocks. One of the cool things is, the fact that obsidian (volcanic glass), one of the best materials to make a cutting edge, has been found throughout the central plains. There are no volcanoes in the region, giving evidence to far-reaching trade from Mexico to the south and the southwestern US up through the United States. I teach Earth Science and am a total nerd!

I'm always on the lookout for arrowheads and spear points!

[lou1984]

no joke, I live in Denver Pa , about 90 mins away , that is the one real haunted place that I have been , seen , heard and have incredible storys from others.
It realy adds credance to the men and women who gave there lives at that site and never had a chance to reach peace .
Its not a scary stupid movie haunted ,its a active sprit haunted place , if you tour go after hours and try to find a local security or officer who can get you into the places that are off limit after dark