I attempted my first door knock today, although this door knock was not for the actual owner of the property I want to search, but instead the owner's neighbor. I was hoping to get contact information for the property owner. More on this later.
A little bit of background, I live in CA gold rush country, and there is a unincorporated town a few miles from my fathers house that I have known of for the last 5 years, but have never bothered to really research or ask permission to hunt. The main street of the town is where all the remaining old structures are, although the Main St ends at a private gate and the road becomes private as it meanders through the oak land and over the nearby river that was placer mined in the gold rush era. The distance of the remaining town site to the river is probably about a quarter mile to a half mile.
From looking at satellite photos of the property I am interested in hunting, which is quite large, I can see that today there is a house on it some where down the road, as well as an old bridge that crosses the river. Once again, the road and bridge are all private inside the gates. I can see what look to be small mounds of dirt, which if they are would mean they could be the dumping ground for the mined earth. Other than that I am having trouble seeing anything that may have been an old foundation etc.
Now, back to the neighbor who I spoke to today. When I pulled up on the road opposite their house I quickly noticed that they had somewhat of a bottle collection displayed on their front window ceils. With that in mind, I walked up to the front door, and also realized that they had a welcome sign with a carving of the neighbor's historic bridge on their front porch. Before I could knock on the door, the homeowner's daughter (daughter-in-law???) opened the front inside door. She wasn't angry or anything, but just asked how she could help me, but before I could respond the owner (or owner's wife) came to front door and asked how she could help me.
I started out by saying hello and then explained that I was once a local and had graduated from the local high school a few years ago and that my father lived nearby in an effort to make her understand I actually had a connection to the area. Then I asked her if she had the owner's contact owner, which is where I believe I may have gone wrong and dug myself into a small hole. She told me she wouldn't give me that info, but that if I wanted she would take my info and pass it onto them if they wanted to talk with me. I agreed of course because I realized in advance that it was very likely she may not give me any info on them.
Now, you may all be wondering when am I going to mention my intentions, which is where I believe I made a critical error. I didn't actually mention metal detecting, but instead that I was interested in the history of the town. For whatever reason I kind of froze on that info. She was somewhat helpful in explaining some basic info on the town to me, but she didn't go into much depth. What she did tell me that is important though is that every second Sunday of each month the family that owns the property that I am interested in does hold a local Odd Fellows breakfast at the lodge across the street and that I was welcome to come and ask the family any questions I had about the property there.
So, now I guess I am left awaiting a call where I can reveal my true intentions, or I can go to the breakfast in a few weeks to make contact with them. I should also mention that my interest in the towns history is not false at all. Heck, if all they let me do was explore the property but not dig that would be somewhat of a victory I guess.
But still, I am not sure how to ask them about actually searching their property. What if they want to keep everything or a portion of what I find? I would be willing to give them a portion I guess if they granted me permission, but that is assuming they grant it. So many questions going through my head right now.... Any advice on my situation?
A little bit of background, I live in CA gold rush country, and there is a unincorporated town a few miles from my fathers house that I have known of for the last 5 years, but have never bothered to really research or ask permission to hunt. The main street of the town is where all the remaining old structures are, although the Main St ends at a private gate and the road becomes private as it meanders through the oak land and over the nearby river that was placer mined in the gold rush era. The distance of the remaining town site to the river is probably about a quarter mile to a half mile.
From looking at satellite photos of the property I am interested in hunting, which is quite large, I can see that today there is a house on it some where down the road, as well as an old bridge that crosses the river. Once again, the road and bridge are all private inside the gates. I can see what look to be small mounds of dirt, which if they are would mean they could be the dumping ground for the mined earth. Other than that I am having trouble seeing anything that may have been an old foundation etc.
Now, back to the neighbor who I spoke to today. When I pulled up on the road opposite their house I quickly noticed that they had somewhat of a bottle collection displayed on their front window ceils. With that in mind, I walked up to the front door, and also realized that they had a welcome sign with a carving of the neighbor's historic bridge on their front porch. Before I could knock on the door, the homeowner's daughter (daughter-in-law???) opened the front inside door. She wasn't angry or anything, but just asked how she could help me, but before I could respond the owner (or owner's wife) came to front door and asked how she could help me.
I started out by saying hello and then explained that I was once a local and had graduated from the local high school a few years ago and that my father lived nearby in an effort to make her understand I actually had a connection to the area. Then I asked her if she had the owner's contact owner, which is where I believe I may have gone wrong and dug myself into a small hole. She told me she wouldn't give me that info, but that if I wanted she would take my info and pass it onto them if they wanted to talk with me. I agreed of course because I realized in advance that it was very likely she may not give me any info on them.
Now, you may all be wondering when am I going to mention my intentions, which is where I believe I made a critical error. I didn't actually mention metal detecting, but instead that I was interested in the history of the town. For whatever reason I kind of froze on that info. She was somewhat helpful in explaining some basic info on the town to me, but she didn't go into much depth. What she did tell me that is important though is that every second Sunday of each month the family that owns the property that I am interested in does hold a local Odd Fellows breakfast at the lodge across the street and that I was welcome to come and ask the family any questions I had about the property there.
So, now I guess I am left awaiting a call where I can reveal my true intentions, or I can go to the breakfast in a few weeks to make contact with them. I should also mention that my interest in the towns history is not false at all. Heck, if all they let me do was explore the property but not dig that would be somewhat of a victory I guess.
But still, I am not sure how to ask them about actually searching their property. What if they want to keep everything or a portion of what I find? I would be willing to give them a portion I guess if they granted me permission, but that is assuming they grant it. So many questions going through my head right now.... Any advice on my situation?