William-NM
New member
I was working along the creek the other day and dug this little medal. I thought it looked older than WWII - maybe Indian Wars. When I got around to researching it, I was very pleasantly surprised to find that it is a Civil War Union Officer's medal awarded in 1865. That's 5 years before the town was founded by Captain John Bullard, his brother, and a group of partners, including Colonel Dick Hudson. A number of soldiers took up mining upon leaving the military, and the area was quite remote and subject to frequent Indian attacks. The Indian wars were basically interrupted by the Civil War and resumed upon it's completion. So, who knows how many Civil War officers were in Silver City (then called San Vicente) in those early years. Captain Bullard was killed during an Indian attack in 1871 at the age of 24. This concludes today's history lesson (not really). Here is the Medal (about 2.5" tall) and a photo of what it would have looked like when issued.
On my next hunt, I turned up this Police button, another first for me - I was pretty pretty excited to find it, too. I haven't done much cleaning of these two finds, and probably won't... the button is marked 'Superior Quality' on the back.
This is looking up from the banks of the creek, and some of the local flora - they almost look like rusty iron, don't they??
I found a couple of pieces of Nickel Silver cutlery, and a plated handle stamped "WHITEHOUSE" -- don't ask me, heh. Of course, I never head home without a few brass buckles in my pouch!
I dug a few bottles along the way, including a nice little 7 oz. Mission Soda, bottled in Deming, NM. Other favorites were a Gebhardt's Eagle Chili Powder, a little glue bottle marked "McCormick's Iron Glue" on the bottom, and one that I haven't ID'd yet that has "Fill to Line" embossed across the middle.
I found some "jewels" in my looting, and just a little Silver - a partial chain & a (part) Silver war nickel; 1945 D, though it has gone missing at the moment. Aside from a few pieces of clad, the only other coin was a 1941D wheatie. The little shoe charm isn't silver, but is engraved on the back with the date 9-22-11, probably to celebrate the birth of a child. I'm not sure what the brass bars were - maybe saddle/bridle decorations. The leafy pin or buckle is Brass, a fire made a mess of it's glass 'jewels', though.
I found a few bits of toys - a pewter doll's head and the hammer of a young carpenter with poor work habits. I didn't notice that the little iron piece was a man's head until I was cleaning up the finds. The insectoid-looking creature was likely either a girly hair barrette or torture device...
Surprise, I found some Iron, too
The light colored horseshoe is aluminum with an Iron wear-band - I'm sticking with my theory that it's a racehorse's shoe.
Since it's quiet, I'll post a few pics of my outing up around Georgetown, another mining ghost town about 15 or 20 miles East of here. There's nothing left of the structures, and the site is private property (some mining and tourist cabins), so I just did some random wandering outside the immediate site. I've walked the hills where the town once stood (it's allowed!), and it would be fun to hunt, thick with ground up house bits! Sadly, aside from some clad and a bunch of Iron, I didn't come home with much. It was a mostly sunny and warm 50s (F.) day, so no regrets! & I've only checked 1% of the huntable area, so will take another crack at it when the impulse strikes. It looks so quiet now, but had thousands of miners &tc. scouring the mountainsides and ravines back in the 1800s.
Well, that's all for today. Here's to an early thaw for y'all Nawtheners & best of luck in the hunt to all!
On my next hunt, I turned up this Police button, another first for me - I was pretty pretty excited to find it, too. I haven't done much cleaning of these two finds, and probably won't... the button is marked 'Superior Quality' on the back.
This is looking up from the banks of the creek, and some of the local flora - they almost look like rusty iron, don't they??
I found a couple of pieces of Nickel Silver cutlery, and a plated handle stamped "WHITEHOUSE" -- don't ask me, heh. Of course, I never head home without a few brass buckles in my pouch!
I dug a few bottles along the way, including a nice little 7 oz. Mission Soda, bottled in Deming, NM. Other favorites were a Gebhardt's Eagle Chili Powder, a little glue bottle marked "McCormick's Iron Glue" on the bottom, and one that I haven't ID'd yet that has "Fill to Line" embossed across the middle.
I found some "jewels" in my looting, and just a little Silver - a partial chain & a (part) Silver war nickel; 1945 D, though it has gone missing at the moment. Aside from a few pieces of clad, the only other coin was a 1941D wheatie. The little shoe charm isn't silver, but is engraved on the back with the date 9-22-11, probably to celebrate the birth of a child. I'm not sure what the brass bars were - maybe saddle/bridle decorations. The leafy pin or buckle is Brass, a fire made a mess of it's glass 'jewels', though.
I found a few bits of toys - a pewter doll's head and the hammer of a young carpenter with poor work habits. I didn't notice that the little iron piece was a man's head until I was cleaning up the finds. The insectoid-looking creature was likely either a girly hair barrette or torture device...
Surprise, I found some Iron, too
The light colored horseshoe is aluminum with an Iron wear-band - I'm sticking with my theory that it's a racehorse's shoe.
Since it's quiet, I'll post a few pics of my outing up around Georgetown, another mining ghost town about 15 or 20 miles East of here. There's nothing left of the structures, and the site is private property (some mining and tourist cabins), so I just did some random wandering outside the immediate site. I've walked the hills where the town once stood (it's allowed!), and it would be fun to hunt, thick with ground up house bits! Sadly, aside from some clad and a bunch of Iron, I didn't come home with much. It was a mostly sunny and warm 50s (F.) day, so no regrets! & I've only checked 1% of the huntable area, so will take another crack at it when the impulse strikes. It looks so quiet now, but had thousands of miners &tc. scouring the mountainsides and ravines back in the 1800s.
Well, that's all for today. Here's to an early thaw for y'all Nawtheners & best of luck in the hunt to all!
I've been held up all winter, can't wait to get back out. I'll bet once you get in the old creek you'll pull some more treasures.
Why is that one "fill to line" bottle all slanty? You sure dont leave much behind...even the glass is at your mercy! Great work and a wonderfully documented hunt!
