Responsible Relic Recovery Of Cherokee War Artifacts - Garrett

Responsible Relic Recovery
Of Cherokee War Artifacts
Story by Stephen L. Moore • Photos by Brian McKenzie
Rifle balls and relics recovered in 2009 with metal detectors, plus Indian artifacts plowed up by the land owners, from the 1839 Neches battleground in East Texas.
The final battle of a short campaign known as the
Cherokee War was fought on July 16, 1839, in eastern Texas
west of present Tyler. The battle of the Neches, although
not widely familiar to residents of the Lone Star State, was
in fact the greatest battle ever fought between Texans and
Native Americans. Modern metal detector technology,
research and a dedicated search team were the keys used
by a Garrett search team to pinpoint this 1839 battlefield
170 years later.
More than 1,600 Indians, Texas Rangers, Texas Army
soldiers, and Texas Militia volunteers clashed for two days
in this area of eastern Texas. The 1839 battle of the Neches
was the largest sustained Indian battle in which the fabled
Texas Rangers participated.
Chief Bowles, the 83-year-old leader of the Texas
Cherokees, was one of more than 100 Native Americans
slain on the Neches battleground. He died a hero, clutching
a ceremonial sword—given to him by Republic of Texas
President Sam Houston—until his horse was blasted out
from under him. Bowles had fought for decades to secure
land rights for his Cherokees in Texas but his colorful life
was ended by a pistol shot on the Neches battleground.
While writing the history of one of the most dramatic
Indian battles in Texas history, I decided to put Garrett’s
metal detector technology to work in order to unearth
some battle artifacts. Today, the American Indian Cultural
Society (AICS) works to preserve the memory of the fallen
Cherokee chief and the thirteen affiliated tribes he led
into battle that day. AICS board members Eagle Douglas
and Sondra McAdams, both of Cherokee blood, were
acquaintances made during some of my previous Texas
Rangers and Indian wars research. They agreed to let me
bring a group of Garrett detectorists onto their 68 acres to
conduct a search for battle artifacts. The agreement was
that whatever was unearthed on their property should
become part of their future museum.
So, in the fall of 2007, I was accompanied to the property
by detectorists Joe Wilson, Robert Jordan and Bob Slocum,
Story by Stephen L. Moore • Photos by Brian McKenzie

plus Vaughan Garrett and Brian McKenzie to document any
discoveries with video and still photography. We brought
along a number of Garrett’s most advanced metal detectors:
the GTI 2500, GTI 1500, GTP 1350 and an ACE 250. We worked
into the late afternoon, doing reconnaissance scanning of
the areas surrounding a field containing Bowles’ marker.
We also ventured into the deep woods, working through
deep creek beds and following them out toward the Neches
River bottomlands. By the end of a full day’s hunt, we had
collected shotgun shells, modern bullets and various rural
farmland metallic junk. Joe even dug up some World War
I-era blunts, bullets somewhat similar to those used decades
before during the Civil War.
The artifacts we sought from the 1830s period had proven
to be elusive. Several weeks later, I returned to search the
AICS property again with Joe, Robert and Keith Wills. We
searched over some of the likely areas near the creek and
all around the large hilltop where a Delaware Indian village
was said to have been. Once again, we found modern bullets,
some coins, an old watch and miscellaneous metallic junk.
The four of us then made a reconnaissance line and scouted
with our detectors back toward the road, moving up another
small hill and into the forest again before finally reaching the
property’s barbed wire fence line.
Keith and I agreed that we must be searching on the tail
end of the battlefield. Obviously, there were some artifacts in
this area at one time but even modern souvenir hunters and
previous timber-cutting operations would not have removed
all traces of such a heavily-contested battle. The next step
was to research the earliest information on the Neches
battle more thoroughly while attempting to gain permission
from the adjacent landowners to conduct a survey on their
property.
(Left) In his "Battle of the Neches"
painting from 1967, artist Donald M.
Yena captured the closing moments of
the 1839 battle. Chief Bowles (below),
with his ceremonial sword upraised,
is shot in the back after his horse has
been crippled with numerous rifle ball
shots. Painting used by permission of
Frank Horlock and Michael Krueger.
