nailed another civil war token and a B & M RR button

[ironmountain]

off topic, but a question for you RD...
wife and her friend have gone rafting the past 2 weekends.... The area of the Menominee they hit is very shallow (under 3') and the current is just enough lazily float..daughter said they were sitting in the water to cool off and pickup "cool rocks".

this stretch has been a portage point for trappers/traders/native americans.... the Menominee Tribe lived on the river. supposedly they were ancestors of the Old Copper Culture Native Americans that lived up here and were mining copper 10k yrs ago...There were 3 other tribes that they shared land with...

I actually found a picture in a book about the trappers and furriers up here and saw a small island that was a Native American settlement....

I knew I recognized that island....it's about 200yds in front of my friend's house on the river....it's crazy, you look from his dock and it's the exact view the pic was drawn from....

i digress...
what's the best way to hunt a river like that? I'll be in waders, with someone with me and tied off just in case....
the bottom is firm with loose sand on top and pebbles/small gravel.....

There are quite a few places that you can see were used... a slope cut out of a bank and a faded path etc....

there has to be "stuff" to dig up.....

sand rake or a garden rake?

 

[beendiggin]

Way to go Kevin!

 

[riverdiver]

Hi Iron Mountain,

Skip the waders and get a mask/snorkle unless you have the neoprene waders. If you lay on the surface and start by just looking, the copper points and heavier stuff will settle in the eddies behind larger objects like rocks and logs, rakes tend to move through the sand, whereas a long handled scoop like a water detectorist uses lets you scoop up an amount of sand and then shake it out to reveal anything good, in the shallower areas anchor your feet by bracing against stones or by working them into the bottom. Stay away from roping yourself in unless you have a sharp knife to cut the rope in the event you are injured or jam a foot between two rocks. Lay into the current and hand fan the bottom with a ping pong paddle to move the sand up, out and ultimately downstream. This is similar to the technique I use when diving except that I am lying on the bottom and hand fanning for coins, bottles and whatever else comes up.

Good luck, have fun and be safe.

 

[riverdiver]

To beendiggin,

You are thinking of Kevin "coldwaterdiver",

This is Matt, "riverdiver!

 

[Potlidboy]

Ironmountain

Riverdiver's advice is good...Skip the waders. Chest high waders can fill with water if you slip or step in a hole....They will hold you under water & drown you in a second. We loose a salmon fisherman or two a year here drowning.... wearing waders......Rent a wet suit for a day....it will keep you warm & allow you to put your face (with a mask) right up close to your treasure....kinda like diving without the tanks....Also don't tie yourself to a rope...You will never be able to cut yourself free in any kind of current...being a free element in the water is the way to go. Good luck & be safe! No treasure is worth your life.

 

[Potlidboy]

Riverdiver..........score....great dive.

 

[beendiggin]

OOPS My bad. Guess I've been out of the loop for too long. I better stop lurking so much.

 

[ironmountain]

thx guys! i have neoprene waders and the normal "ass chap" waders...i'll just skip em then...I've got a nice pair of boots for the neoprenes..waterproof and a good bottom for gripping on rocks and such.... going to do some research on some of the portage/camp points....
at the park down the road there's a portage spot that's been there forever... Ford built the huge park (boat launch and small swimming area on the small lake opposite side of the river) and this portage was there way before he came... he did build a nice set of steps for it though... that'll be the first place I check....

a few of the boat landings on the river look like pavement was added to a natural "boat landing"... will be checking those too...thx for the advice!!

 

[RCO]

the civil war token is neat , I actually found some marbles too the other day when swimming , don't usually find marbles but I don't think they were that old