Quick Creek Dig

[Robby Raccoon]

Best tool ever--in my opinion.
Some 1940s stuff I dug around Christmas with my trowel. One in a creek--plate-- and the other--bowl-- in the hillside. The license and Ford sign are not dug, though.
Then the other pics'stuff I dug with one trowel, which then broke, and then I used yet another. Trowels are to me as saws are to lumbermen.

 

[BenTheDigger]

Wow that is some very cool stuff! I use a trowel all the time for poking around stuff. They are very small and easy to carry.

 

[Rufus]

Hey Ben,Do you wade out in the creek? Do you any special tools?I have a few canals that were used for mills back in the 1860's and who knows what people discarded into them?Thanks in advance for any help.Karl

 

[BenTheDigger]

Hey Karl,I dont wade out into the creek I just go when the water is relatively low and then look for bottles that are partially sticking out of the mud. I usually bring a trowel and sometimes a small shovel to dig out the bottles.-Ben

 

[Robby Raccoon]

If there isn't a strong current, too many obstacles, or water traffic, get a dive mask and slowly swim on the bottom. Even in murky waters, this can be useful. Just go slowly, and poke gently with a stick to feel for bottles in the sediment.

 

[Rufus]

Thanks! I was thinking of getting some waders, fishing type up to waste and use a pitch fork? This Canal is only about 15 feet wide and two feet deep. On the 1884 Sanborn it calls it out as a "Tail Race".

 

[sandchip]

A long-tined potato rake works good. I use waders in the cold months, shorts and water shoes in the summer. In really hot weather, I'll take along a mask and snorkel to check out certain areas.

 

[sunrunner]

for most of you who have not been up in this part of California creek only have water in them only a few weeks of the year . a great deal of the time that are dry.