Hortons Bend

drops down we know we might have us an Injun hole…..you know…the skeleton.” Ronnie stared at them both for a minute. “You mean you dig up a burial?” Ronnie had found lots of points and pottery on the ground but the Christian in him had never caused him to think about trespassing and digging up the dead…even if it was hundreds of years old. It was kinda like the idea of digging up a Rebel soldier which seemed wrong. Ronnie always liked learning about Confederate battle sites and really wished he knew more about Civil War artifacts. He knew an old boy who had a shoebox full of buckles and bullets as the fellow had possession of a metal detector.
    “You ain’t never been caught have you?” Ronnie asked. Jarvis smiled and said “Nah we had to make a run for it but they didn’t come close….we was already down the river by that time.” “You think you can find more of what you found before?” They both grinned. “That’s what we want.” Ladge’s eyes lit up. “We got $900 for that little piece of shell.” Jarvis looked over a little disapprovingly but then eyed Ronnie. “We can trust you now?” Ronnie looked at them both and began to think. What makes this any different from surface collecting? Hell if we don’t find it somebody else will. Ronnie knew he wasn’t known for having a consistent church presence but he was still a spiritual person. Silently he mused “This ain’t Civil War Confederates….just some long dead Indians. Who would care? He quickly voiced his concern to the others. “Would we cover the ground up good when we done cause I hate to cause somebody’s tractor to turn over?” Ronnie asked. Jarvis assured him”Oh yeah man yeah…..we don’t want anybody to get hurt.” They decided not to drink too much beer and to part ways when 11 o’clock came around. They needed to rest up for tomorrow night.
    Ronnie arrived back at the cabin around 10pm the next night and the boys got their gear together. They drove Jarvis’ truck down to a bushy boat ramp and got in an old row boat. The sounds of the forest slowly going to sleep kept them company as slowly headed up stream. Careful to keep quiet, they rowed in silence and waited until they saw a break in the brush where the full moon gave them good light. They struggled to get up the bank but made it up without anyone rolling into Big Cedar. Once up on the edge of the plowed field, they waited to light the lantern and decided to start probing first. They lined up in a row and began probing every three feet or so. It was well after 2am before Jarvis felt his probe drop down near two feet below the ground surface. Ronnie could see Ladge’s eyes bulging. “You got somethin’ Jarv?” His reply came back with a smile, “Believe I do pard.” They lit the lantern and cut it down real low and began to shovel away some of the dirt. It took another hour to begin to see an outline where the dirt had changed colors. They dug carefully so as not to clang their shovels. The soil was slightly darker and they began to see fragments of bone. The bone of badly deteriorated and the discovery of the skull was almost missed completely since it had collapsed under the weight of the soil. A single Woodland Period Copena point was found next to the soil by Ronnie who handed it over to Jarvis. This burial was not going to produce anything. Jarvis and Ladge were disappointed and considered it a dud but Ronnie kept quiet since he knew that not all burials were filled with exotic items. Different time periods held different grave goods. Something in Ohio during the same period as this burial may have yielded objects made of copper. Never gold….Ronnie had squashed that idea to them long ago but he was sure they thought him to simply be holding out on them. After probing a little more, they decided it wasn’t long till daylight so best to call it a night. They got back to the take out and rode silently back to the cabin. Jarv felt disappointment and didn’t want their new friend to not see the merit in their nocturnal trip. As he drove them back he bumped his shoulder against Ronnie’s and said “Hit or miss Ronnie…hit or miss.” After their arrival home, the men got out of the cab of the pickup to say their goodbyes. Ronnie told them the two men “Well boys I appreciate ya’ll taking me along.” Both of them waved as they started to leave. “We’ll do it again sometime Ronnie” Jarvis assured him.
    Jarvis assured him they would go