An Absolute Jackpot Buried Behind an 1880s Saloon

Excavating two privies at the former site of an 1880's Saloon in Sheldon, North Dakota.
Here the link to our Patreon: / belowtheplains
We thank anyone who signs up to help us out.
Follow us on Facebook
www.facebook.c...
Follow us on Tiktok
/ belowtheplains
#antiques #mudlarking #archeology #bottledigging #antiquebottles #bottles #dumpdigging #privydigging #southdakota #treasurehunting #oldbottles #metaldetecting #ghosttown #northdakota #vintage #vintagebottles #abandoned #old #stagecoach #adventure #mudlarker #mudlark #wildwestgold #wildwest #buried #buriedtreasure

[@BelowthePlains]

Thanks everyone for watching! we are gonna be releasing some updated and combined versions of some of our videos in the coming weeks, but we are still gonna be releasing new content on the normal day(s) (Friday and Saturday) so feel free to skip if you want. We appreciate you all!

[@HalsPals]

This one was most definitely worth watching again! You deserve every one since who else would be up to their knees in --it to excavate them?

[@lisacates4185]

I think you guys do awesome,ty,I love history,am getting to old to hunt so I live threw others

[@kathydishner7691]

Love this! It is so interesting the stuff you find! All those bottles, sizes, shapes, even colors! Amazing!😮

[@davidstevens6463]

Loving your videos Tom , I can relate to this one as I’m digging a ww1 tip in the uk that’s under the water table , I was up to my waste last week working it with a scoop ; still didn’t not bottom , it was like bottle noodling , still had about 100 out 👍🏻cherrs Dave

[@Donaldperson7]

You need waiters!

[@barbarahatcher4552]

I can’t thank you enough for explaining everything to us so we can understand the history of this

[@connieholley1124]

Great age of Dakota Territory bottles, scored! You will have to post picture of pitcher glued back whole. Thanks Tom

[@Angelhorselady]

Yes, Please!!!

[@philipcallicoat3147]

Tom! Today you earned your keep your keep ! That's the nastiest one I've seen you dig... Glad you're getting rewarded with some goodies... Thanks for sharing....🙏🕊️ I don't know what the old timers were eating but, when they're crapping hutches it's worth digging them out...😂

[@pastafazul]

Please do an episode where you show cleaning of the bottles! I'm sure they look amazing.

[@BelowthePlains]

do you mean the actual process of cleaning the bottles? or the bottles all cleaned up? because if you mean the latter then, we do put the best bottles at the end of the video, during the final 20 seconds! we are thinking about putting them earlier in the video when we find them, but then we cant fit the ads in. but if you mean the former, then we are planning on making an episode where we show our whole process from start to finish. might be a few months. thanks for watching tho!

[@pastafazul]

​@@BelowthePlains I do enjoy the photos at the end and I'd love to see more of that. Including the process of cleaning and close up looks at the patinas and early glassblowing techniques. I love when you pull the stuff out of the ground but I feel a little bit disappointed when I don't see it all cleaned up and looking like new again. I can't wait to see what you have planned!

[@CajunRed]

I'd still love to buy some of the bottles that you find?? I'll pay for shipping!! Maybe some of the bottles that you have like 5-8 of!! Just a couple of old antique & intact bottles would be awesome. I wasn't allowed to dig like this at the family ranch in Nevada!!

[@krisley5178]

It's hard to believe those glass bottles stayed in tact for over a century. Very cool.

[@andrewchase7684]

Kind of makes me jealous. The thought of finding something that hadn't been known to exist a minute prior. Then going on the find several more of them in different sizes.

[@scarlillyanddaddyloveall9208]

I wish you'd show them to us cleaned up and show their value also! Either way I could watch this all day, I love American history and seeing stuff like this trying to imagine the story behind it is so much fun!

[@patriciabrown6754]

If you watch to the end, he does show a few of the bottles after they are cleaned up.

