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August 3, 2022 - Hunting the Dawson Trail
August 3, 2022
Hunting the Dawson Trail.
Sandilands
Provincial
Forest.
What
a
beautiful
nature
preserve.
And
just
in
time
for
Blueberries
and
Saskatoons
by
the
ton.
Yes,
it’s
been
a
wet
year
which
must
have
been
a
good
thing
for
berries
of
all
sorts.
I
also
came
across
Wild
Bergamot
in
full
bloom
and
Puffball
mushrooms
too.
Wild
Bergamot
or
also
called
Bee
Balm,
formal
name: Monarda fistulosa.
See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarda_fistulosa
Most
good
metal
detecting
hunts
start
with
a
bit
of
pre-planning.
I’d
recently
come
across
a
stack
of
old
topographical
maps
that
I’d
had
since
my
teen
years
and
early
adulthood.
One
of
them
extended
into
the
Sandilands
Provincial
Forest.
This
got
me
thinking
of
the
old
Dawson
Trail
and
of
the
rich
history
that
it
represents
for
Manitoba.
And what a great metal detecting opportunity this could be.
See this awesome link:
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dawson-trail
I
had
done
some
detecting
in
this
very
same
forest
last
fall
along
with
Bruno.
See:
Nov
10,
2021
-Sandilands
Provincial
Forest.
It
made
for
an
interesting
and
fruitful
outing.
This
time
I
wanted
to
be
a
bit
more
focused
on
a
target:
The
Dawson
Trail.
Between
my
old
map
and
Google
Earth,
I
was
able
to
track
an
area
of
interest.
That
was still accessible and relatively undisturbed.
Well
the
best
laid
plans
always
have
a
way
of
morphing
into
something
different.
I
got
in
a
good
number
of
detecting
hours
but
no
concrete
evidence
of
a
trail
anywhere
to
be
found
other
than
the
road
markings
that
were
erected
decades
ago.
I
looked
for
higher
ground
and
for
older
/
ancient
trees
and
huge
rocks
that
would
have
attracted
people
over
the
decades
of
long
ago.
And
the
water….
Water,
water,
water,
everywhere.
Some
of
the
old
roads
were
impassable with water quite physically flowing over.
I
did
come
across
interesting
finds
none
the
less.
The
tent
peg,
however
modern,
was
found
in
a
spot
that
had
been
a
clearing
once
but
was
now
reverting
back
to
forest
with
small
2
foot
trees
and
bush
all
about.
The
10
inch
aluminum
pan
now
hangs
in
my
workshop.
It’s
old
but
unlikely
from
the
pioneer
era.
And
what
a
collection
of
rifle
shells
Eh!
I’ve
come
to
call
them
the
“Pull
Tabs”
of
the
forest…
Rifle
Shells,
they’re
just
everywhere.
Here
is
the
tally
for
those
of
you
who
like
guns
and
ammo
…
6
x
30-30
Hornady
Win.,
1
x
30
–
30
R.P.Win.,
1
x
306
Imperial,
1
x
308
Nosler
Win.,
and
1
x
12
Gauge,
Imperial shotgun shell.
The
jaw
bone
and
teeth
were
from
a
deer.
We’ll
color
it,
shellac
it,
hang it on our wall and use it as folk art.
Never a dull moment.
Roger
August 10, 2022 - Grandma’s House
August 10, 2022
Grandma’s House.
Life
comes
full
circle.
Here
we
are
at
an
undisclosed
location
in
the
Letellier
area.
Back
on
the
family
farm.
Back
at
Grandma’s
house.
I
have
spent
innumerable
hours
here
as
a
child.
I
lived
right
across
the
way
not
more
than
500
feet
from
her
house
and
from
the
farm
yard
itself.
Pleasant
childhood
memories
and
what
better
place
to
do
some
metal
detecting
than
right
at
Grand
Mere's
front
door.
The
lawn's "after the dig" picture looks no worse for wear.
The
house
was
built
in
around
1952,
or
so
I
am
told.
Not
old
by
comparison
to
some
of
the
other
features
on
this
farm
but
old
enough
to
find
artifacts
from
days
gone
by.
