The Quest For Indian Artifacts at Night

Brother Bill was an avid "Arrowhead Hunter". Nowadays a seeker of Native American artifacts, is  frowned on by the academic community as it does remove artifacts from the Archaeological Record and is illegal on most public lands. However, in the 1950s it was considered a good outdoor pursuit that would keep boys out of mischief. I don't know exactly how Bill became interested in searching for artifacts. But he had a marvelous mentor I knew as Mr Beaver, who was a wealth of knowledge about the outdoors, nature and most importantly Native American artifacts. For a time there were even the remains of a Native American burial on display in the Peabody Museum at Yale that he had discovered. The last time I visited it was no longer on display. Mr Beaver helped Bill with his merit badges and successful quest to become an Eagle Scout. I think Mr Beaver was instrumental in stimulating Bill's interest in artifacts. Bill's interest spilled over to my other older brother Bob, and me. We also hung around with a loose covey of neighborhood kids like the Kwoka clan, Pat Brennan and others who also dibbled in searching out artifacts. If there was a rock shelter or corn field in range Bill would soon investigate. He even located what he referred to has the burial ground on the west side of the Naugatuck River downstream from Pines Bridge. The site was also the location of an earlier colonial cemetery, It was suspected that some of the denizens of that plot had passed on from some very communicable diseases. In any event one of brother Bob's discoveries from that location was frowned on by Mom. But that is another story for him to tell. Needless to say I think his discovery went back to whence it came.

The main point of my posting is to discuss a flashlight or lantern that Bill cobbled together. It was carried on a shoulder strap and had a headlamp or handlamp depending on how you used it. Bill convinced me that it would be great for gathering night crawlers as I was into fishing of any kind. Now one of Bill's favorite spots for hunting arrowheads was Farmer Ned Ryan's cornfields off Route 42 just across the Naugatuck River from Pines Bridge. The best time to search the fields was right after a rain as it would uncover more artifacts. Since it was often a race among the various collectors to get there first, time was of the essence. It was always disheartening to get there and find fresh footprints. Bill, Bob, and I all worked at various types of jobs so even in the summer there always wasn't a lot of free time. So a day came when the daylight was waning just after a rain and Bill got out the Flashlight, loaded me and it up and headed for the cornfields.

Here is the type of battery I am referring too. Hooked to a strap over the shoulder of a small boy, it got heavy in a hurry. The light was of a different home made configuration. The corn was up and not too high and it had gotten dark. I think we alternated carrying that contraption. As I recall we may have found some flint or quartz chips and even a few night crawlers. Needless to say Bill never let a thing like darkness stop him from searching for arrowheads.