introduction

[WeymanCreek]

I am from the lower Cape Fear Region of North Carolina. I grew up on the river and have been hunting history all over this area since I was a teenager. I am currently working on a spot in Livingston Creek, near Riegelwood, NC, where Lord Cornwallis deposited a cache of weapons, artillery, and ammo. A 125lb cannonball was taken up from this site in 1911. Since then it has been forgotten to history. There is also a hull from some big wooden boat sticking out from the bottom of the mud near this site. Old journals from Cornwallis and his officers that retreated down the Cape Fear in 1810 trace the hike right through Livingston and temporarily camping at the plantation of a local Torie and descriptions of items they left behind like "an empty warchest, cannons, and ammo." Ive found a few articles from the Wilmington Star in the 30's that reference the 1911 find and speculates the idea of treasure buried in Livingston Creek, but Im feel that its closer to military cache rather than pirate treasure. Now that Ive located the two sights Im trying to develop a way to either dredge or blow away the sand and silt that cover alot of this debris and then start diving on the spot to bring up the big stuff.

[Diggler]

Wow! Welcome to the forum. Sounds like you have done your research and now the fun can begin soon. How deep is the water and the silt? It is not hard at all to make a suction dredge from any old water pump. Once you understand the simple concept, you can make a decent nozzle out of PVC fittings. Do you have a water detector or will you just be feeling/probing in the muck? Need any dredge plan ideas let me know. Good luck and HH!

[RickO]

Welcome aboard WeymanCreek...HH RickO

[randwool]

Sounds like some tempting info. Several members of the forum are located in your area. I'm just up the road a bit.
Good hunting to you.

[RIP]

Welcome from tennessee. Sounds like you have a good plan.

[Silversmith45]

Welcome from Kansas. Is the hull of that ship in water? If not, I'd be digging, trying to see if anything was still inside. Sounds like you have all kinds of places to search.

[Carol K]

Best of luck! Glad you're here to share your adventures with us!

[t20tvo]

welcome from the uk

[Yickityoptorus]

[Critter]

Welcome to the forums, Thanks for joining in! Sounds very interesting, Good Luck.

[KESTREL0222]

Welcome to the forum

[aikisensei01]

Welcome from East Tennessee. Sounds great. Good luck.

[WeymanCreek]

Thanks for the help. This is my first attempt at any major digging. I have to say I am not totally prepared yet because I have been working on historical journals of that area and came across it by accident. A few senior locals helped me mark exact areas of the early sightings. I dont have a detector but I do have a huge magnet in case any of that stuff is iron. Whatever was they were pulling up in 1911, it broke the chain and fell towards the middle of the creek. 14 to 16 feet of water with a possible 3 to four foot layer of sand. The boat is downstream and is buried mostly inside the river bank with the bow pointing downward. The boat may not be related to the cannonball site but who knows. Cornwallis had a small navy retreating down the river with an army marching along the banks.

[DigDog]

Welcome to the forum from Pennsylvania!

[WeymanCreek]

Diggler do you think a good size sump pump would work if I put the pumping end directly on the site and force a jet of water on the area I need to search. The tide fall on the Cape Fear in that area is only a foot and a half. Its not a strong current but it would surely push the sand, mud, and clay downstream while I used the pump. Im wondering if I could work on this during the tide falls and eventually get to the point of examining further with scuba gear and detection tools. Roots from the hardwoods that grow in that area could be another issue to handle because they tend to grow down the bank but Im crossing my fingers that I wont have to deal with them. Im new to site and I have noticed the emphasis from veterans of this hobby on respecting laws and historical sites during an excavation. Livingston Creek is recognized and surveyed by the GIS as a sub-basin. Trespassing is not an issue because anybody can fish or canoe or hunt game if you feel like it. But I dont know whether the State or the factories that use it would include a history dig in the swamp in the same category as setting a trott line or flippin a cane pole. This creek has been as an economic resource from the colonial era of timber and turpentine. Since the 1900's a Brick Company has come and gone, A marina with a fleet of large wooden barges for transporting local goods and produce to the Market in Wilmington has rotted into the swamp. International Paper and Wright Chemical Plant sit on opposite sides of Livingston Creek today and both companies use the river and this creek to supply water for their operations. Laws have been passed that now prohibit them to release any water, treated or not, back into the creek. In the sixties, Wright Chemical returned water treated with Alum into Livingston Creek. This totally changed the tanic and muddy properties of the creek and the creek bottom was then visible. People fish alot around there....a whole lot, and Livingston Creek is excellent when the conditions are right. The people that have helped me mark these areas are fisherman that know that creek better than anyone and fished it when Wright Chemical would clear it up everynow and then. They remember the odd piles and shapes that were seen and even a few more large wooden boats. They even pointed out a spot that is about 200 yards downsteam from a ford in the creek used by the local plantations. I dont want to violate any ethics or laws. Further down the river, Fort Fisher plays hardball with Metal Detecting and digging. They even littered some areas with metal chaff to discourage hunting. I dont wanna piss off some suit in charge of something and screw up any chance at officially recording some great material.

[pascofllee]

hello from sunny florida and welcome to the forum