If You Live in an Old House, There's Something You Should Know...

Excavating 3 outhouse pits from the oldest house in Dazey, North Dakota. The Larson House.
#dumpdigging #antiquebottles #bottledigging #ghosttowns #treasurehunting #bottles #antiques #wildwildwest #metaldetecting #northdakota #southdakota #privydigging

[@alanatolstad4824]

I've met Lula...when I was a kid, tagging along with Grandma! She & one of her two brothers never married. She taught piano, & played the organ at the Lutheran Church. She eventually had to move to the nursing home in Valley City, where she continued to play piano for the residents up until she died in 1976.---So strange to see you fellas digging in her yard...

[@philipcallicoat3801]

In the mid,70's I was living in Bemidji Mn.The only work I could find was in Grand Forks,ND.. I made it through the spring, summer and most of the Fall... When winter arrived, I had to go south.. My best memories were the wonderful fishing and the huge virgin timber in the woods around the country I was living in.. Circumstances kept me away but, I'll always remember that beautiful area... Thanks for your posts and the memories of all those wonderful wildlife and great people.. Most of them were Scandinavian.. Hard work and lots of great food....😋 Good job on the finds.. Be Blessed 🌹🙏☝️

[@BelowthePlains]

well thanks for commenting. yeah every time i meet someone from out of state up here in the dakotas, theres always one thing i hear over and over again. "the people up here are so nice" ..which i guess i never realized myself until i went out of state for an extended period of time. yeah bemedji is only like an hour away from where i live, so ive been there a bunch. totally different landscape than the dakotas, which are mostly flat in my area. but bemedji has those hills and forests that just stretch on for miles and miles.. really scenic place.. and theres littles lakes pretty much everywhere you go. thanks for watching our videos, im glad we could give you a trip down memory lane. take care

[@fishinwidow35]

A great-great uncle of mine was an early settler of Bemidji. He got a grant of land instead of a pension for serving in the Civil War. He came from Northern Maine and was Scottish descent.

[@debraporch7888]

Tom and Jake, It is so fascinating that by digging in someone's garbage pit or privy that you can tell how a person lived. The bottles tell everything about whose life they are digging. I sure appreciate you guys for the job you do and it's back breaking work. It's amazing all the history that has been dug up. Take care guys and stay safe.✌

[@BelowthePlains]

well we really appreciate you watching. we really do hope people enjoy watching, and its always good to get that reassurance that people actually like what we do. thanks for commenting!

[@tammyaskjem9871]

Your digs r so interesting! It’s like I’m on the dig with u!! Thanks and looking forward to the next vid !

[@grantstockland2499]

My father put that green tin on that roof. I don’t live far from dazey, really sweet finds!

[@BelowthePlains]

oh wow, its always crazy when people comment on our video and have been to the places that we have dug at before. its funny you talk about the roof, bc we both actually do roofing, and we always talk to each other about the roofs of the buildings that we dig at. the shape of the roof is always a good indicator of the age of the building, they actually seem to get more elaborate the further you go back in time... anyways.. thanks for watching, and commenting!

[@Flyingpies1]

What an amazing haul! So much history behind everything you found. My favourite part of digging for relics, be they glass or metal, is the history of the people who lost or threw away these pieces that had little to no value in their time. Today they have so much historical and sometimes monetary value.

[@oldfordcarsandtrucks]

Tom, your a frickin walking encyclopedia! lol. Nice job fellas!

[@BelowthePlains]

haha, thanks.. i guess it just comes with the territory after doing this for so long.. thanks for watching!

[@Tealtra]

Well Tom another dig and a few keepers. Love your videos and how you present the history you find. Great job guys.👍

[@BelowthePlains]

thanks for watching, and thanks for commenting! glad you enjoyed

[@patg6705]

Those square nails are awesome!!

[@BelowthePlains]

yeah, theyre always a good sign of somewhere pretty old. so when we see them we know we're in the right spot.. they also just look cool. very crude, handmade.. they look like mini stakes

[@dawnhaynes7784]

Enjoyed the video thanks for taking us along love the iron horse 🐎 😀

[@twindiggersminnesotapamandpat]

Great research, nice to see the home still remains. Great finds Tom.

[@BelowthePlains]

yeah, it was the first house in the town too. it was 4 really loaded pits with alot of cool things in them, i just wish i had recorded more

[@countesscable]

Those cast iron horse was the star! I’d love to see it cleaned up😍

[@willong1000]

The historical anecdotes and particularly the old photographs that "go with" them add a lot of interest to your videos for this old fart.

[@dannybell926]

Good video man... you should do a video showing your bottle collection!

[@lukependleton2589]

Thank you for another interesting video and dig.