[@jamesonheche2899]

I hadn't realized that both of those pits were on the same lot. You guys always manage to find some of the best sites. Thanks for sharing

[@garyeckstein4917]

have you ever tried to plant or sprout the seeds? There might be interesting varieties of heirloom plants to discover!

[@danarandol164]

I’ve wondered the same

[@shumla7ranch]

What kind of seeds are they?

[@BigRichfrank]

I was just saying that to my wife. But I bet the stomach acid even if not digested killed the seeds . It would be absolutely worth a try!!

[@stephena.bankssr.7636]

That "lady leg" and "blob top" are both early examples of beer bottles 1870's - 80's! Love watching you dig! I lived in Upstate NY in the early 2000's and dug lots of sites myself!! That broken glass pitcher is "hobnail" glass!

[@bjellison905]

I got an old bottle dump in my back yard. Ive found native american artifacts in my field as well as some old bottles. I got a bunch ofvearly 1900s flavorings and a lot of mason jars lids with ceramic inserts. The rings are unusable but the ceramic inserts made it. A lot of bluing bottles and unlabeled corked bottles

[@BelowthePlains]

yeah! i assume you live on an old farmstead? tom grew up on one of them. the thing about places out in the country, is that they would usually have a dump site somewhere in the shelter belt or woods next to the house.. some of those places can be a total gold mine, but it all depends on the age and location.. and luck.. and yeah, those porcelain mason jar lids.. we come across so many of them.. i dont think ive ever found the pewter cap in a condition that is salvageable. but the bottles that are the good ones are usually the ones that have local embossing if you ever find any.. usually on drugstore bottles and sodas.. sometimes other things, but those are the big two.. you might find something with like "new york" or "boston" on it, and those are super common, but if you can find embossing with the name of a town nearby, (especially if its a small town) then you got something good on your hands.. collectors usually try to get a bottle from every city in their state, and so usually the bigger towns made more bottles, and they are thus a lot more common today. if you ever got any questions, you can add us on facebook and ask us. its just "below the plains" over there as well.. thanks for watching and commenting!!

[@bjellison905]

@@BelowthePlains awesome ill definitely give yall a follow. Yeah I live on an old farm. Only thing I found locally was coke bottles which still sells for like 10 bucks. Those ceramic lids are great if ya know anyone who knaps. Ive turned a few into arrowheads. Same with a lot of the broken glass. I found a glass ball made out of the same brown glass as the old clorox or beer bottles. I still havent figured out what it was for.

[@bjellison905]

@@BelowthePlains i found an intact lid today. Its bent but solid its got a few holes ate through on the shoulder

[@letdanielletellyou]

I can never get tired of you digging up the past. Lol. The only way digging up the past is amazing. Please keep doing what your doing I love it. Would be awesome to see pits all over the US. Getting permission from people who’s land has been in family’s for generations. Can’t imagine the thing you might find when owners of land can point you to all the right places. Till next time

[@BelowthePlains]

haha thank you! thats so nice! and yeah, id like to do that to.. travel across the US and get videos from each state.. im thinking we are gonna start expanding over the next year.. not sure how far we will get from north dakota, but id like to make it to both coasts at some point. well thank you for leaving us a comment and watching!!

[@letdanielletellyou]

@@BelowthePlains Of Course I’m a huge fan of what you do. So I’ll be with you when you go on the road. Signing off till next time 😉

[@outdoorinfluencer]

It’s amazing to see what’s buried in these type of places.

[@paulhenson4434]

I use to live in Leadville Co. Cool place to dig.

[@judithrapier7500]

Streator, Illinois is where my Great grandfather worked and he was a glass blower by trade. I still have family in Streator. Older relatives are all buried there. My Great grandfather's brother owned a "gin mill" , what we call a bar , there. My family is German . My Great grandparents immigrated from Germany in the 1880s.

[@joemabus3080]

I've got a lot of family there also. Was excited to hear him find stuff from there

[@GF_Burke]

Man, that's awesome. I sure would like to metal detect all that dirt that was dug up.

