Indian (Native American) Camp Sites...

BeavRealtor

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Beaverton, Oregon
I know of several areas on private property that were used as Indian camp sites. I have found points, bowls, beads, etc. The area has been used since the late 1800's as cattle ranch land. I'm pretty sure that these areas were used forever before they were taken away.

I am curious if anyone has ever detected old indian camps, and what if anything was found...

I still don't have a detector, but I have decided on an AT Pro. I am just looking forward to getting out there and doing some research and brainstorming on where to go.
Jim
 
I live on a piece of property that was once an Indian reservation and I haven't found anything at all that was Indian related. I can't seem to think of what I might find using a metal detector anyways? I mean, wasn't all of their tools/weapons made from stone? If you or anyone else could think of something I'd love to hear the possibilities.
 
I live on a piece of property that was once an Indian reservation and I haven't found anything at all that was Indian related. I can't seem to think of what I might find using a metal detector anyways? I mean, wasn't all of their tools/weapons made from stone? If you or anyone else could think of something I'd love to hear the possibilities.

Yes, their weapons and tools were, for the most part, made of flint or obsidian. There are also many known instances of indians raiding/trading with miners, robbing army payroll, and stages. It just seems very likely that at some point, some either trade or stolen items could have ended up in camps.
 
Yes, their weapons and tools were, for the most part, made of flint or obsidian. There are also many known instances of indians raiding/trading with miners, robbing army payroll, and stages. It just seems very likely that at some point, some either trade or stolen items could have ended up in camps.

After I posted my comment I saw (on a different site) where someone had claimed to have found a silver piece from an Indian reservation, so anything is possible I guess.
 
Curious if the tribe of the land your hunting is still around.
They may be interested in some of the artifacts.
I know I have a lot of relics arrow heads and more from my families property in Colorado, with ours and what we have owned and recovered 30 plus years ago. Probably more like 60 years. From researching so far it looks like the most we can do with our relics is lend them to a museum. I'll have to get some pictures have drawers of relics and all. My grand father and any family who would have the tribe history have passed on. So honestly I have no idea what tribe the items may be from.

It's interesting though. And I may have no Native American direct blood line that I know of, my step mom had a good amount of cherokee in her blood line. So call it goofy I have felt a connection for some time..

Would be cool to see some pictures of your finds.
 
Out here in CA, the only indian sites (aka "rancherias" here in CA) that are worth detecting, is if it can be conclusively known that the location existed up through European contact periods. Because the indians had no refined metals. So unless it was cross-over/concurrent with the European toe-hold here, it would not be worth detecting.

And the closer to European points of settlement they were (eg.: the missions), the better. And the longer this period of "contact" occurred, the better. I've hunted a few such village sites, and found reales, buttons, and such.
 
There were some archeological digs on one of my spots in the 1970s. They found lots of stuff from the 6000 years ago until the the contact period. This area served as a seasonal hunting camp mostly, from what I know of it. This site was also an Iroquian village from some unknown point until the 1750s or so. I think a lot of it was cleaned out by Indian artifact hunters in the late 1800s/early 1900s. That was kind of a hobby for a lot of people in my area back then. From the late 1700s until the mid-1900s it was a farm.

I found a bunch of horse tack and buttons and a few farm farm tools. The only good coin finds have been a toasted V nickle and a 1765 2 Reale.

One of these days I will find some points. I have spend hours scouring the creek beds here trying to find some, but nothing yet.
 
Looking at nearby creek beds is probably best bet you have to finding native American artifacts. My grandpa used to find a lot of arrowheads when he would plow his field and I've walked around his farm a couple of times when the ground wasn't plowed and didn't find anything. It's next to impossible to find one laying on the ground unless the dirt has been moved around
 
Look at my Indian relics photo album and that will give you an idea of some of the relics you can expect to find on a Historic Indian site.
Good luck in your search.
 
Back during the summer of 1983, my son and I were walking around in the sage brush deserts of Eastern Oregon. We were just hiking when we happened upon a large site that was scattered with pieces of obsidian with a few smaller arrow heads lying around. After some brushing away of some juniper needles I uncovered an arrowhead 3" long and in perfect condition. The next year I relocated the site and went over it carefully with my metal detector. I didn't find anything metal.....not even one beep. The indians just didn't have anything metal unless there was a copper, silver, or gold vein in their immediate area.
 
Finding an old coin is awesome. Picking up a flint point a 1000 yrs old that a Native American last touched is inspiring!!!
Pro is an a great machine. It has brought me much enjoyment. Good luck!
 
They did make some points from steel that they traded for. They had steel knives and guns. 1800's anyway. Silver concho's on saddles. If they fought the white man, they could have almost anything. Calvary saddles?
My uncle found parts of an old cavalry saddle that was adorned with silver concho's. It was buried in an old peanut field that was once an Indian camp.

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk
 
Soon after they had contact with Europeans, they realized that steel made better arrow pts. and knives. They also obtained lots of firearms.
The use of stone pts. and tools became obsolete. Very few Indians knew how to flint knap within a few decades after contact.
I agree that you will find a lot more stone tools lying around though. Because, they used stone for thousands of years and white man stuff for only a few hundred.
 
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