Digging up Buried Treasure in a Ghost Town

[@MrSpock002]

Dang brother, had to be one of your most laborious digs to date, maybe ever?? You guys have got me doing research down here in the Florida Panhandle, Southern Alabama area. Am retired and need something to keep me busy and in shape during cooler months!!

[@BelowthePlains]

Sorry about the error on the end screen! we were in a rush to get this one out and we diidnt have time to fix it! thanks for watching

[@Ccollector24]

great video as always!

[@MamaBear1973]

This type of treasure hunting you do is so interesting! Thanks for sharing 👍😁

[@philipcallicoat3147]

There's nobody else in this genre on you tube that can't hold a candle to you and your expertise research and finding the gold mines of the rare and unusual bottles you keep digging up... You're by far the best!!!

[@TheNobleMarriage]

Loving your videos. Just found you today and I’m on my 3rd video now. Have you considered going to Cerro Gordo and digging there and collaborating with Brent and his KZbin channel? Also I love the knowledge and insight when you put the text at the top of the screen! I would love if the font were a bit larger if possible? Thank you for making these. You do an excellent job.

[@reidxl5]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/iHO9oWWDittrbLM

[@BulletsandButtons]

Another great dig guys. You are bringing the history of the Dakotas to our living rooms in an amazing way. Thanks for bringing us along and sharing your dives below the surface. Dig on!!

[@BelowthePlains]

well we appreciate you watching and leaving us a comment!

[@twindiggersminnesotapamandpat]

Tom and Jake, great locations and nice finds. You work so hard digging and the probing to find the privies. We learn so much from you about the age of the bottles. Take care.

[@BelowthePlains]

haha well we appreciate you leaving us a comment! glad we could be informative. you take care too

[@soonzach4017]

Always enjoy watching your videos, great job.

[@rebecar-g7631]

Hello guys, Always enjoy watching your videos and seeing your finds. Great job!

[@BelowthePlains]

well thanks! we appreciate you leaving us a comment! if you ever have any suggestions, dont hesitate to let us know. thanks for watching

[@lisacates4185]

Love your digs,ty👏👏👏 digging with sticks in the outhouse holes,smart!!

[@idaho2ndgens240]

Some pretty good finds, especially the horse radish bottle. That is amazing. I enjoy your videos, especially the history of the Dakota's.

[@BelowthePlains]

yeah.. that thing was unusual.. hence the thumbnail.. well we are glad you enjoy our videos, and we appreciate you leaving us a comment

[@debraporch7888]

Tom and Jake , Thanks for taking us along on your journey, I truly appreciate it. I really likes the horseradish bottle. I like it when we see bottles that we normally don't. Don't get me wrong I do love the beers, sodas and liquor but it nice to see bottles that are more personal that shows more than what they drink. Keep up the fantastic work I've enjoyed all of your videos. I like them even more when you're when you start new in 2022. Take care and stay safe. ✌

[@BelowthePlains]

haha well i got good news for you. that video was filmed a week ago, and we rushed to get it out! thats the first pits we dug this year.. we actually dug like 5 other pits but we only found broken stuff or really moderns stuff so we decided not to add it.. it just wasnt very thrilling.. kind of scare stuff in that town, so thats why we decided to combine them into one long video.. and yeah, that horseradish bottle is super cool. neither of us had ever seen that thing before.. and yeah, we are glad you like the videos, and hopefully you could live vicariously thru our videos for awhile.. its always great to hear people appreciate what we do, bc digging and making videos is.. exhasting.. anyways! thanks for watching, and as always, thanks for commenting! take care

[@jeffclark2725]

Well said, a lot of glas containers found in the Dakota area there

[@enduringhope6859]

Enjoyed the compilation of so many digs!

[@BelowthePlains]

yeah.. we had to combine them, bc they werent great enough to stand alone.. but we are glad you liked it. Thanks for the comment! we really appreciate it

[@timjozwiak2293]

Always excited on what you will find next!!!

[@glennmurphy1820]

Your vids are the best,Entertaining and educational.Love how you start with the history.

[@BelowthePlains]

haha yeah well we decided that the history has to go at the beginning to add context.. it just kinda sets the scene.. even if it means people watch the first couple minutes and mistakenly think that our videos are just a slideshow and then quit watching before we get into the actual digging.. but we feel its crucial to the videos so.. but we're glad you enjoy the history, and the videos! thanks for leaving such a nice comment!