Like
the
copper
tip
of
a
lightning
rod
and
cable
that
would
have
lined
the
apex
of
the
roof.
Like
the
aluminum
rod
that
I
recognize
as
once
being
part
of
a
TV
antenna, also something that sat on a rooftop.
Closer
to
the
ground,
there
used
to
be
a
swing
set
right
here
in
front
of
the
main
entrance
door.
I
did
find
one
remaining
long
iron
pin
that
held
one
of
the
swing’s
legs
tied
firmly
to
the
ground.
Interestingly,
I
also
found
the
telephone
cables
at
two
different
locations
and
the
old
kitchen
sink’s
drain
pipe.
The
square-like
rusty
piece
of
cast
iron
does
have
a
design
or
pattern.
This
piece,
I
will
clean
up
later
and
post
the
picture
so
we
can
all
see
it
before
and
after.
I’ve
got
my
fingers crossed. Some of these old castings have intricate features.
The
jacket
or
sweater
pulls
and
safety
pin
and
staples
add
a
human
day
to
day
touch
to
the
finds.
Surprising
were
the
three
.22
Short
bullet
casings
buried
so
close
to
a
house.
Although;
I
clearly
remember
Grandma
asking
me
to
“Get
rid
of”
a
mean
old
tom
cat
that
had
strayed
onto
the
property
and
become
a
pest.
These
shells
may
well
have
been
my
own,
left
behind
some
fifty
years
ago.
Like
I
said, life comes full circle.
Roger
August 10, 2022 - On to the old foundations again
August 10, 2022
On to the old foundations again.
After
about
4
hours
of
detecting
at
Grandma’s
house,
I
turned
my
attention
and
the
rest
of
my
day
to
the
spaces
between
the
foundations
of
a
grain
shed
that
had
stood
there
up
until
last
year.
See:
September
18,
2021
-
Under
a
1950’s
Shed
.
It’s
a
trashy
location
metal
wise
with
lots
of
thin
metal
chips
and
flakes
of
what
I
can
only
assume
were
once
tin
cans.
Flattened
tin
cans
made
great
patches
whether
it
was
a
mouse
hole
you
wanted
to
cover
or
a
leaky
spot
on
a
roof.
Metal
flakes
everywhere
means
a
lot
of
digging
and
coming
out
empty
handed.
I
did
however
find
and
unearthed
some
interesting
items.
The
big
metal
plate
was
buried
facing
downwards.
It
is
1”
thick,
12”
long
and
6”
wide
and
weighs
in
at
22
lbs.
The
big
“Plus
sign”
marks
the
spot
right?
Well
judging
by
the
location
that
it
was
found,
I
believe
that
it
was
used
as
a
solid
base
on
which
to
set
down
the
intake
end
of
a
grain
auger
when
emptying
the
grain
bin
above
it.
These
bins
were
emptied
via
a
6”
by
6”
sliding
trap
door
in
the
floor
of
the
bin.
Talk
about
a
lot
of
work
eh!
It
was
a
different
time. Innovation and using available items at hand ruled the day.
Farm
cats
used
the
space
under
the
bins
to
hide,
catch
prey
(mice),
to
have
their
litters
and
to
die
as
well...
Farm
life.
The
bones
found
are
undoubtedly
that
of
a
cat.
One
old
bottle
was
recovered.
The
markings
on
the
bottom
of
the
bottle
might
provide
some
clues
as
to
dates,
manufacturer
and
possibly
contents.
The
Diamond
“D”
represents
The
Dominion
Glass
Company
of
Montreal.
See:
https://sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/DominionGlass.pdf
I
immediately
recognized
the
big
squares
of
the
chain
link.
This
came
from
a
farm
manure
spreader.
There
were
two
sets
of
these
chains
on
either
side
of
the
wagon
decking.
They
were
connected
to
each
other
by
angle
iron
pieces
that
helped
pull
along
the
wagon’s
contents
towards
the
back
of
the
wagon
where
huge
fans
on
a
fast
moving
spinner
would
hurl
the
manure
far
and
wide
onto
whatever
field you wanted to fertilize. Talk about flying Poo!
Well
my
time
was
up
for
the
day.
Time
to
pack
up
my
equipment
and
newly
discovered
finds
and
head
for
home.