[@vieuxrawls923]

Be cool to see a line up of your best keepers in your collection

[@Snarkapotamus]

"we've got a floater!" he says while standing in an old outhouse pit...made me laugh!

[@MaryAnn-vl9rd]

I was born and raised in Streator, IL and every time you pull out a SB&G bottle it makes me proud! We were the glass bottling capital of the US for many years. Unfortunately, the factory is now on its last legs and the city has suffered greatly because of it.

[@jimjustice581]

☹️Sorry, my fellow(ette) American. These last ten years have been horrific on the America we grew up with.

[@charlesthevoice1064]

I remember Riding my bike by there. Lived in Streator for a while. I went to Streator High School my Freshman and sophomore year. My Uncle owned Satellite Autoparts. His name was Mark Bower. I think It's the Salvation Army Thrift Store now. Lived off of Washington and River Ave. I remember going to Oogies for burgers and Rootbeer. I think it's gone now. I 'll never forget the "rootbeer trees" they had in the front with the lights.

[@Colorado68]

"We have a floater here" 😂. Great video guys.. love the hutchinson's

[@mattsergel5704]

You guys are on fire lately. The last three videos have been some of the best. Thanks again.

[@19jake23]

Being a young man, you are very knowledgeable on old bottles. Well done friend.

[@larisarogers2649]

I really enjoy your adventures! Thank you for taking us along with you! Be blessed

[@BelowthePlains]

thank you larisa! we really appreciate that, glad you liked it!

[@jipjob1]

I own a home in Menlo Park California and we have a cistern that was used probably up until the city installed sewers and then that hole with dirt. Like you I know this must have old bottles in it. The house was built around 1890 so I’m pretty sure there are some treasures to be found! Thanks for the interesting video! Jon

[@cowboygeologist7772]

Fascinating finds. It must look weird to the locals when they drive by and see someone standing there staring at the ground with a camera, not knowing there's a hole now with a man down in it. LoL

[@jmccarty480]

Haven't gone through the hundreds of comments, so not sure if anyone has mentioned trench safety. With the amount of ground water and the type of soil you're hand digging, the possibility of a sloughing off is pretty high. Also, the risk of collapse when you're up to your waist truly warrants looking into some sort of trenching barricade. Just be safe and keep at it. Love the videos!

[@michaelschuenemann3505]

#1 Pit = Rare and Early Beers - Great Find ! Embossed Shoofly - Nobbled Milk Glass Pitcher - wow ! Embossed 1885 Druggist Bottles that You have never see - looks like this Pit was a Total Jackpot ! #2 Pit = 2 Hutch - Lucky Boys - Congrats ! Man - I enjoyed the Video very much - all that History ! Many Cheers from Australia !!!!

[@jont8707]

It's always a great day when you can say this wasn't known until today congrats on the super rare find 👍

[@BelowthePlains]

haha yeah i know.. we found 2 different sizes of them too! and im not sure if we wrote it in the video, but im pretty sure that coffin whiskey with the hotel embossing on it is either super rare, or one of a kind. thanks for watching!

[@jont8707]

@@BelowthePlains haven't got that far yet so congrats on that one too lol keep up the awesome work love watching 👍

[@BelowthePlains]

i appreciate that!

[@luanncolistro879]

This was a gross but fun old dig !! Thanks for always explaining things

[@brianjohnsen7682]

What a great day you had! Pre turn of century bottles and some rarities. Keep doing what you do, really enjoy it!👍🏻

[@BelowthePlains]

thank you!!

[@mrmchaney]

That first outhouse pit was sure nasty, soupy and muddy...yet you got some great bottles...again. Good job!

[@BelowthePlains]

yeah i know. once i saw that water in this pit i was really not wanting to dig it, especially since i found car parts toward the top, but.. once i found that bar glass at the beginning i knew it was gonna be good! thanks for watching and commenting!

[@warrenmink2429]

Awesome man , I can’t get enough of the kool glass coming out of the ground , thanks for sharing

[@reneecarter6702]

Bro I love this. It’s so nice to see other people who genuinely love old relics.