[@BelowthePlains]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@ValerieDee123]

Loved the wallpaper! I'm shocked it was intact. As always love those heirloom seeds!!!!

[@BelowthePlains]

lol. im working on gathering you some, should be able to get an envelopes worth by the end of the week, just hit me up in the comments of our next video, and ill get you an email address you can contact me on, and we can figure it out from there

[@treasurehuntingscotlandmud9340]

Great lovely old bottles well Done

[@BelowthePlains]

thanks!

[@colecariveau3825]

Pretty cool

[@BelowthePlains]

thanks

[@jamiedurkin7755]

Well done guys I could watch ur videos all day but I would rather be there in person tho so ty.

[@BelowthePlains]

haha yeah its a little more fun in person, but its usually a TON of digging and just a few short periods of finding stuff! well im glad you like the videos! be sure to follow us on facebook, its just "below the plains" thanks for watching

[@jerrysadventures8952]

all of your videos are good thanks

[@shakascloset1700]

Great video again. 👍

[@BelowthePlains]

thanks for posting!

[@saraanddarrinmoneer3696]

Another interesting vid GUYS Thank you

[@BelowthePlains]

haha thanks for watching

[@chriscourson2824]

I love your videos!

[@BelowthePlains]

haha that awesome! that makes me really happy when i hear that, and we are really glad you liked our work! thank you for leaving a comment, its helps the channel grow and its really great to get some validation. thank you

[@jerryblum277]

Great video Tom!

[@BelowthePlains]

Thanks!

[@TheYammerHammer]

awesomeness

[@BelowthePlains]

haha thanks

[@momtrips6783]

great finds!

[@BelowthePlains]

Thanks for watching!

[@johnsnow6586]

Wow, that much stuff just sitting in the ground for over a century. Kinda crazy to think about

[@BelowthePlains]

oh i know! thanks for the comment

[@lesliecraig4935]

👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@BelowthePlains]

thanks

[@heather1667]

Do you have a link where we can purchase any of the things you find ? Also have you ever done a video showing what the items look like after there cleaned ?

[@megalou6567]

How does all that stuff get in the ground and buried ?

[@maquensiebender]

How do you know where to dig?

[@BelowthePlains]

well first of all we need to find the actual geographic location by doing research on old sites.. picking a town that has the right age, and seaching google earth to see what the town looks like today, to make sure its not all torn up from new construction or cemented over.. then we pick the actual lot by looking at old fire insurance maps to see what structures were on which lots, and try pick a location that would have had alot of traffic.. and then once we get to the site, we look for an impression in the ground or where the grass is growing a little better than the other places.. the ground tends to be softer and better nourished than just regular soil.. and over time to ground that may have been flat when they covered it over, has now (100+ years later) settled over the years.. then finally we use a probe rod to check the spots that we think may be the privies. its a T shaped piece of metal that we push into the ground.. the ground will be softer than the ground that wasnt disturbed. and usually the biggest give away is that there is a layer of crunchy coal ash, that they dumped into the pits to neutralize the smell. and when they were done with the pit, the would cover it with a thick layer of this ash, and then bury the top foot or so with regular soil.. so the ash is always a dead giveaway that we have found it.. hope that helped! thanks for leaving us a comment and watching our video!

[@BestSellers2122]

When bottles have partial paper wrapper, are you able to save that when you clean up the bottle?

[@Bourbonsouth47]

What do u do with all the broke pieces ? Put back in hole or recycle

[@BelowthePlains]

we usually put them back in the hole, unless its historic, then we will keep every fragment

[@Bourbonsouth47]

@@BelowthePlains fascinating to watch keep up the good work & be safe doing it

[@takodabostons]

Would you be willing to put together a box of the pottery and broken stuff that I could purchase? Id love to get some of this for some craft projects Ive been thinking about. Let me know.

[@BelowthePlains]

yeah.. i noticed your question a few days ago, and since then i have been saving a bunch of potter.. i even have a few cups with the handle knocked off, and a full plate and a full pitcher... and then a second pitcher with about a one inch deep chip on the lip.. so we are out of town right now, and we we arent going to be able to fit this box in our car on the way home, so i was thinking we could ship it out to you before we go.. which has to been in the next few days.. now keep in mind, i cant guarantee that we found every piece to every item.. i would say its more likely than not, that of the couple dozen items worth of broken pottery, that you'd be lucky if 3-5 of them were complete or like 90% complete.. so i just want you to keep that in mind before we continue further.. so if youre interested let me know ASAP.. and if you are i can give you a private email address so we can share our contact information, and i can send you pictures ahead of time.. sound good? just let me know in the comments. thanks

[@WadeWeigle]

Is this a hobby for y’all or do you actually make enough from this to call it a job? I’m very curious if it’s worth it to go rooting around in peoples old poop.