[@shepherd4406]

Thanks for taking us along. Hello from Wyoming.

[@BelowthePlains]

hello wyoming! well we are happy to take you along! thanks for leaving us a comment

[@kimblackketter1565]

I appreciate you showing the bottles cleaned

[@BelowthePlains]

haha yeah.. we are gonna do that from now on.. we have a few other videos that we shot awhile back, so all the new videos are gonna show the best bottles cleaned up.. we actually had a professions photographer create our set-up to photograph the bottles.. round glass is notoriously difficult to photograph

[@kimblackketter1565]

Thank you for going the extra mile, not much traffic.

[@ТусовкисМедведьевичем]

Beautiful ❤️❤️❤️ video!)😊 My Big Like!!!

[@BelowthePlains]

hahaha we really appreciate it! thanks for the comment!

[@patrickaussieMilartry]

I'm from Australia WESTERN AUSTRALIA and live in a small town. Population is about 2,700. I totally love your show. I have some bottles from 1875 a decade before the town was declared or founded. I'd love to send you a couple glass bottles from this region as I love your passion and it would be unique for you lads to have something from Australia. Anyways keep up the great work. Cheers Patrick.

[@BelowthePlains]

ahh thank you! always so cool to hear from someone outside the U.S and Canada. wow i dont know a single thing about aussie bottles. but 1875 is good for america, and america was a manufacturing powerhouse in the 19th century.. and australia probably didnt have as much infrastructure back then, so those bottles have gotta be pretty good.. and possibly rare. wow. i mean i would totally love to have those bottles, especially if they have local embossing on them. wouldnt want to trouble you tho.. but if you're serious just message me in a new comment instead of hitting "reply" under this message.. for some reason i can only see new comments, and when people hit reply, i can only see it if i look at my comments on a different account.. its pretty dumb and annoying. so think it over, and then send me a message in a new comment on whatever is our most recent video.. thats very kind. thank you. and thanks for watching. have a great day

[@saraanddarrinmoneer3696]

Another GREAT vid Tom

[@BelowthePlains]

well thank you! and thanks for leaving us a comment again!

[@JUNEYMOON9881]

Thank you!!! For the new video I love it

[@snarky_user]

Forestburg was a major wood and watering site for the railroad during the stream era, located at the junction of Sandhill Creek and the James River. The water availability and sandy soils also made Forestburg regionally famous for the many melon farms in the area..In the days when the South Dakota State Fair was held during melon season, the sides of the highway were heavily populated with melon stands. Today, many of them all sit there in ruins. Ruskin Park was more like a fair site, there was a auditorium, horse track, and many other amusement facilities. If I recall, it was just north of town. Parts of the track can still be seen on Google Maps. There could be some great dig sites up there.

[@BelowthePlains]

haha yeah we know! the town was very proud about their melon patches.. i guess they are some of the best places to get melons in the country.. yeah we did look into ruskin park.. we really dont know a whole lot about it tho.. other than is mostly a field now. we were thinking of going over there, since it was like a mile away from forestburg, but we had a bunch of pits to dig.. most of them were modern trash pits, and we had to cut them out. But thanks for leaving us a comment! It always kind of blows me away when someone already knows about the little places that we go to. thanks for watching

[@snarky_user]

@@BelowthePlains the last 45 years or so, I've been all about South Dakota's little places. I think I've been on almost every public road in the state south of US 212.

[@danreed7889]

When I googled Forestburg, nothing but melons came up. Might be worth a trip one day.

[@allenbunge817]

​Doris Day

[@jerryblum277]

That red swirl pattern knob you guys dug is cool and I dug one that is teal swirl!

[@BelowthePlains]

yeah it was pretty unusual

[@timco7036]

im wondering if that would be a gearshift knob. wasn't too deep.late 30s 40s

[@JUNEYMOON9881]

I guess it was new to me . You guys are the best.

[@JamesWestAZ]

Some interesting finds guys. Those bottles cleaned up really nice. Shame that pitcher and crock bowl wasn't intact. Those would have been awesome. My Grandmother had a lot of those old bowls. Used them for making bread dough, pickles, etc. I actually still have a few of them yet today. Yeah, they like me. OLD........ LOL Great video Tom. Loved it.