Bowles illustration courtesy of Texas
State Library & Archives Commission.
Since our first efforts to recover relics on the AICS land
had been fruitless, I decided to forget about where the
Bowles marker stands and where the battle was assumed
to have been concentrated. It was time to dig back into the
earliest accounts of the battle and to visit with others who
might have some useful information.
A 1920s article by Dr. Albert Woldert became my
primary focus, particularly several detailed maps based on
his research. The spot where he had labeled Chief Bowles
to have died was on the opposite side of a particular
creek than where I had expected it to be shown. Modern
graphics programs allowed me to scan in this map and
overlay it on a satellite image of the area and on a scanned
page from a detailed Texas road map of the county. The
new composited picture convinced me that we would
find the main battle area somewhat south of the area
owned by AICS. This map work convinced me that the
old Delaware village was not exactly on the hilltop where
the tribal stones have been placed. Could there be another
significant hilltop within 300 yards to the southwest?
Fortunately, landowners Thurman and Alice Jett
were open to this historical quest and it was with great
excitement that I led another group of detectorists to hunt
their land in early 2009. Mr. Jett even mentioned that his
family had plowed up bits of old pottery for years and
had often found arrowheads on their property. It was all
coming together like lost pieces to a puzzle. As our Garrett
search team first drove onto the property to meet the Jetts,
there was the hill I had hoped to find! It rose up out of the
heavy timber from the south, reached its peak right where
the home sits and then fell off sharply on the north and
east sides. Behind the Jett’s home is a steep hill that opens
onto a vast farmland prairie containing a small creek.

The location we had reached on the Jett property had
all of the necessary elements to make Woldert’s notes
fit. We just needed to find evidence that would prove it
beyond a doubt. For this recon mission, my companions
were Joe Wilson, his uncle Stan May, Robert Jordan and
Brian McKenzie, the latter doubling as both the excursion’s
photographer and detectorist. We fanned out and began
searching the vast prairie behind the Jett home, working
our way along a small spring-fed pond back toward the
Neches River bottomlands. Most of our efforts throughout
the day were on the open prairie, in the heavy woods to the
north of the field or in the bottomlands. As on the adjoining
68 acres of AICS lands, we dug some metal junk and plenty
of modern projectiles of all calibers.
It was such a vast area of land for five detectors to cover
that it was mid-afternoon before we finally tasted success.
Robert Jordan, using a GTP 1350, had a solid hit in the
forest that read as a 7 on his Target ID scale. With the aid
of his trusty Pro-Pointer, he retrieved a genuine nineteenthcentury
lead musket ball from a depth of four inches.
This proved to be our only definite relic from the
Neches battle this day but it was enough to encourage me
to begin thinking about a return. Dr. Gregg Dimmick, who
has long used metal detectors in his archaeological research
on the Mexican Army’s retreat after the 1836 battle of San
Jacinto, encouraged me to send the size, weight and photos
of this musket ball to Doug Scott. Doug is a ballistics expert
famous for his work on artifacts from the Little Bighorn
battle. He quickly confirmed that it was a standard .69
caliber ball which certainly would have been used in the
1830s.
Our search team returned to the Jett farm in March
2009, with their permission to conduct another hunt. For
this foray, we recruited additional volunteers from the
Lone Star Treasure Hunting Club of Dallas. In addition to
Robert, myself, Brian McKenzie, Joe Wilson, and Stan May,
seven others were on hand to put their skills to the test:
Paul Wilson, Mike Skinner, Rusty Curry, Bob Bruce, Matt
Bruce, Robert Jeffrey, and Dave Totzke.
Shortly after 11:00 a.m., Paul was the first to find a
.69-caliber musket ball with his GTI 1500. Within minutes,
Paul recovered another ball and Bob Bruce soon followed
suit. By the time I emerged from a deep thicket, I found
that Bob, Paul, Matt Bruce, Robert Jordan and Dave Totzke
had each recovered 1830s musket balls. Before I could
reach the middle of the field, Dave announced, “I’ve got
another one!”
