My good friend likes to metal detect the 1850's Stagecoach stop areas. And the old west rest stops in the So. Calif. desert areas. Behind Julian Ca. & by Warner Springs Ca. and up towards Big Bear Ca. Kit Carson was at the Warner Springs Stagecoach area, and John Wayne partied at the hot pools of Warner Springs also.

The problem out here is that on public land (BLM/USFS) they generally call anything over 50 years old "historically signifigent", and therefor off limits.  Most old homesteads here and in central OR are on private property or big ranches and it can be hit or miss to get permission, usually miss.   Old cabins and homesteads still on the above public lands have mostly been burned down or otherwise eliminated and can be hard to locate.

We were fortunate to get permission to hunt some old homesteads in central Oregon this spring and our MD club president came up with an old (1880"s suspected) branding iron.  Thought he stepped on a rattler with the scream he let out when it came out of the ground.  We also detected an old school site (from 1880's to 1945).  One member found a Chinese coin there, and the owner invited us back this month to hit some other areas.  It is the oldest homestead in the county.

  I watched a you tube video of hikers in the San Gabriel mountains, the Mt. Baldy Ca. area. And half way up to Cucamonga Peak, there's Kelly Camp. A campground with old foundations from camping cabins from way back. Anyway, the hiker making the video showed a guy in the background with a detector. He was going around the old cabin sites. So if it's legal, look into those kind of spots.

We got invited back last month to another spot of an old homestead by the owner of ghe property referenced above where the oldschool was.  Found what I think was the old workshop/barn area.  Came away with three horseshoes, and cleaned them up and welded them up so that one would mount up flat on a wall or post, the other two at 90*, and edge to edge.  Makes a different hanger for a hanging plant basket.  Going to give to the landowner as a "thank you" for allowing us to hunt his property, and in addition it is something that came off the property.

Hint for those hunting in the western part of the country.....look for "homestead trees".  The people planted trees, usually poplars or cottonwoods, etc., for windbreaks.  While the buildings may be gone, the trees still perservere.

Well here come the questions.

 In this post I will list the questions and then we can take them on one at a time.

1. In metal detecting if I find a target and unearth it to find say coins but it turns out to be a 200 yr old knife, gun etc.... technically I violated the law, what are you supposed to do?

2.  If on private land hunting with permission I locate a historically significant item, where does the ownership fall? 

3. If asking for permission to hunt on someone's private land is there any law state to state that requires written permission?

4.  Are there limits to the value of what can be recovered?

5. How do you determine where property ownership is i.e. BLM, Private, Local Gov or active claims?  I was using geocommunicator but its gone now.

Question # 1-

My take on it is that if you are on private land with permission of the owner, that decision rests between the two of you.  Unlress thestatehas their fingers in the pie.  On public land I would contact the agency responsible and talk to their historical/archilogical person. State regs can vary, but most states will have a dept of historical sites/areas, and can either give you the regs or point you in the right direction.

Question #2-

Usually you have an agreement with the landowner that can run from you keep all you find, show them what turned up and keep it, to letting them pick some out to keep, to splitting it down the middle.

Ownership of found items would depend on the agreement with the owner, but in all probability would rest with them, unless they tell you to keep it.

Have not heard of one, but that isn't a bad idea.  Might do a search for any MD clubs in your area and see what they might have along that line.  Would be a good idea to put some kind of liability waiver for the landowner on it as well.  Besides, most clubs are a wealth of info/help and access to areas that might not be available to the individual.  I know the one I belong to gets permission to hunt one park here that they have problems with individuals/rogues not filling holes, leaving the trash thay find next to the hole, etc.

That might be an idea for GPAA to pursue as far as a generic form for MD'ers to have for property owners, but could also work for prospecting/sampling work.

2.  If on private land hunting with permission I locate a historically significant item, where does the ownership fall?

The word significant is a term that has a lot of legal meaning in the antiquities act and items if considered that are protected federally and in most if not all states by law. This would include items found on private property and can result in legal enforcement if the authorities find out about it. If you find something that you think needs or should be in a museum or reported do not move the item or disturb the area holding it in place. To clarify if you intend to report it or have it reported do not move it without permission. To report it GPS the location and take pictures, if it is a valuable find there are procedures that may enable you to recover money from the find. Not sure of how successful or how a person would proceed with such.

In Pa we look for old school houses and old towns. Back in the oil days, towns would spring up and now are gone. We also look for old parks that were used back in the 20' or later, that are now abandoned. Another place is around cemeteries. NEVER search inside the cemetery. People use to tie the horses up at the woods edge. When they would check the horses shoes or they got on and off the wagons, stuff would fall out of their pockets. Another place is near old swimming holes in the creeks and old docks, that are long gone.