It’s
always
a
pleasure
to
return
to
the
place
of
our
origins
and
childhood.
Today’s
outing
was
no different.
Roger
August 25, 2022 - The Permission: Carman, Mb.
August 25, 2022
The Permission: Carman, Mb.
This
adventure
had
its
beginnings
some
time
ago,
March
of
2021,
when
I
first
came
across
this
amazing
heritage
looking
building
while
on
a
day
trip
in
Carman.
(First
Picture).
I’ve
had
my
heart
set
on
detecting
the
grounds
ever
since
but…
to
get
permission
was
the
key.
There
are
some
basic
rules
that
any
good
detectorist
should
adhere
to.
One
is
always
getting
the
land
owner’s
permission
to
access
and
detect
an
area.
Another
rule
is
to
take
out
with
you
whatever
you
might
dig
up.
Don’t
leave
“junk”
in
the
ground
for
other’s
to
dig
up
later,
plus
in
doing
so,
you're
helping
to
clean
up
the
environment.
This
will
explain
the
seemingly
large
amount
of
junky
items
that
I
picked
up.
Some
of
the
pop
cans
and
the
broken
tape
measure
for
example
were
just
covered
by
leaf
litter.
Leave
a
site’s
ground
the
way
you
found
it
also
applies.
In
other
words,
fill
in
your
holes.
Cutting
a
turf
plug
works
well
to
end
as
it
just
pops
back
into
the
hole
you
just
dug.
And
there
are
a
few
more common sense rules too.
The
property
presently
belongs
to
K.
Block
Developments
Inc.
which
is
headquartered
in
Winkler,
Mb.
The
building
and
property
had
been
in
receivership
for
a
few
years
prior
which
made
obtaining
permission
very
difficult.
It’s
also
clearly
signed:
No
Trespassing. But now I have permission to hunt the site.
Thank you K. Block.
The
building
itself
has
quite
the
history.
Thanks
to
Dr.
Gordon
Goldsborough,
I’ve
come
to
find
out
that
it
was
formerly
the
Canadian
Bank
of
Commerce
building
in
Carman,
built
in
1907.
The
building
was
later
moved
to
this
location
and
I’m
guessing
here,
back
in
the
1950’s
possibly.
It
then
served
as
a
Masonic
Lodge
and
was
later
converted
into
an
apartment
building.
It
is
again
going
to
serve
as
an
apartment
building
once
the
renovations are complete.
So…
not
the
original
site
but
the
building
has
been
there
a
long
long
time,
and
judging
by
the
size
of
the
trees
along
the
drive,
it
should
make
for
a
rewarding
outing
at
metal
detecting.
I
wasn’t
on
site
for
5
minutes
when
I
realized
that
parts
of
the
site
had
already
been
detected
and
probably
so
within
the
last
two
years.
To
make
matters
worse,
the
individual
left
the
junk
behind
like
bottle
caps
and
canslaw.
Shame
on
you
whoever
you
are.
You
didn’t
have
the
land
owner’s
permission
either,
did
you?
Maybe
you
should
have
a
rethink
about
your
hobby
so
as
not
to
taint
the
majority
of
us
who
abide by the code. See the reference link…
So
it
goes
but
it
is
disappointing
nonetheless.
He
or
she
was
lazy
as
well
because
I
did
come
across
most
of
the
9
pennies
in
an
area
where
the
underbrush
was
thicker.
The
property
is
also
quite
deep
going
towards
the
south.
There
would
have
been
a
small
creek
running
east
to
west
through
this
lot
a
century
ago
and
the
lot
ends
at
a
railway
embankment.
The
rails
are
gone
but
the
track
bed
is
now
well
maintained
and
used
as
a
public
walking
and
biking
path.
This
back
area
also
yielded
some
interesting
finds
that
were
missed
by
the
No
Permission
and
leave
my
junk
behind
guy.
The
site
offered
a
nice
variety
of
ground
types
and
environments
to
detect on. Good practice on the finer skills of metal detecting.
The
pennies
found
dated
from
1973
to
2007.
Two
were
from
the
US.
The
finger
and
tooth
thing,
well
I’m
guessing
Halloween.
