Just seeing this thread and gotta say it is right up there as one of the most interesting I have seen posted on ANY detecting forum! Huge CONGRATZ to your buddy! 
Yes, there's a very high chance of that Tom. Whatever it turns out to be, I'm learning a lot
PHENOMENAL!There's a site here in the western states that was on the westward ho, east-to-west, immigration trail . It had been a pre-history Native American Indian village, that during the "contact era" became a sort of trading village. That traded with the passing travelers. But faded, fizzled, and disappeared by the 1870s. Between 3 or 4 of us, at varying times, we've pulled 7 or 8 seated coins (1850s-1870s), multiple eagle buttons, and cool relicky things. The military came through this area (and had "westward ho" forts in this part of the state ) . Hence the reason we find 3-ringers, rimfire shells, eagle buttons, etc....
It's a long ways from me, so I turned a buddy of mine on to the site awhile back . Since it was closer to him than me. We've worked "ground zero" pretty darned good, but he's gone back a couple of times to search for stragglers. Yesterday, he was sampling out further into the surrounding landscape and got a big signal. But even after being nearly a foot deep, nothing had come up yet. HHhhhmmm, but as he got down over a foot deep , he began to bring up individual eagle buttons.Pretty soon it was as if every handful of dirt contained another button or two.
Hhhhhmmm. But each time he'd swing down into his open hole, his machine was still going off strong.
Eventually, at what seemed like nearly 2 ft., this buckle came up.
The total was 40 eagle buttons, the buckle, and a rusty knife (that crumbled to the touch). As of the time of the pix, he had not even cleaned off the dirt. This is nearly "straight out of the dirt" pose.
The ceramic buttons (and beads) shown in the pix were not in the hole I don't think. I think he just eyeballed them elsewhere on that hunt that day, so they were just in this pix.
Anyhow, can any of you CW buffs ID this buckle for us please ? We don't get enough CW stuff out west to get too proficient in these ID's and dating.
And as for the # of buttons : I think what he found was : A few "coats". That had no doubt been purposefully buried. And that, after 150 yrs, the fabric is all dissolved. Leaving nothing but the buttons. Same for the buckle : It was probably with pants and/or belt at one time, and those fabric long-since dissolved. Hence someone had literally buried clothing in this hole, and .... never came back for it. So for you CW buffs : How many buttons would have been on a standard coat ? Eg.: Like 7 or so down-the-front, & 1 or 2 for each sleeve , & then 2 for the collar, etc... ? So is this perhaps the total of 3 or 4 buried coats, for example ?
Perhaps he'll chime in and get us some closer pix of the various buttons. Did both the north and the south wear the same type eagle buttons on their coats ?
Fantastic saves, Tom!There's a site here in the western states that was on the westward ho, east-to-west, immigration trail . It had been a pre-history Native American Indian village, that during the "contact era" became a sort of trading village. That traded with the passing travelers. But faded, fizzled, and disappeared by the 1870s. Between 3 or 4 of us, at varying times, we've pulled 7 or 8 seated coins (1850s-1870s), multiple eagle buttons, and cool relicky things. The military came through this area (and had "westward ho" forts in this part of the state ) . Hence the reason we find 3-ringers, rimfire shells, eagle buttons, etc....
It's a long ways from me, so I turned a buddy of mine on to the site awhile back . Since it was closer to him than me. We've worked "ground zero" pretty darned good, but he's gone back a couple of times to search for stragglers. Yesterday, he was sampling out further into the surrounding landscape and got a big signal. But even after being nearly a foot deep, nothing had come up yet. HHhhhmmm, but as he got down over a foot deep , he began to bring up individual eagle buttons.
The total was 40 eagle buttons, the buckle, and a rusty knife (that crumbled to the touch). As of the time of the pix, he had not even cleaned off the dirt. This is nearly "straight out of the dirt" pose.
The ceramic buttons (and beads) shown in the pix were not in the hole I don't think. I think he just eyeballed them elsewhere on that hunt that day, so they were just in this pix.
Anyhow, can any of you CW buffs ID this buckle for us please ? We don't get enough CW stuff out west to get too proficient in these ID's and dating.
And as for the # of buttons : I think what he found was : A few "coats". That had no doubt been purposefully buried. And that, after 150 yrs, the fabric is all dissolved. Leaving nothing but the buttons. Same for the buckle : It was probably with pants and/or belt at one time, and those fabric long-since dissolved. Hence someone had literally buried clothing in this hole, and .... never came back for it. So for you CW buffs : How many buttons would have been on a standard coat ? Eg.: Like 7 or so down-the-front, & 1 or 2 for each sleeve , & then 2 for the collar, etc... ? So is this perhaps the total of 3 or 4 buried coats, for example ?
Perhaps he'll chime in and get us some closer pix of the various buttons. Did both the north and the south wear the same type eagle buttons on their coats ?
That's exactly what I would have said, Hoser. Wonderful find on the West Coast, Tom.
