Need Some Information

[TheGreekMan]

First of all its been a pleasure reading various of post.I have been reading the post for a while and just signed up on this site.A question that I have is I have been trying to locate the outhouses of 2 houses that were located on a trail that leeds to a Mineral Spring located up in the Hills.I though I located a few spots up the hill but when I dug approx 2 to 3 and a half feet I am hitting clay.I have probed it, once I dug my test hole and still getting clay.I am approx 10 to 15 yards up the hill in back of the house.My question is How fare back up a hill would they place an outhouse?? The houses were built Starting at the edge of the trail up the hill alittle.Would they have built an outhouse adjacent to the residence on the trail.Due to alot of foot traffic of patrons walking to the mineral spings I would believe the 2 residence would have had there own outhouses??I know there are a few house houses on the trail which I havent found yet.How deep would the outhouses be up in the hills??When did they usually fill them in??? At approx 3 to 4 feet would I have hit the outhouse??All my test holes approx 3 to4 feet never produced any sign of broken glass,tin,or any other item to warrent digging further.Thank you and keep up the awesome postings.I will post some of my bottle finds up soon.

 

[slowmotion]

Dose it have to be up hill? Is there any sandy spots? Clay is hard dig in. Doesn't have to any glass
in sight if they back filed. What way dose the wind blow? Is there a spot where there is more growth?
Keep asking your self questions. Hope some help.
Willard in Spokane.

 

[TheGreekMan]

Thank you Willard in Spokane.With the wind direction Can you give me more information??Did they build outhouses downwind???I havent seen any spots with more growth.I am going to investigate in alittle more.Thank you for the re ply and god bless.

 

[Mr Seitz]

If you have dug down 4 feet and have not found signs of ash, ground brick,clay or ash caps, another words, "foreign fill" then it is probably not a privy.When we start pits,we can tell right away if they are privy's by the look of the first few shovels.The layers should start shorty after that.When you first probe a pit,the feel of the probe should tell you what you have.When the probe goes down easy and you feel crunches while it is going down 98% of the time its a pit.The surrounding ground has a different feel,(it grabs) and there is a lot of clay on the tip.A probed privy will show ash on the tip no clay.Or Vere little clay from (caps) it went through.
If you are searching the (country) for pits good luck they are mostly shallow and glass free.They had a lot of room to dump in the surrounding woods,why use the out house.Places like big city's and towns where there was no where to go with the trash are the best places to dig privy's.

[attachment 121856 Privy.jpg]
Notice the layers of ash and fill and the clay cap marks