Chapter 29

The other ATV from the road crew was going to help carry artifacts down from the caves and should help speed the recovery up. The Civil War historians and I began the morning by going around the mountain the other way to get a look at the cannons from another direction. Bert was amazed that the wood was still solid and the big hunk of cast metal wasn't rusted closed. It was almost as if they were protected from the weather, but they really weren't. They had fallen off the upper level when an overhang had collapsed. The cannons fell back under the new overhang, but were still exposed.

Bert made the comment, "It's going to require some heavy equipment to get those from up here. I'll have to think about how to do it."

I thought of my ingenious road crew. "I'll bet I have a couple of guys that can get those down from here without damaging them. I'll call at lunch and discuss it with them. They can come up and look at them and give you an idea of what they can do. If they can get them on a truck, where do you want us to take them?"

Marsha had a big smile on her face. "We'll take them to our research area that the university is allowing us to use. When we begin disclosing this find, they might even allow more studies in American history archaeology."

We looked to see if continuing around the mountain in the direction we were going could get us to the old wagon road, but we discovered there was a very wide, deep ravine that restricted passage. We had to turn and go all the way back around.

As we reached the house, I suggested that we get a cup of coffee and that maybe there were some leftover biscuits to enjoy with some honey. The three loved that idea.

Once inside, I called the road shop and found Jimmy in the office. I discussed what we wanted to do, and he said he would talk to the other guys about it and let me know. My next question was just an idea. "Jimmy, is there anyone in town here that has one of those metal detectors that people use to dig up coins and things?"

"I have a nutty cousin that does that and he might know some others who do that too. Do you want me to call him?"

"Do that Jimmy; call him and give him my number and ask him to call me after dark this evening. I have some university people collecting Civil War artifacts up on the mountain, and there is an area that I'll bet has a lot of items of interest that are now underground."

Jimmy was excited, "You know that Mystery Mountain has been something scary for this community all my life. The stories of the family who died from a fire, the girl who was murdered, and who knows what else scares a lot of people. That place is haunted and even my cousin might hesitate to come up there."

"Have him call me anyway. I can assure him there will be others with him and anyone else he can find to help scour the area."

On the way back up the mountain, Marsha was riding with me and I told her of my phone call. She was excited about the possibility of searching below the cave for more potential evidence of what happened up there.

We started where we had left off and completely cleared the second cave. We opened one of the barrels and I took a small amount of the obvious black powder out and put it on rock outside the cave. I spread it out and lit it with a match. There was a quick flash as the powder burned. Bert stood there with his mouth open before saying, "Who would believe a hundred and fifty year old barrel of black powder would still be explosive. We'll have to be careful getting it off the mountain."

I told him, "I'll contact the Army about sending an EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team from Fort Campbell over here, or maybe a National Guard team if Kentucky has one, to take care of that. They have the equipment and the expertise, and it would make a good training exercise for them."

We worked on the skeletons that were scattered around the mouth of the caves, picking up every piece we could and attempting to keep each skeleton together for future examination. Marjorie was moving down the mountain from the plateau the caves were on, a couple of feet at a time. She was using tiny flags that she stuck in the ground everywhere she found something. She was picking up a rusted piece of metal and exclaimed, "I've found a Union hat. It was under what was probably a piece of a military wagon. It's in really good shape. Someone bring me a bag."

We all went to look at the hat as Marjorie was standing and photographing it on the ground. She said she photographed each location where she put a marker down to give them reference later. Near the hat were the remnants of a rifle and some scattered bones.

At lunch time, we rode back in both of the ATVs, since we had collected a lot of items. Bert had been insistent that we carry the cannon balls off the mountain as he said they were so well preserved that they would be perfect examples of war armament. We transferred everything into their Expedition and I noted the slight sag in the suspension with the addition of the eight big balls.

As we sat down to eat, Bert opened his shoulder bag and spread out several bags that had coins in them. He told me, "Mike, we've found a total of nineteen of those double eagles so far. They are not all the same, but I can tell you that they are all valuable. Even if you only get a thousand each, that is nineteen thousand. I'll give you a receipt for everything we collect, and the state historical fund will reimburse you for the artifacts so that we can keep them. If you would, you could donate the weapons and other items as a gift to the university and the state. We'll also give you an estimated value on all the items you donate so that you can deduct that amount from your state and federal income taxes. You're entitled to deduct the fair market value of these items, and since there is quite a market for Civil War memorabilia, it should come to a significant amount."

"I'll do that, but we somehow need to keep this a little quiet so that people aren't coming onto the property for more scavenging. I'm sure it will take you months to go through what you've found. During that time, I can post the property and put a fence up if necessary. The advent of a lot of strangers running around on the property is scary, and you know how us country people are. We all have itchy trigger fingers."

Marjorie and Marsha were alarmed, but Bert said, "That is a drawback of helping historians gather information. We might be able to just allude to the area and not release the exact locations. We can probably keep the exact spots to ourselves indefinitely. If you wanted to have a tourist attraction, I'm sure a lot of people would pay to see those caves."

