Tag Archives: shot shell

The Conquest of Henry Park

23 Nov

A long time ago, I foolishly declared that I would find silver coins in every old park in our fair city. By sheer luck, I’ve managed to do that at almost every old park except for one; Henry park.

I got the information about Henry park’s founding from a city web page that no longer exists. If I recall, the park opened in 1886; a neighborhood park the size of a city block. Today, the park is a flat piece of land with no trees in it. The oldest trees on its periphery, could be from the 1940’s. Only recently, the city put some modern play equipment on one of its corners.

I hunted this park once or twice in the last five years and didn’t find any silver coins. Today, I wanted to give it another shot and took my XP Deus metal detector and two hours in an incredibly beautiful day. For the first hour and half, the park behaved exactly as before. I found nothing but aluminum foil and a few pieces of rusted wire (there are lots of wire at this park for some reason). However, towards the end of my hunt, the park began to act its age. At about 6 inches down I found a 1942 War nickel. A few minutes later I pulled the bottom of a shotgun shell known around these parts as a head stamp. Last came a small silver earring.

Henry park loot

Henry park November 23 2016

henrypark02earringdetail

I see that I need to spend more time at this park. It is incredibly trashy for not having any amenities and for not being used very much. I also suspect that sometime after the Second World War, this park was filled and graded, putting the coins from the turn of the century out of reach. I could be wrong. I aim to find out.

Thank you for stopping by.

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A moment in time

3 May

I stopped by Riverside park on my way to my karate class last night. I was swinging Maurice, my XP Deus metal detector, looking for the very deep stuff that other hunters have left in the ground. At one point I got a deep target that sounded good to me so I dug. This target was particularly deep and at the depth of 11 inches I finally got to feel the target with my fingers. I extracted a round object and for a moment I thought I had a large cent. Ha! keep dreaming!

Instead, I got a shot shell. OK, I don’t get excited about shot shells anymore but still, it was a cool find. I covered the hole, stood up and swung again and bam! another deep target. I dug another deep shot shell of the very same gauge and make as the last one. Repeat and again, pow! another deep target. I pulled yet another shot shell exactly like the other two. All three shot shells were under the same square foot of dirt and all three were UMC Co. gauge 10 Club. **According to Cartridge-Corner, this stamp dates from 1867 to 1911. The neighborhood was already established by the early 1900’s and there was a race track in that area of the park as early as the mid 1880’s so I stick with my drop date of the mid to late 1870’s**

shells

How cool is that!? I was standing approximately in the very same spot where a person stood back in the late 1870′ or early 1880’s (by the mid to late 1880’s, the area was already a city park) and got off three shots with his (or hers) shotgun. The drop happened within feet of the little Arkansas river. I imagine this person was hunting ducks. I picture the flock of ducks taking flight after being surprised by this hunter and then bam! bam! bam! three fatal shots and dinner soon after.

I’ve seen a picture of Wichita at the time of its incorporation; 1870. There was barely a hint of a town there. By the early 1880’s however, the city had paved streets, brick buildings, banks, commerce, and two or three city parks.

Very cool. I dug up a moment in time. Two hunters, 140 years apart, connected by three shot shells. I like it.

Thank you for looking!

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30 minute hunt after work

14 Mar

I stopped at a small grassy spot in downtown Wichita after work. I’ve had very unproductive hunts on the last week and I wanted to hunt a small spot that I could cover completely in a short amount of time.

I managed to find a 1965 Roosevelt dime at about five inches down plus other various and sundry items. The most significant of those was the shot shell. Normally I don’t get excited about shot shells but they do a lot to date an area. This one is a Winchester Repeater #12. According to Cartridge Corner (see link under Useful Links section on the right), this shotgun shell was made prior to 1901. I know it must have been dropped soon after it was made because there were houses on this spot very early on Wichita’s history.
The dog tag was one inch down and the big chunk of lead was seven inches in the ground. The Lincoln Memorial cents were all between one to three inches deep.

Various and sundry things

And I think I understand why I often feel that my short hunts are more productive than my long hunts. I believe it all has to do with expectations. I don’t expect to find much on a 30 minute hunt so everything I find seems significant. On a long hunt, I expect to hit silver and gold and I am often disappointed.

I am hoping this weekend I do better.

Thank you for looking!

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