The
bullet
keychain
had
once
served
as
a
flashlight.
The
spoon
was
marked
“Oneida”
which
was
a
major
flatware
manufacturer
in
the
US.
The
toy
motorcycle
had
the
following
markings:
Lesney.
England.
Hondarora.
1974.
Cool
eh!
Too
bad
that
I
couldn’t
locate
the
bike’s
front
wheel.
The
grayish
looking
piece
is
lead.
It
looks
like
it
was
part
of
a
small
ornamental
flask.
The
letters
NER…
can
be
seen
quite
clearly.
A
mystery
piece
no
doubt.
And
as
a
last
notation
is
the
prevalence
of
electronic
waste.
It
now
seems
to
creep
up
everywhere.
This
is
not
the
first
piece
that
I
find
and
it
will
certainly
not
be
the
last.
Note
to
future
detectorists:
for
better
or
for
worse,
it
is
a
sign
of
the
times
that
we
live
in.
It
can
be
used
as
the
benchmark
of
our
era
for
dating
a
find.
A
small
upside
to
e-waste
is
the contact button that sits in the brass tine. That button is Silver.
Reference:
https://www.kblockinc.com/
Books by Gordon Goldsborough. Example: Abandoned
Manitoba.
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Roger
August 26, 2022 - It got lost and then found again… The magic happened.
August 26, 2022
It got lost and then found again… The magic happened.
I’d just gotten back from my Carman hunt when I got a bit of a
frantic email from Sean. It seems that Steven, Sean’s brother, while
visiting Matlock Beach, lost his wedding ring in about 4 to 5 feet of
water and they just couldn’t find it. It was lost. Sean, being the
computer guy in the family, found my website and made contact to
see if I could possibly help find Steven’s wedding band. And to add
to the mix, Steven was booked to fly back home to North Carolina
on Sunday so time was short and understandably, he was quite
worried. After a bit of back and forth, a time and place to meet and
a fee for gas and such was agreed too.
I met Steven at the Matlock Beach parking lot the next day at 10:00
AM sharp. The families had been out with the kids the day before.
When the ring was lost, they had the foresight to place a marker on
the walking pier at the exact place where the ring was thought to
have fallen. They had tried to walk the lake bottom and feel with
their feet for the ring but to no avail. It was a simple smooth yellow
gold band and between the soft sand, cold murky water, and the
shells and pebbles, they’d had no luck.
So Steven and I both walked into the water to the marked location.
It took less than 10 minutes to locate a target. It was one piling over
from where the marker was but it was a solid signal (19) on the
detector and easily repeated and no other signal beeped. That was
the good news but was it a bottle cap or a boat’s rivet or a wedding
band. Sounds easy? Yes, but now try to retrieve this target.
Apparently, the human body was not designed to stay on a lake
bottom for any amount of time. I guess I’m going to have to invest
in a diver’s buoyancy belt. After a few unsuccessful attempts at
reaching the bottom, Warren, a Good Samaritan and neighbor, who
lives here in Matlock, offered to help. Warren said “I was out for a
swim anyways and I just want to see the “Magic Happen”. Thank
you Warren for pitching in. So instead of diving we decided to use
my large aluminum scoop that is made specifically for this purpose:
scooping sand. But… and yes, there’s always a but… it’s made to
dig and scoop and sift sand, not clay. The segment of lake bottom
that we were standing on had a thin coating of fine sand over clay.
It took the three of us about 20 minutes of detecting and diving and
scooping when at last there it was, a nice shiny gold wedding band
sitting in the bottom of the aluminum sand scoop. I took great
pleasure in asking Steven… “Is this the band you’re looking for”?
What a rush!!! Now that was “La Grande Adventure”. And Steven…
Well now he is one happy camper. Now was the time for photos
and selfies. One picture was meant to capture the marker on the
pier where the ring fell. Myself, I think it’s Steven’s guardian angel
shining back at us.
There was an older couple sitting on beach chairs, on the sand,
watching and listening to the goings on. It must have been quite the
entertainment for anyone watching our quest. The best line of the
day was this gentleman’s comment to Steven as we were leaving
the beach. “Now you need to go buy a lottery ticket”. No kidding.
Roger
