Big Boys Hobbies

Hunting the River

MrPhoto

MrPhoto

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2009
Messages
253
Location
Wichita, Ks
What’s your thoughts? :thinking: Now that the Arkansas River around Wichita Ks. is mostly dried up, what’s your thoughts about hunting the river bottom flats? Because of the history of Wichita with all the activities on and around the river throughout the last century, would it be worthwhile to search the river bed for old coins and relics. Would it be legal, or is it state owned and off limits? Let me know what you think, could be an untouched gold mine for Mders. Thanks.
 
I know when they were working on the dam and it was almost dry a few years ago, the city said people could metal detect the river. Being sand, I would think that anything would have sunk below the depth of a detector. Still, at one time, there were five islands near downtown Wichita. The largest, Ackerman's, had an amusement park and trolley barns. I heard of some miners returning from the '49 gold rush that camped on one island. During the night, some Indians camped across from them. They supposedly hid their gold and fled, never to return for it. These islands were removed during the WPA projects. I would think that anything there would have been found then. If not, it is now part of the west bank of the river.
 
I would go for it, unless it is in a state park or access is through private property, check into it and if able I would go for it.

I know in Texas you can MD rivers or so the local law claims, off of roads and bridges as long as no fences are crossed or not on State/Federal Park land.
 
I would take advantage of the opportunity.. there could be anything down there :goodluck:
 
Here are my two cents worth:

Anything in the mud flats is very deep. I dug a foot and a half hole on one to get an aluminum can. Yes, the AT Pro picked it up at 1.5 feet deep.

Your best bet is to detect around the rip rock (is that the name?) at the bottom of the river, wherever you find it. I got good signals there but it was very difficult to move some of the stones to retrieve the targets. Also, I disturbed a nice, long, thick snake while trying to lift a rock and afterwards I was chicken.

The sand banks hold stuff but I mostly found junk and new, clad coins.

I am sure there is good stuff somewhere in that river. I just haven't found it.

Oh, and so far, no official has asked me to leave, even though the river is state property.

Good luck!
 
There is an ordinance about being in the river between the bridge at 2nd St or Douglas, south to the Johnny Mack bridge, but I think it refers to swimming. I don't have time to look it up now, but I will find it and post it later.
 
Couldn't find the ordinance. I know it existed at one time because we booked a homeless guy for that and false police calls when he waded into the middle of the river, sat down and yelled for help - that he was drowning. :lol:

I'll look again for it later - going to bed.
 
If I lived there and knew of slow sections where people play in the water I would hunt them. Problem with the Arkansas River is it is snow melt in many states. The water is too cold for swimming beaches. It is a long river so depending on where you live I would look for beaches where people hang out or campgrounds on the river. Good luck!!
 
pulltabMiner said:
Oh, and so far, no official has asked me to leave, even though the river is state property.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Are you sure the river is state property? I recall reading or hearing once that all rivers in the country are actually controlled and regulated by the Army Corp of Engineers who do operate all the locks and dams in the US. Their authority might just be locks/dams/navigation.

Regardless, I doubt they would care.
 
Mike1961 said:
Are you sure the river is state property? I recall reading or hearing once that all rivers in the country are actually controlled and regulated by the Army Corp of Engineers who do operate all the locks and dams in the US. Their authority might just be locks/dams/navigation.

Regardless, I doubt they would care.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I am not 100% sure. I say it is because back in my fishing days, I read somewhere that creeks in Kansas are private property when they run through a private property but the Arkansas river was owned by the state so it was ok to fish in it when it ran through private property (provided you could access it)
However, that was 15-20 years ago.
 
I'm not from Kansas, but I did manage to locate this.

"There are more than 10,000 miles of streams and rivers in Kansas, most of which are privately owned. The three navigable rivers - the Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas - are open to the public, although one must have permission to access the river through private land. The rest of our streams are privately owned, but some reaches are leased by the department through the Fish Impoundments and Stream Habitats (F.I.S.H) Program, while other reaches are in public ownership. Many streams provide excellent channel and flathead catfishing, and those in the east and southeast may also hold spotted bass. A little research using the Fishing Atlas and legwork visiting with landowners could open some great stream fishing."

Reference: http://www.kdwp.state.ks.us/news/KDWPT-Info/Locations/Rivers-and-Streams-Access
 
Never did find that ordinance. I would be very cautious in our lovely river, though. A friends daughter fell out of a canoe a few years back and contracted a flesh eating bacteria. Was nasty!
 
Seems to me I remember reading a story about gold being lost in the Arkansas river at Wichita. Something about a bank robbery and the loot was lost crossing the Arkansas.
 
Thanks’ for all the responses, advice and suggestions. As of to date I have not gone out to MD the river yet. I have been gathering as much information about lost treasures in and around the river, talking to old-timers and listening to their stories and tales, reviewing old photos and history locations of what went on and around the river. There is one story that stands out about the buried gold around the fork of the river that has not been reported as found, unfortunately this area is all now privately owned and getting access to the area will take an act of congress to get permission to hunt. On the brighter side, there are a lot of public accesses to the river, so getting close to that area will not be a problem as long as I stay within the river confinement; you never know some of that treasure may have been washed into the river. I plan on taking some vacation soon so I can spend some time hunting the river. I will keep you all posted on my quest “Hunting the River”.:boat:
If any of you come up with any treasure stories or history about the river in Wichita please post them, If possible we will check them out for you to see if we can obtain access. If we can, maybe you will be in the position to come to Wichita and we can hunt it together. Again, thanks for all your replies.
 
Also in the past, the city used to dump snow removed from the streets on the West river bank. I believe that this was done between Douglas and where the Expo Center now is. Who knows what else was mixed in with it.
 
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