Kelley (Texas)
New member
A Few Steps Ahead Of The Bulldozers................
The rain had ended yesterday and here I was early this morning, debating where to metal detect...some place that was not too muddy. I had put fresh batteries in the MXT earlier this week, wiped it down with a damp cloth and it was ready to go. I glanced at the clock as I sat at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee, 6:45 A.M. I thought about driving over to the old abandoned scout camp on Leon Creek, but then realized it would be messy to hunt...too much mud. Then it hit me like a lightening bolt hitting a Mesquite Tree, how about the old military camp site on the bluff over on the old Wheatly Ranch...the soil there always dries fast. I had only hunted that site once, many years ago, and had always wanted to hunt it again.
I found this site about twenty years ago, while looking for some stray mama cows and calves in a remote area of the Wheatly Ranch. I had ridden my horse down a steep hill onto the flat area of the bluff when I noticed that I had accidentally found an old camp site. It was getting late and I was herding a half wild mama cow, so I made a mental note of the location so that I could eventually return to the site.
A few weeks later, I saddled up one of the horses and rode out to the old camp site. I walked around the site, poking here and there with a snake stick when ever I thought that I had spotted something of interest. All that I found were a few pieces of iron junk with the exception of finding a large rifle cartridge, the old rim fire type cartridge. I finally called it for the day and vowed that one day I would return with a metal detector.
A few years passed, and then in 1994, I returned to the old camp site with a metal detector. I had a good day, found lots of old relics, the best being a Civil War Belt Plate in good condition. I found some old rim fire rifle cartidges, a fork, some old rusted metal buttons and various other old items. After several hours, I left the site and never returned to it until today.
As I was driving to the old camp site, I remembered that I had heard that the ranch had been sold to a developer and that houses were now being built there. I prayed that the old camp site was still there.
A short distance from the old camp site, I turned into the development and headed west on one of the newly built roads. At the back of the development, I found the site, part of it had been bull dozed, but it was still there. The rock fence that had enclosed the camp site was gone, as well as the stone fence that had been erected at the entrance of a small ravine that I suspect was used for penning a few horses, but the rest of the site appeared to be intact. The thought entered my head that this was it...probably the last time that this site would be hunted before the site was complely bulldozed and would be no more.
I hunted for close to five hours...did take a few breaks and reflected back to old times spent exploring this old ranch while helping Mr. Wheatly gather up his half wild stray cows with calves...those were some good times! I had a good day, found some more of the rim fired rifle cartridges, part of a harmonica, a few old rusted buttons, and other old items. I have attached a few pictures of the items found that were in reasonable good condition. I do not know what some of the items are, but they are old. Tomorrow, I am going to make a shadow box type frame and mount these items with a copy of this story pasted on the back...maybe some day my grandson will be interested in knowing about this site.
After loading the bucket of finds and the MXT into the pickup truck, I slowly drove away from the old camp site, knowing that I will probably never be back. That bulldozer reminded me of a buzzard sitting up in a tree watching a calf dying out in the pasture...waiting to do his thing. I stopped and thanked the security guard for giving me permission to hunt the old camp site and sadly turned onto the Farm & Market road leading back to the city. I will always remember this fine day. Please have a great day! Kelley (Texas)
[attachment 150221 wheatlyranch_1.jpg]
[attachment 150222 wheatlyranch_2.jpg]
[attachment 150223 wheatlyranch_3.jpg]
The rain had ended yesterday and here I was early this morning, debating where to metal detect...some place that was not too muddy. I had put fresh batteries in the MXT earlier this week, wiped it down with a damp cloth and it was ready to go. I glanced at the clock as I sat at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee, 6:45 A.M. I thought about driving over to the old abandoned scout camp on Leon Creek, but then realized it would be messy to hunt...too much mud. Then it hit me like a lightening bolt hitting a Mesquite Tree, how about the old military camp site on the bluff over on the old Wheatly Ranch...the soil there always dries fast. I had only hunted that site once, many years ago, and had always wanted to hunt it again.
I found this site about twenty years ago, while looking for some stray mama cows and calves in a remote area of the Wheatly Ranch. I had ridden my horse down a steep hill onto the flat area of the bluff when I noticed that I had accidentally found an old camp site. It was getting late and I was herding a half wild mama cow, so I made a mental note of the location so that I could eventually return to the site.
A few weeks later, I saddled up one of the horses and rode out to the old camp site. I walked around the site, poking here and there with a snake stick when ever I thought that I had spotted something of interest. All that I found were a few pieces of iron junk with the exception of finding a large rifle cartridge, the old rim fire type cartridge. I finally called it for the day and vowed that one day I would return with a metal detector.
A few years passed, and then in 1994, I returned to the old camp site with a metal detector. I had a good day, found lots of old relics, the best being a Civil War Belt Plate in good condition. I found some old rim fire rifle cartidges, a fork, some old rusted metal buttons and various other old items. After several hours, I left the site and never returned to it until today.
As I was driving to the old camp site, I remembered that I had heard that the ranch had been sold to a developer and that houses were now being built there. I prayed that the old camp site was still there.
A short distance from the old camp site, I turned into the development and headed west on one of the newly built roads. At the back of the development, I found the site, part of it had been bull dozed, but it was still there. The rock fence that had enclosed the camp site was gone, as well as the stone fence that had been erected at the entrance of a small ravine that I suspect was used for penning a few horses, but the rest of the site appeared to be intact. The thought entered my head that this was it...probably the last time that this site would be hunted before the site was complely bulldozed and would be no more.
I hunted for close to five hours...did take a few breaks and reflected back to old times spent exploring this old ranch while helping Mr. Wheatly gather up his half wild stray cows with calves...those were some good times! I had a good day, found some more of the rim fired rifle cartridges, part of a harmonica, a few old rusted buttons, and other old items. I have attached a few pictures of the items found that were in reasonable good condition. I do not know what some of the items are, but they are old. Tomorrow, I am going to make a shadow box type frame and mount these items with a copy of this story pasted on the back...maybe some day my grandson will be interested in knowing about this site.
After loading the bucket of finds and the MXT into the pickup truck, I slowly drove away from the old camp site, knowing that I will probably never be back. That bulldozer reminded me of a buzzard sitting up in a tree watching a calf dying out in the pasture...waiting to do his thing. I stopped and thanked the security guard for giving me permission to hunt the old camp site and sadly turned onto the Farm & Market road leading back to the city. I will always remember this fine day. Please have a great day! Kelley (Texas)
[attachment 150221 wheatlyranch_1.jpg]
[attachment 150222 wheatlyranch_2.jpg]
[attachment 150223 wheatlyranch_3.jpg]
I would still return there myself before they start building, I've done that at many sites and have made some good finds.