"I think I'll vote for keeping the location private for right now." I was really apprehensive about my decision to show the world what was up there, but it felt like a story that needed to be told.

Mom was serving us soup, with a stack of sandwiches sitting on the table. She told me, "Jimmy called, and he wanted you to call him when you came in."

I called his cell phone. "Hey, Jimmy, I heard you called."

"Mike, I'm glad you called. My cousin Tommy is about to come unglued. He wants to come out today with three of his buddies who are all real Civil War buffs. They said that if they can help, they will photograph and bag everything they find. I'm with him and his three partners in crime right now and they are chomping at the bit."

"Hang on, Jimmy."

"Bert, I have some guys with metal detection gear that want to help out. They are Civil War buffs and said they know how to handle artifacts. Do you want them to come?"

"That would be great, but we're going to have a space problem even with two ATVs. Tell them to come on, and maybe we can ferry everyone up and back. We can get everyone up, but we're going to be full coming back."

Who would believe a bag of bones would take so much room? The extra bags of each garment took space.

"Jimmy, have them come out. Ask them if they have ATVs to get around in the woods with."

"Ha, ha, ha, these guys are really prepared. My cousin showed up at the road yard with his three cronies, pulling his ATV packed with equipment. Can they come out now?"

"Sure, Jimmy, if you come out, I'll take you over to look at the cannons to get an idea of how to retrieve them."

"I'll come, Mike; you're going to cause a stir with our guys playing with some Civil War stuff."

I was concerned about how many people would know about the find, but I suppose I can control the property if I have to.

We were finishing lunch when Jimmy's cousin and friends showed up. Leading them were Jimmy and Jet. After introductions all around, I suggested to the three historians, "Have these guys follow you up to the caves and show them how you want the area searched. Today is Friday, so you'll have between now and Sunday to totally clear the area of any artifacts. Be thorough so that no one can come along later and discover something of value. I'm going to take Jimmy and Jet out to look at the cannons, and then I'll bring the ATV up to you."

We took off in two different directions. The four treasure hunters followed Bert in my ATV while I drove the Road Commission ATV around the mountain to look at the cannons.

The two men looked at the area and the cannons for just a few minutes. Jimmy said, "I think we can do this with the big backhoe. Maybe we can use chain and a sling to keep the wood intact. With all of us doing it, we should be able to get them up on one of the big salt trucks and out of here. We can store them in the pole barn for a while, if necessary."

"Sounds good. How's your schedule looking?"

Jimmy grinned, "If it doesn't snow, we'll do it in the morning. I'll bet the guys will go nuts playing with this. We'll have to make a road getting back there, but that will also get you to that nice field that is there. If we were feds or something, we could use one of those big helicopters to lift them out. We'll do it easily, though. Take us back to the truck. Jet is going to have to say hi to Marita before we go, so let me get that out of the way."

Jet smacked Jimmy on the shoulder while blushing.

When I arrived at the caves, the guys with the metal detectors were covering each inch of ground in a wide swath around the edge of the rock plateau. Just about everywhere you looked was a little flag sticking out of the ground marking a spot where the metal detectors had sounded. Bert, Marjorie, and Marsha were on their hands and knees, carefully digging up what lay beneath the surface. It looked like metal buttons were going to be popular, and there were several belt buckles.

I took the time to finally go off to the left side of the left cave to see about the water that may or may not be there.

Son of a gun, there was water bubbling out of the rock and falling into a small pool. The pool must have had a hole in the bottom, as there wasn't a stream coming from the area. I suppose the water traveled down through the mountain to other outlets. To one side was a small alcove that had several rifles lined up on the wall. They were in almost too good of a condition, so I walked out and looked up, the spring and pool were under a large rock overhang, making the area where the rifles were completely dry and out of the weather.

Knowing there might be other items to be found, I began looking for other small caves behind brush and bushes. About fifty feet to the far left was a cave, tucked in behind bushes and a heavy stand of stunted cedar. I used my small LED light to look around and was astounded to find some wooden crates that were open, all containing rifles, shot, and small leather bags of powder and shot. The leather was stiff, but in surprisingly good condition. The cave was small and shallow, without a lot of extra room in it.

This was too good to keep from Bert, so I walked over to him and said, "Come with me, I have something neat to show you. Get the girls; they need to see this too."

I walked over to the ATV and picked up a couple of lanterns and led the trio past the pool that I said we would look at later and straight to the bushes that hid the cave.

I went in and turned the lanterns on. Each of the three gasped as they stepped into the cave. There were two mostly full crates of rifles. Bert exclaimed, "These are Springfield rifles, and these others are Enfields. Look, there are original leather and pewter powder and ball flasks. This is amazing. Look at the condition of everything."

I told him, "You need to photograph this, and then we'll carry it out. Come back a ways and look at the water supply I found."

