It's every kid's wildest dream: finding buried treasure in their own backyard. There's a man in southern Wisconsin who is living that dream and has even made a business out of it. Jim Winter calls himself "The Driftless Digger" and he's a "detectorist," someone whose hobby is searching for underground artifacts using a metal detector. You may be familiar with the term thanks to the British comedy "Detectorists."
For the latest Under Rocks podcast, we sent our team out with The Driftless Digger to explore the site of an Ogle County farmhouse that was abandoned in the 1920s.
Jim used to call himself a treasure hunter. Now he considers himself a "history saver," because what interests him most in the sites he explores are the lives of the people who lived there, their everyday artifacts and sharing their stories with landowners.
The Driftless Digger returned to the site several more times on his own and found additional artifacts from the last couple of centuries. Along with a bent fork, ornate buttons and shotgun shells, he found what he calls his "favorite thing in the world to find" on his Facebook page: trade tokens. The Ohio bakery tokens were a first for him because he found a "spill," meaning multiple tokens in one spot. He shares a detailed story about the bakery owner on his Facebook page that ends in murder.
So if you're ready to give metal detecting a shot, Jim has some tips:
- Get permission from the landowner before you even think about digging.
- Invest in a decent metal detector, which will run you about $300 at a minimum.
- Other important tools are a pinpointer and a serrated shovel.
- Find a mentor (Jim's available!).
- Don't get discouraged.
Your detectorist hosts this episode are Dan Libman, Spencer Tritt and Susan Stephens. Thanks to The Driftless Digger for showing us the ropes!
And thanks to Jenna Dooley for passing along the idea for this episode. If you know something interesting, unusual or just plain weird in northern Illinois or southern Wisconsin you'd like us to investigate, drop us an email at rocks@niu.edu.
Under Rocks is produced by WNIJ at Northern Illinois University.
Copy Edited by Eryn Lent