[@BelowthePlains]

haha yeah those crocks are always broken.. except in some pits we will find like 5 unbroken ones.. its weird that whenever we find them intact, we usually find a few.. the redwing ones are the best, theyre from redwing minnesota, and they go for a ton of money.. if we find one broken we will keep all the pieces and glue it back together.. not really worth anything broken, but they looks so good.. well thanks for compliment. were glad you liked the video!

[@dyannejohnson6184]

That pitcher took my breath away…holding my breath that it was whole!

[@davidhermiz9705]

👍 Amazing work🙏

[@inkdemon64mclemore57]

I found your post on reddit and immediately got on KZbin to find you! I absolutely love stuff like this!! Love the historical facts!! Can't wait to see more!!!

[@BelowthePlains]

hell yeah dude! thank you! enjoy, dont hesitate to leave a comment and if you like what you see, smash that like button

[@cferguson3368]

That is an incredible tree!

[@BelowthePlains]

yeah and in that picture of the depot at the beginning it wasnt even there.. that picture was taken in 1912, so that tree is only 110 years old at the absolute oldest.. i woulda guessed it was pushing 200 years, which is about the average full lifespan of an eastern cottonwood.. thanks for watching!

[@bobbyloblaw9794]

What do you guys do with all of the loot? Sell it to collectors? Or do you just have a massive collection? I could see how some people would love to get their hands on some of this stuff. Also, I think it would be cool to see a time lapse of one of the digs. Would also love to see the loot after it’s been cleaned up!

[@BelowthePlains]

yeah were starting to put cleaned up images at the end of our videos.. we should have done it sooner.. well most of it we give to the homeowner or the local historic society.. sometimes we rebury some stuff if no one wants it.. i wish i could save everything but theres no realistic way i can house everything we find.. we occasionally sell some stuff, but mostly we just keep the bottlers we find.. sometimes trade them

[@LeeMajore-m9g]

I love your videos😊

[@dawnhaynes7784]

Love yalls videos guys

[@georgiaware3248]

Awesome 👍

[@BelowthePlains]

thank you

[@PaintedTurtle001]

Nice finds! 👍

[@BelowthePlains]

thank you! thanks for leaving us a comment

[@clidemorrow8786]

You guys make such good quality videos

[@BelowthePlains]

thank you! thats awesome to hear

[@jerryblum277]

Great video!

[@BelowthePlains]

well we appreciate you checking it out!

[@gmg9010]

The plains have so much history

[@BelowthePlains]

yeah i know.. i didnt really appreciate it when i was growing up.. i always thought europe and the middle east had the really cool history and ours was just kinda boring.. but the more i find out the more surprised i am at how fast some of these places popped up and disappeared..

[@ValerieDee123]

Hello Jake! I have a question. Everyone says dressing sauce. What types where there? Thank you for taking us on several adventures! As always I'm interested in the seeds!

[@BelowthePlains]

well that green bottle at the very end was horseradish.. idk if i put that in the video or not.. tom and i were actually debating one what to put as the title for those two other bottles.. oh and i have some good news for you about the seeds.. i have a cup full of dirt, loaded with seeds.. ill get a little more over the next few days, and ill go thru it with a tweezers and get as many as i can.. did you want me email address so i can get ur contact info? i can probably sends it to you before friday.. ill just put them in an envelope

[@treasurehuntingscotlandmud9340]

Well done on the finds

[@BelowthePlains]

Thanks!

[@Barnswallow262]

The horse radish is a great colour.

[@BelowthePlains]

oh yeah i know.. i had never even seen that bottle before

[@kellyjones3311]

I am new to the channel and enjoying so much. 1-why do you mostly leave the ground water in the bottles? 2-at prospect place you found vet med bottles with a horse. Can I buy one of them? Yr working hard be safe. Miami, FL

[@DavidJones-smiley]

I’m trying to catch up on all your videos . You do great film work

[@lizmbrad]

That red and white tging you called a marble is an old gear shift knob for a car I would bet. Probably worth a fair bit I would bet. Great video guys!

[@BelowthePlains]

yeah thats what we were thinking.. we knew it wasnt a marble by the time we finished filming that scene.. yeah its either a gear knob or a cane topper.. but thanks for letting us know! and also thanks for watching

[@Bonniejc]

You videos are very interesting. So you sell any of the items you find?

[@lukependleton2589]

Thanks so much for another adventure! Maybe I've missed them in the previous videos but noticed the term shoofly? Bottle. The other bottle terms I hear you use either make sense or just are used enough I don't question. It's just me maybe but a video explaining the terms and what different bottles are would be very interesting. If that wouldn't be giving to much information away from what you do. Either way thank you very much for sharing. Please keep making them.