[@christhompson4270]

Wow those bottles that are the only ones around are spectacular. Congratulations on finding them. Take care and thanks for sharing 👍👏🥳❤️

[@calnative4904]

I really enjoy these videos and have always been interested in old bottles and things. I wish there was more time going over the finds after they have been cleaned up.

[@jakartajamie4880]

You guys sure do work hard, so again just thanks for just bringing us along!

[@letdanielletellyou]

I’m so excited and I just can’t hide it. I would love to be there for a dig so badly. Love getting dirty finding treasures. Ok I’m ready to watch now. Lol

[@fireballninja01]

i can’t believe how intact everything is!

[@terrencebuller7676]

Great haul Tom, thanks for sharing.Take care and be safe 👍

[@RealTechZen]

Fascinating dig that has been delightful to watch and to share.

[@monkeywentbananas]

Wow! Some great patent medicine bottles in that privy! One of the best digs I've watched!

[@wolfgangricky]

Your one of my favorite diggers on youtube. I'd respect you even more, if you took some of those rare bottles to the local town history center. You found 3 unknown drug bottles.Donating one & maybe even taking us in to see town history, on top of all the other history you share with us, would be Cool. Ty for taking us along

[@jimjustice581]

@@stubstoo6331 He needs to stop that. For all the effort he puts into it, he needs to be rewarded somehow.

[@jimj1889]

First time watching very cool. Excellent job. I worked for my dad excavating sewer and water lines Dubuque IA found some old bottles from time to time.

[@dawnhaynes7784]

That was amazing love the ironstone the shoofly flask and the small bottles

[@danielgrondin8372]

Love the two hutch bottles, I like your style of videos, always fun to watch.

[@enaidyeltneb369]

It is great to see you, Tom, coming out of your shell and showing how excited your passion makes you feel. Keep digging! Any chance you leave your comfort zone and come West?

[@susanaskjem9623]

He goes all over☮️❤️☮️

[@karendavis7988]

Enjoyed it a lot! Thank you for the trip through history.

[@jamestravenetti7970]

I havnt done this in over 40 yrs, but back in the 70s in michigan we used to go out to sugar island at the mouth of the detroit river and hunt for old bottles. There used to be an amusement park there in the 20s and a bottle and trash dump on the southeast corner of the island. We got lots of "blobtops" and medicine bottles out of there. If your'e lucky, you might find anold poison bottle. You cant go there anymore its off limits, state owned property and wetlands rules. But lots of childhood memories!

[@BelowthePlains]

oh wow that sounds awesome! thats too bad you cant go there anymore, it sonds like a goldmine! im hoping to get out to michigan sometime in the future and get a few videos in there, ive heard good things about the digging out there! well thanks for watching

[@tommychew6544]

That was a great one, the older ones are always special to see. My mind goes to what I think of the history of the time period, I guess can only imagine really, thanks for the journey these pit's take my imagination thru!

[@MrMattDat]

You continue to find some of the coolest pieces of history and your knowledge of this stuff is very impressive.

[@twindiggersminnesotapamandpat]

Pretty awesome Tom when you can pull four pharmacy bottles that were thought to be non existent. A nasty mucky dig, but you have found some great history. 👏👍😀

[@MrBobbybrus]

You have the makings of a fine outhouse. Well done.

[@jimjustice581]

When you get excited about a bottle, I know you’ve hit a home run! Please tell me you keep some of these👌. Thanks for your persistence in seeking these mementos of our past, and for sharing your knowledge with us.

[@carolynsimone8647]

Amazing finds even in water...so glad you found the Hutches...🥰🥰

[@toadelevator]

I can't believe so many intact bottles are there!

[@Nomad_exploration_vlogger]

Amazing the tuff you dig up dude, well done. Shout Out from South Africa 😎

[@manderson3231]

The broken pitcher looks like very early Hobnail Opalescent glass but I'm not sure who the maker is. Congratulations on the great finds!!