When we looked at the spring and pool, they were as fascinated with it as I was. They photographed the rifles standing against the wall and said they would bag them in a few minutes.

I found out Bert was a strong little guy. We were able to carry the crates of rifles and ammunition from the cave back to the ATVs without much effort. He told me, "There isn't enough room to carry everything in the Expedition. We're going to have to make a couple of trips. I think the University will give us permission to sub out our classes, since what you're giving us is worth far too much to let it lay up here waiting to be recovered. I know it's been here all these years, but I feel I must get it off the mountain into a safe place."

By the time it was getting dark, we had documented and bagged everything inside and in the near proximity of the caves, leaving only the barrels of gunpowder. There were dozens, possibly hundreds, of tiny flags sticking out of the ground where items had been detected, but not photographed and dug up yet.

Back at the house, I was surprised to see Jimmy, Jet, and the other eight men including Bernie. As I walked in, Jimmy told me, "We came to mooch supper and for the guys to take a look at the cannon. Jet was so excited that he went back for some equipment and a truck. That's why the other guys are out here."

Mom winked at me as she was piling food on the big table. "This is one time you're excused, Michael. You didn't invite these clowns, but I'm happy they are here to eat with us. So, are you three university types having fun?"

Jimmy's cousin was standing in the doorway with his three buddies when Mom saw him acting funny. "I don't know you yet, but get those shoes off and come eat. You're going to miss out if you don't get your fork into something good to eat around here."

Mom was in her glory to be able to feed fourteen young guys and the university people. Somehow, just like when I was a kid, she was able to have enough food to feed everyone until they almost were too full to get up. Millie, Marita, and Karen were just as happy as Mom to be able to feed everyone.

Jet was sitting beside Marita and looked up at me, "I, I, I, kno, kno, I said to, to, tomorrow." Marita laid her hand on Jet's arm. "I know I said tomorrow, but I couldn't wait. We hurried and brought both backhoes out and have those two cannon in the big truck. You, you, you, ha, ha, have a road to get back to that field now, too. You, you, will ha, ha, have to cut some trees, but na, na, not many." Whenever Jet began stuttering, Marita would lay her hand on his arm and he would talk without a stutter. It was amazing.

Bert looked up at the young man. "You were really already able to get those cannons?"

It was Jimmy that spoke, "We pulled them both out and have them in the back of the truck. They look really good. We did clear the barrels of both guns and picked up both of the cannon balls. All of the old powder is out of the cannon now. We found a stick with a bunch of leather wrapped around one end that must have been used to tamp the powder and ball. We brought that back."

Bert looked at the girls and said, "We will take what we have so far back to the university Saturday night and come back Sunday evening. I'll get hold of the department chairman to make sure they will let us sub out our classes for a week. I think when he sees the artifacts that we collected, he will be excited too. You men with the metal detectors can continue on down the hill, expanding the width of your search until you run out of targets. You probably don't have to go down very far. A small fire fight back then wouldn't have been over a long range, since you can't see past the trees and boulders. If the metal search continues, maybe we can pay you for the work you miss."

I asked, "What do you want to do with the cannons? They are bulky and will take up some room, and it will take some room for the equipment to move them off the truck." The man questioningly looked at me, and asked, "I know you've donated a lot of man hours so far, but I need to impose upon you to take the cannons back to the university. I'll arrange for a location. If you can do this for me, I'll do whatever I can to reward you."

"You might be able to do that, Bert." I turned to Jimmy. "Get the location for the cannons from the professor and drag a trailer with the backhoe. Take one or two other men of your choice and deliver the cannons. The sooner we get all of this stuff off the mountain, the sooner no one will be snooping around."

I looked around at the ten men from the road crew and the four metal detector guys. "Remember, you need to keep your lips closed on this one. I'll make sure you're compensated in some way that you will be happy with, but you have to keep quiet about the location of this stuff. I'd hate to have to begin shooting and burying more people up on that mountain."

Everyone laughed, except Jimmy and the other four locals. They knew the history of the mountain and the rumors of the ghosts and spirits.

After some dessert, everyone left to give the house a little peace and quiet. Ezra looked at me funny and said, "You know that you have sure stirred up the ghosts up there. I swear my woman has been visiting me in my dreams almost every night. I just know it's because you've disturbed all of those ghosts. It's nice that I dream of her, but she's acting a little funny like I should be doing something. I really don't know what it would be. It makes me think that all the spirits from around here end up on this mountain. When she was younger, she told me her family visited some people that lived up where Ben's place was and always had a good time. Maybe that's her link."

Ezra began moving around as if he was going to leave, and advised me, "Well, Mike, I think we'll be back on the path Monday. That will keep my mind off the wife."

When Ezra left, Mom gave him a warm hug and sent him home smiling.

Everyone was tired tonight, and after I showered with the intimate help of only Millie, we were in bed quickly.