[@shakascloset1700]

Awaken to snow in Ohio, so gloomy. Glad this video raised my spirit.👍🤘

[@BelowthePlains]

haha i know how you feel, up in north dakota the snow had just melted.. then we got a foot of snow.. so we just went south a few days ago, bc its gonna been a few weeks until conditions are good enough to dig up there.. well im glad we could lift your spirits for awhile.. summers just around the corner. thanks for the comment!

[@MaggieG121]

I really enjoy seeing all that you unearth, but I still want to know what you do with all the bottles! Do you sell them? Put the in a museum? Trade with other diggeers? One day I'll get an answer, I hope!

[@mampasalaurie293]

How do you locate the old latrines? My property was built as a CP Hotel around 1890. There must be an outhouse pit somewhere on the property. Is love to locate it.

[@wadepoole-ff4cr]

I live in brooksville Florida I have a pit in my yard lined with some kind of clay that measures approximately 8x8 I have found old glass and shot gun shells dating to early 1900s when clearing to build we found old pillars from a foundation but theres no record of there being a structure on the property what do you think the pit was for.

[@BelowthePlains]

8x8 is pretty darn big. it COULD be a privy maybe from some establishment that used to be there? but if it was just a house, then thats kind of a big pit. could be an ash dump tho. sometimes they would just dig a hole and throw ash and other trash in it. really hard to say. i have no experience digging in florida or even anywhere in the south. but i image you guys have a high water table? ive dug pits in texas and kansas, and ive noticed that they were fairly shallow, compared to what you would find in the upper midwest. the only way to find out for sure is to dig it up! could be some high value pieces in there. good luck. sorry i couldnt be more helpful

[@mrmchaney]

That was nice that the town allowed you to dig anywhere you wanted. I wouldn't have thought that to be the case. So did they want any of the items you dug up in return?

[@BelowthePlains]

no.. we didnt really find that much.. usually the homeowners dont want anything.. theyre always such nice people, everywhere we go.. at the last pit, the guy actually had his family there, and they were just the nicest people on the planet.. it actually makes me kinda sad to meet all these great people and get along with them, and then when we leave i know ill probably never see them again.. anyways! thanks for watching

[@bruceritchie4382]

Which ones older, woodside privies or stone or brick? That colored looking ball with the hole may have been for a shift. Thanks for bringing me along. Bottle in the hole

[@BelowthePlains]

well none is necessarily older.. typically i would say stone is older, and then wood and then brick, but it really all just depended on what they had on hand.. and if they were wealthy, they could have had a super early brick lined it.. hope that helped.. yeah and about that ball.. we were actually saying that.. but looked up glass cain toppers and we found one that looked like it, so we just kind of assumed.. but yeah, that was our second guess

[@BelowthePlains]

oh and thanks for leaving us a comment and watching!

[@jimmieloge575]

Just a question: seems like the wind is always blowing REALLY HARD where you guys dig? Does it blow that hard???

[@Kelly-tj8xv]

You should see if they'll allow you to excavate in Tombstone, Arizona.

[@kaolinwasher]

nice when small town people dont get bent out of shape about your digging,

[@BelowthePlains]

haha yeah i know.. they almost always let us dig.. just strangers who show up and knock on their door.. its really surprising how nice people are.. up here anyways.. always good, kind people everywhere we go. it honestly restored my faith in humanity

[@alanatolstad4824]

You seem so serene on-site. Is there anything that tests your resolve?---Being a nurse, nothing has disturbed me at any of the sites I've watched. But, for an unknown reason, that shoe heel gave me the creeps.

[@chezpoisson6]

Found you through reddit, cool channel! Have you ever tried to germinate the seeds you find?

[@BelowthePlains]

no, but someone asked us for some, and we were planning on sending some.. but someone once told tom that the spot where he dug started popping up tomato plants a few months later

[@brentmiddlebrooks8422]

A metal detector on the old board walk would most likely reveal some nice relics

[@bouncerslabrealnature9143]

That is a pottery dough or utility bowl , not a bean pot. 👍😎

[@BelowthePlains]

haha well thank you for the correction.. bean pot is just kind of a catch all term that we use for some of the pottery.. but we really do appreciate any correction

[@joycemusgrave161]

Pop's here looks like you need to expand the hole as you are undercutting the wall.