[@BelowthePlains]

thank you! yeah, those things are just so cool, we found 99% of it, but one tiny little piece was missing, we dug thru the muck, but couldnt find it.. i always think that stuff looks like something from hippy era! its seems so out of place. thanks for watching!

[@chrisknauss6727]

Great dig. You are a very committed and hard worker, mate.

[@jeremybrown5117]

I have always been told. “You won’t find anything sitting on the couch.”

[@BelowthePlains]

haha yeah i suppose thats true! but! you cant always watch us find stuff when you ARE sitting on the couch! thanks for watching and commenting!

[@americanazheck]

Years ago I dug privies in Philadelphia with some real bottle experts. Aside from the hard work, it was so exciting to dig a bottle from the 1800s

[@clidemorrow8786]

I remember this one. Such a great find

[@cobaltpaul]

I love every one of your digs! Great stuff

[@staylor5687]

That bubble glass container reminds me of the same style of catch-all containers I would see in my parents and grandparents homes. Some were glasses for drinking, some were used for planters, and some just for anything else you wanted to use them for like loose change out of your pockets. I had no idea that the style dated further back than my grandparents.

[@CuttingEdgetools]

What a Haul👍Congrats Boys. Fun to watch. Thanks for the Journey 🇺🇸 I Subscribed!

[@clinteastwood5718]

I found an early nineteen-hundreds dump site where we found a lot of bitters bottles as well as a pocket watch and some very old cans. I also found a large harbor seal femur bone which is strange because we are pretty far from the ocean.

[@mauriceclark4870]

These places where he digs are. Out door toilets. Outhouses. All the. White lime. Is the. Neutralise. Smells etc. Make good. Dumping ground for bottles. !!!!!

[@kevingriggs4249]

We used to dig the backwoods garbage pits for bottles. I wouldn't mind seeing the bottles all clean up, the thing about glass is it doesn't rot.

[@jeffclark2725]

Just found this video, thumbs up, thanks for bringing us along, the treasures you find

[@Thingumybob_C64]

I've gone down a lot of rabbit holes watching KZbin, this is the first time I've ever gone down an outhouse hole!

[@affectionatelyyours]

I just stumbled upon this video while watching metal detecting! I live in the next town over from Sheldon!! It makes me want to go see if there's anything left, haha! Great video! Thank you!

[@danarandol164]

That pitcher would have been so beautiful in its day….and the embossed flask is stunning!

[@danielsmith9500]

Congratulations 🎊🎈🎉. Dang I’m not even there and I’m like omg and I’m so excited to see what u pull out next ! And I subbed. Love watching history!!!

[@BelowthePlains]

well thank you! i really appreciate that! glad you found the channel!!!

[@johnlord8337]

Fargo Bottling Works ND (hutch bottle) - only 2 variants known - in aqua and clear William Huppler ND - only 1 CLEAR variant known - you have the ONLY KNOWN aqua variant (!) - SHELFER !!

[@ranielson2854]

Thanks a million for sharing your wonderful experience in digging up all of these historical fascinating Bottles!! I have a question for you! Do you ever go through the soil that you have removed with a metal detector to see if there is any gold or silver coins in the dirt, before you fill the hole back in? Just wondering? I think you may be surprised that you might find something more than awesome bottles. You may even come across some gold/silver jewelry or nuggets in the process that fell out of someone’s pocket or off of their fingers? Please let me know! Thanks again for sharing your wonderful videos on KZbin!

[@BelowthePlains]

yeah, we used to do that, and we also had a guy who would come with us and he would detect it.. found a lot of rusted nails and some pennies. but sometimes the rusted cans will turn to dust, and then when you detect the dirt it just beeps the whole time and you cant really get a great reading on anything because its just all background noise.. but when we dig a really old site, (especially if there were soldiers there) we will usually invite people out and let them detect. and theyve found some cool stuff before. brass buttons, and one time a cavalryman's cap spike.. it looked like one of those WWI german helmet spikes, but i guess the american military had some guys who had that too. but we kinda just quit detecting because the filming took up a ton of extra time and space in the vehicle, and we quit using it. but we get asked that a lot actually. and we are thinking about getting a better quality one.. bc on a long enough time span, you are gonna find some good stuff. and thank you for watching, glad you like the channel!

