Responsible Relic Recovery Of Cherokee War Artifacts - Garrett

(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