The only arrowheads I have ever owned--two of them--were given me by my uncle Ken. He told me when I was young that they were from his father, and since he didn't have a son, that he was giving them to me. Uncle Ken died Years Ago, and I have determined to give them to his first grandson when he gets older.
When my longtime friend John Natcher came to work with me in West Texas about two years ago, he told me that the American Southwest is still an amazing place to conduct 'surface hunts,' and that all successful expeditions begin with a good map study. So we went to the local bookstore and picked up some detailed map books of Texas and New Mexico. These books detail not only the main roads and highways, but also the unimproved dirt roads, trails, campsites, etc.
He told me, "To find native artifacts, you need to think like a native." West Texas has scarce water sources, so we decided to follow the most prominent water feature in this area, the Pecos River. We looked for areas where the river flowed through valleys between mountains and mesas. Natcher explained that the best areas would be near the base of a mountain where the ground was flat enough to make camp. Arrowheads would be made here, and then they would be used to hunt game in and around the brush along the banks of the river.
Our first visit was where the Pecos River intersected a road South of Crane and McCamey. Of all the times for the weather to change, it started snowing on our way there. When we arrived, the ground where we would be searching was covered in snow. My excitement deflated. "Well," said Natcher, "this will limit our search to the ground under the bushes where the snow can't reach." After two hours of rooting around, on this my very first collecting expedition, I found one! It was a small but defined bird point. I was hooked.
Since then, I have set out on about ten different day trip excursions... twice with the kids on my days off, and the other times were when time and location aligned while traveling between drilling rigs for work. Here are some of the finds:
Discovered! West Texas Arrowheads and Artifacts
The images above showcase our finds from Abilene, Big Spring, McCamey and Fort Stockton. The hardest part of searching is finding areas that are not private property. In this part of Texas, if you find water or green vegetation, there's a 99% chance that there's a fence around it. And if you jump a fence in Texas, just assume you'll be shot. Hasn't stopped me, but I wouldn't recommend it.
What I find most amazing, is that on a couple of occasions, I've stumbled upon flint-working sites where everything was untouched... and the only thing missing was the Indian. I mean that after hundreds of years, nothing changed. There's a sitting rock on a hill where no natural flint appears to occur. Next to the rock are a couple flint cores and nodules, with worked flint flakes in a circle or semi-circle around the rock. In one of these piles, I found the broken half-point from a frustrated toolmaker. It's crazy to imagine that zero erosion or dust cover has occurred after all this time.
I'll post pics of new finds in the future. :)