He was curiously spinning a small metal orb in his
fingers. “This must be from a pistol,” he mused. “It’s
much smaller than the musket balls we’re finding.”
Dave made another probe of his excavation area with his
Pro-Pointer. It suddenly rattled and hummed with the
distinctive announcement of another metallic target. What
he recovered was even more exciting–three more smaller
balls, each about twice the size of a child’s BB.
“Do you know what this is?” he asked. “It’s a buck and
ball load!”
The pinpointer had enabled Dave to find the much
smaller buckshot which he most likely would have missed.
Such small targets easily blend in with the dirt. The prior
First find! Robert Jordan holds
the first .69-caliber lead rifle ball
(seen above) found by the Garrett
search team on the property
where Cherokee Indians and
the Texas Rangers fought their
greatest battle.
Neches battleground search
team on March 4, 2009. (Left
to right, standing): Stan May,
Mike Skinner, Paul Wilson, Dave
Totzke, Robert Jeffrey, Robert
Jordan, Steve Moore, Rusty
Curry and Joe Wilson. (Kneeling,
left to right): Matt Bruce and
Bob Bruce.

(Left) This three-piece buck
and ball load was recovered
by Dave Totzke. The smaller
buckshot balls measure .32
inches in diameter.
(Below) The author recovers
a flattened .69 caliber rifle or
musket ball.
recovery of a nice, albeit smaller, musket ball might have
satisfied a novice searcher that he or she had found the metal
detector’s announced target. Before the day was out, Dave
would find another similar buck and ball load with the aid
of his Pro-Pointer.
I have read Charles Garrett’s words and have heard him
utter the phrase many times: “You can find treasure even
in your own backyard!” In this case, we had found historic
relics right in the Jetts’ own front yard!
These musket balls and buck and ball loads were likely
dropped by Texans who were firing at Indians in the creek
bed below them. Some of the discovered shots had perhaps
been fired back up at the Texans by the Cherokees. Our
team continued working the field during the next hour and
most recovered at least a couple of musket balls. In addition,
Dave, Paul, Joe Wilson, Robert Jordan, Rusty Curry and
Mike Skinner each managed to recover pieces of an old iron
cooking pot that appear to have been shattered many years
ago by someone plowing the land.
Following a quick lunch break, I struck out across the
top of the hill in front of the Jett home toward the area where
Robert had found the lone rifle ball weeks before. I topped
the little prairie’s highest elevation and had just started
down the back slope when my GTI 2500 sang out with a
solid hit. It was right on the 7 mark on the scale, just where
the other balls had been registering.
Using my spade, I popped a six-inch-deep plug and
began probing the recovery hole with my Pro-Pointer. In
short order, it began vibrating and audibly rattling with the
sweet sound of a solid target. From the soft soil, I retrieved
a somewhat flattened hard piece of lead that was solid and
heavy. Brushing it off, I quickly realized it to be a musket ball
that had mushroomed on impact. It was a sobering thought
These battlefield relics were dug on the main July 16 battle site. (Left to right) A
1.1 oz. .69 caliber musket ball that has flattened upon impact; an intact .69 caliber
musket ball which was likely never fired (notice the tip of the sprue that was not
properly clipped off); a .42 caliber ball which also dropped (which appears to have
not been trimmed after molding); and a properly formed .69 caliber musket ball.
indeed to realize that this little pancaked treasure had likely
ended someone’s life in 1839.
Paul Wilson and Robert Jeffrey each soon discovered
similarly flattened rifle balls while Stan found another intact
ball that had obviously missed its mark. This area would
prove to be the initial skirmish line where Texan scouts had
been taken under fire by the Cherokees in July 1839. A few of
our recoveries were buck and ball loads in which the larger
ball still possessed its little “nub” or the tab that might have
been snipped off prior to packing a load.