[@ISCDesignArchitect]

on a cold day digging down in a use layer..:)

[@BelowthePlains]

lol yep. thanks for watching

[@deborahbaker4770]

So besides what a outhouse is used for they also threw bottles in them ? I hear you say ground water is in the bottle’s is there a meaning in ground water being in a bottle ?

[@claymonsterpottery]

Ever wondered if any of those seeds would grow?

[@toddfrymire6265]

how do you determine where to dig, with prods?, and if so you must be able how to tell the diff. between glass and rock, please correct me if im wrong

[@margaretmoffitt6987]

Do you throw the brokens ones back in the hole ?

[@BelowthePlains]

yeah, we typically lay them on the bottom, and cover them with dirt.. sometimes we even bury the unbroken ones if they are just common bottles. we always try to make sure anything we put back survives. thanks for watching!

[@skylights2379]

Do you fill those holes back in for the safety of others ?

[@marydean6410]

How do you think water gets into the bottles you find?

[@jenpaki1709]

Living this.

[@katrina4013]

Are there any dangers to digging in old privies, like bacteria or cave ins?

[@thomaslockwood8870]

Man that Calverts was nasty. I couldn't dig those big holes. Too old. Bad knees, hips. Plus not motivated. You guys can probably eat whatever you want. You burn it off. Like your vids man!

[@mikelattimer7909]

You ever find any old traps in your travels?

[@debramiller9285]

If you ever find one from Ferney or Wecota South Dakota could I have it please?

[@cferguson3368]

Maybe the crock bean pot was a crock mixing bowl?

[@BelowthePlains]

yeah, thats what we were thinking.. we just usually put down bean pot.. yeah pretty much the same thing.. egg beater crock or something

[@lsxtmt4910]

That's a shifter knob hot rod stuff from the forties or fifties

[@nunosantos1753]

How do you know the right place to dig?

[@ChillsTV]

How do you know where to dig

[@BelowthePlains]

so we find an old property, something that was there at least 100 years ago, but 120 or more would probably be preferable.. then we go to the backyard and look for low spots, sometimes the ground settles over a pit and theres a dip somewhere in the back yard. then we probe that spot, and the entire back yard.. we do this in rows, back and forth probing a hole about every 2 feet until we get to the other end of the yard, then work our way back, about 2 feet away from the previous line.. we go until we hear a distinct crunch sound.. thats the ash at the top of the pit, usually buried between 1 and 2 feet down, but sometimes more.. they would top the pits off with ashes bc the lye in the ash would help break down the waste inside.. this ash layer will be anywhere from a few feet to a few inches thick, then below that ash, the ground is notably softer then the ground that hasnt been disturbed.. the probe rod should almost sink in with just a little pressure.. then once we have found it, we probe around until we find the edges of the pit until we know where the outline of the hole is.. hope that helps!

[@dyannejohnson6184]

This sounds like it’s going to beinteresting

[@afterthought72]

What is the oldest intact thing you have ever found ? What do you do with the stuff you dig up, Historical Society or keep them or sell them ?

[@andrewgarton7679]

What becomes of all the bottles etc… you find?

[@BelowthePlains]

well sometimes we donate the bulk to museums, antique shops, and local historic societies.. we only keep a few, bc theres no way we can possibly house all the bottles we find.. if the homeowner or landlord wants them we give them to them too.. thanks for the comment

[@joshink]

@@BelowthePlains Is there a way to buy any of them from you? I'd love to have some authentic prohibition era bottles!

[@c.t.murray3632]

Would be interesting if you had a metal detector and a pin pointer in case you want to find some coins.

[@Tealtra]

Worth a shot right.

[@BelowthePlains]

haha yeah!

[@johnshackelford6965]

Havre Montana VA sandwich stop

[@PigBenis69420]

Hi

[@BelowthePlains]

hi! thanks for leaving a comment!

[@ritahall8653]

Not much this time

[@ChillsTV]

Use gloves man your looking for a old shitter

[@BelowthePlains]

lol

[@andygulick6085]

always impressed with the lengths you guys go to. hard core. you sell bottles? i'm into inks

[@whatdoidonow8870]

Do you have an Instagram or Facebook account? I would like to pick your ear about how you got into this type of searching and how I may do it in my area.

[@lesliecraig4935]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@BelowthePlains]

lol thanks!