[@letter2steve]

Cool channel dude. Glad I found it. It's pretty impressive how you are able to so quickly recognize items from the past.

[@petesuntrup2095]

You hit a home run there Tom! Great finds, nice video

[@BelowthePlains]

thank you!!

[@JillUdart]

Congratulations! that find from the Commercial Hotel was awesome!!

[@barbaramontgomery5615]

Wow, the oldest place that I have been in was Montana at the miles from Little bighorn. So all I can say is wow 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@sandy81054]

That ruffled top glass piece you found is opalescent moonstone hobnail. Many companies made them but I'm sure yours is a very old one could be Fenton Glass company

[@sid2112]

I imagine the 2380's when people are digging through the old landfills finding Yoda action figures and commenting on how quaint the artistry was.

[@smspiwak1956]

I was wondering what got you guys interested in digging up old artifacts around the U.S. I am hooked on your videos!

[@BelowthePlains]

haha well thats great to hear! umm. well i guess tom got started when he moved to an old farmstead and he was bored one day and he was exploring his shelter belt and he started finding bottles, and then later he found a dip in his yard that turned out to be the old outhouse pit.. i didnt know him til we were like 19 but.. after a few years, maybe when we were mid 20s he asked me to help him come help him dig, and i agreed, and then when he started finding all these bottles, it kinda blew my mind. and i was hooked too! thanks for watching!

[@carolynbenjamin6578]

My LORD I thought I would die when you stuck your hands in that mess. You are dedicated I have to say but I'm a retired RN supervisor Trauma Nurse Specialist and you got to protect yourself lol

[@zeeeena]

Looks like it could be a Fenton opalescent hobnail pitcher. Gorgeous

[@jjdjj5392]

Wow! You really know your historical stuff! Thankyou! Very interesting video! 😊

[@alisonmary1443]

Excellent finds, did this dig uncover some of the oldest bottles? I cant recall seeing tops like the F.B.W FARDS and HUPPLER bottles before, beautiful shapes. Commercial Hotel Chicago, speechless! 😂Thank you both, out in all weathers, fantastic team work.

[@user-pf1nn8lr6p]

Hello Sweetie Pie. I'm from Bishopville, South Carolina; and I have just found your site. I will being keeping up with you.

[@dune1221]

That was really fun watching you dig that pit

[@VolcanoTimeLapse]

Wow love the drugstore bottles! Great job!

[@scottscouter1065]

DAMN...that water table is SHALLOW!

[@sandy81054]

Lots of nice bottles in pristine condition!

[@hearsejr]

I noticed some bubbles as you removed a busted glass or bottle fragments... Just think thinking that it's air from around the 1890s! Lol

[@timconnell4581]

Tom, it's worth every bit of work....at least from where I'm sitting😮

[@jayham1970]

The Dakota Territory bottles were awesome finds.

[@soonzach4017]

Loving your videos Tom.

[@nofool3258]

When I was a kid I randomly starting digging in my yard and found a glass jar with baby turtles in it, that disintegrated when I poked them. No treasures 😢 sadly.

[@kcflashbax]

That hobnail pitcher is amazing!

[@deloradeabel8487]

Wow!What an exciting ,fun dig!”❤”

[@jorahmormont1154]

I dont think I have ever seen one of those "shoofly" bottles embossed before. thats something special right there

[@swpo1]

A mini generator and maybe a little pond pump might come in handy on situations such as these. Very small investment. Might save a pair of gloves or two. Lol. Great video.

[@tommygun6028]

Looks like You got to spring Water....lol UNBELIEVABLE what You found!!!!! They sure drunk lots of Beer at the times

[@kitrichardson2165]

Not being a glass collector myself I would be very curious about the value of these pieces are -very interesting irregardless

[@eire711]

Rare and desirable bottles can easily sell into the thousands. That is not a quote on any of these particular bottles. Just generally speaking.