Gregg Dimmick, ballistics expert Doug Scott and Byron
Johnson, Executive Director of the Texas Ranger Hall of
Fame and Museum in Waco, all helped confirm that the
.69-caliber and other smaller balls we had found were
certainly available in 1839. With the help of Donaly Brice of
the Texas State Archives, I later tracked down a July 1839
document confirming that the Texas Rangers had indeed
been supplied with 50 pounds of buckshot prior to the battle
to use in buck and ball loads. Chief Bowles, in fact, is known
to have been shot in the back by a buck and ball shot.
The Jett family was kind enough to let us make an
additional search of their land on April 1, and we were again
able to further define the battle areas. My team this day
included detectorists Mike Skinner, Robert Jordan, Richey
Davidson, Brenda Davidson, Ray Wathar and Ronnie Morris,
plus Vaughan Garrett and Brian McKenzie to document the
recoveries with video and photos.
Our search efforts were concentrated in the lower fields
this day below the upper hill where many of the relics had
been previously unearthed. A number of additional rifle
balls were discovered within 30 yards of the twisting creek
where the Cherokees had been positioned during the Neches
battle. Most of the lead balls this day were of the .69 caliber
size and a few stray shots were even found on the far side of
the creek, away from the main battle area.
From the two concentrated areas of relic recoveries
previously encountered and this hot spot near the creek,
we could pretty clearly visualize the 1839 Neches battle.
The terrain, the slope and the creek bed below the hill fit the
various descriptions of the battlefield that were penned in
1839 by some of the Texans. Beyond the creek bed, a heavy

(Above) These helping hands who helped hand back history are seen here displaying the musket balls,
buckshot and bullet button found on the Neches battlefield.
thicket eventually opens into the small clearing where the
Chief Bowles monument now stands. We had discovered
rifle balls all the way up to the edge of Mr. Jett’s property
leading generally from the most heated area toward the
Bowles marker—which was located perhaps 200 yards
beyond this area of the creek through heavy forest.
Our metal detectors had helped solve the mystery of
where Bowles’ Cherokees had made their last stand 170
years ago. My thoughts now turned to preserving these relics
so that future generations can benefit from the knowledge
of this history that we had unearthed. From the start, I had
promised Eagle Douglas and his American Indian Cultural
Society that I would donate significant artifacts to his group
to help promote their efforts. The Jett family kindly donated
arrowheads and Native American pottery found on the
battlefield for the donation cases.
(Left) Ray Wathar digs into
a weed patch to unearth another
rifle ball near the creek.
(Right) Detail photo of a
.69-caliber ball and a 19th
century bullet button found
on the battlefield.
This article is condensed from Garrett detectorist
Stephen L. Moore’s new book called Last Stand of the
Texas Cherokees. In addition to an extended version
of the relic recovery, Last Stand covers the life of Chief
Bowles, his tribe’s land struggles and the subsequent
frontier battles of the Cherokee War.
In addition, it became clear to me that it would be
proper to offer historical relics to both sides. The Texas
Ranger Museum and Hall of Fame in Waco seemed like the
natural fit, as six companies of early Rangers fought in this
East Texas conflict. Both the Texas Rangers Museum and the
AICS board members were thrilled to receive donation cases
of our recovered relics. We know that these two groups will
share the knowledge of these relics with any who possess an
interest in this history.
Many decades have passed since that last stand of the
Texas Cherokees and their affiliated tribes. Thanks to the
sophisticated electronic circuitry of some modern metal
detectors, we were able to brush aside the legends and
precisely pinpoint the spot where Republic of Texas-era
colonists had forever dimmed the light of hope held by the
Cherokees to peacefully settle on Texas soil.

Neches battleground scenes. (Clockwise from above.) Vaughan Garrett captures the look of
genuine excitement as Robert Jordan finds a musket ball. Matt Bruce holds up another ball
found with his ACE 250 in the upper field. The state of Texas erected this Centennial Marker
in 1936 to mark the spot where Chief Bowles died in battle. Another of the Garrett search
groups (l-r): Richey Davidson, Ronnie Morris, Brenda Davidson, Ray Wathar, Mike Skinner
and Steve Moore.
(Left to right): Author presents an artifact case to Texas Ranger officers Lieut. George Turner
of Company F, Capt. Al Alexis of Company B, and Capt. Kirby Dendy of Company F, Waco.