Anyone out west & where do you hunt?

basestealer

We've got literally thousands of abandoned ghost towns (many with no road access) out west, and most have been picked through, but I bet there's still stuff to be found. I'm curious for those of you out west, where else do you look? Do you bother ever hunting for buried treasure that was never recovered from robberies of years past? What about detecting along abandoned railroad tracks, or down wells or in mineshafts? I don't know how deep a metal detector can detect, but you can search old newspapers (50-150 years back) for train and bank robberies where the loot was buried and never recovered and have a good place to start, although if it's buried too deep you might need a shovel instead of a metal detector. Some people I know have gone dead body hunting (again, following leads from newspapers), find skeletons with clothes on, pockets full of change, and then report the find to the authorities for recovery.

lordmarcovan

There are a lot of Westerners here. I ain't one of 'em, though.



<< <i>Some people I know have gone dead body hunting (again, following leads from newspapers), find skeletons with clothes on, pockets full of change, and then report the find to the authorities for recovery. >>



Ew. That sounds... uh... interesting.

But if you live somewhere where there are enough corpses around to make that pastime worthwhile, then you might consider moving!

loditom

Hey Basestealer I'm in California and usually hunt demo's and older park's.Most of the ghosttown's around here are either on private property or are protected by the state and are used as educational tool's for the kid's.
There are probally some out there that are not known and have not been discovered yet as the building's may have been destroyed many year's ago by time and fire.
As for buried robbery loot haven't done that yet,but there could be some out there as there were quite a few notorius bandit's here robbing the Wells Fargo coach's of there gold shippment's.

HH,Tom

ricko

Arizona was great for old ghost towns and abandoned cabins etc. Most western states are rife with opportunities like that. If you do not mind researching historical documents, there are many potential treasure areas. Cheers, RickO

demodigger

i too am from california. i've hunted a few ghosttowns/mining camps. found some interesting relics and a few seated coins. also have worked a few railroads.
these finds came from a few different mining camps, one of which is located near loditom!

demodigger

this gem came from a railroad camp.

lordmarcovan

Holy cow, Brian, those are some nice buttons in the lower left corner of your pic. Is that star a Texas button?

I see a Confederate "Block I", too! Shoot, I live in the South, and have only dug one of those, personally!

I like the old P.O.D. Post Office Dept. pieces. Haven't found one of those... yet. But I imagine one will turn up, in time.

basestealer

<< <i>There are a lot of Westerners here. I ain't one of 'em, though.



<< <i>Some people I know have gone dead body hunting (again, following leads from newspapers), find skeletons with clothes on, pockets full of change, and then report the find to the authorities for recovery. >>



Ew. That sounds... uh... interesting.

But if you live somewhere where there are enough corpses around to make that pastime worthwhile, then you might consider moving! >>


There's a lot of bodies buried in the desert! A friend recently found the site of a well accident--4 bodies (decomposed) still at the bottom.

ricko

Basestealer... that does NOT sound like an accident... Cheers, RickO

DesertRat

Living in the desert you learn to never venture into abandoned mine shafts out in the boonies. For one, the meth cookers have been known to use old mines as a place to cook up their wares and tend to guard them fanatically. Secondly, some have well concealed vertical shafts for the unsuspecting person to break through the old flooring and fall into oblivion. Thirdly, a lot of these old mines are full of bad air and before a person realizes they are no longer breathing oxygen they are passing out, unable to leave and ultimately die. I've worked with the Indian Wells Valley Mine Rescue Team in the past and there are many stories of someone collapsing in a mine to bad air and their friends and would-be rescuers dying while attempting to rescue them. In the case of a well with four bodies in the bottom that is the most likely scenario unless all four simply stumbled and fell in all at once.

basestealer

<< <i>Basestealer... that does NOT sound like an accident... Cheers, RickO >>


Sorry, it was a mine shaft accident. I think it was an accident because the pockets had coins in them--and other stuff.

Mine shafts are dangerous but fun. Children know this best, perhaps.

Omega

I like the railroad camp GEM!