Who knows what this is? What does this estate sale find have to do with tyranny and the creation of America?

I found this exact object pictured in a book, and even the book didn't get it right... 🧵 It's engraved with the seal of King George III on one side. So it's 18th century, and obviously British.

My wife wanted to go for a drive today. So I said hey, I know this giant crater on top of a mountain in Virginia we could go see… 🧵 It’s not really a crater or asteroid impact, but was actually once the bed of an ancient sea. It’s 8.5 miles long and 4 miles wide. It a dome-shaped geologic up-warp that exposed older Ordovician aged limestone.

It was my wife’s birthday, so I checked her into this insane asylum…🧵 Because for some crazy reason she wanted to tour the “Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum” in Weston, WV for her birthday. It was the site of 100s of lobotomies, gruesome murders, medical torture, a Civil War gold heist, and even a modern police misconduct scandal (yes!!).

This old jug was found hidden in the basement of Byrnside’s Fort. It was one of our coolest finds while restoring the place. Unbelievably, I was able to figure out exactly who made it, when it was made, and where it was made… 🧵 This is Byrnside’s Fort. For more information on it, check out my pinned tweet. This jug was found in the circa 1770 basement.

History thread... This fancy case, engraved with initials, represents the little-known activities of the Spanish in late 18th century America, including plots against the U.S. government with both hostile Indian tribes, American spies, and frontier leaders. What's inside?? 🧵 The case is constructed of Bird’s Eye Maple, has its original finish, brass hardware and lock & key. It bears the engraved initials “LMS” for Louis Maureese Sabater, the brother, and Secretary, to the Spanish Colonial Governor of Lousiana, Esteban Rodríguez Miró y Sabater.

Back when this cave used to be on private property, I got permission from the owner to check it out. Early settlers used this cave's saltpeter to make gunpowder. As you can see, an entire creek just flows into the cave and disappears... 🧵 For years I had driven by this sign, located near Greenville, West Virginia, and wondered about these caves.

As I sit here in our state capital of Charleston, WV today, I’m reminded of the time I accidentally found the long-lost grave of the WOMAN who co-founded our capital city. There’s no historical marker; no record of her burial - nothing. This is exactly where I found her.… 🧵 I was actually looking for the grave of my 5th great grandfather, James Bryan, who was a vet of the French Indian War, and who signed up for a 3 year enlistment in the Rev War starting in 1775, at the age of 60! He was wounded and hospitalized during the Valley Forge winter.

When you're digging for buried "treasure," you immediately learn to spot unnatural shapes, such as this. Someone dropped this brass item on the ground - probably before George Washington became President... 🧵 Then, I was the next person to touch it - around 250 years later. As it turned out, this would be one of my favorite finds at our fort.

This is a Civil War era Bowie knife. Circa 1850s, with a beautiful ivory handle. We think of Bowie knives being American as apple pie... But ironically, most of the good ones in the 1800’s were made in England for the American market, like this one. Now you can hardly own a butter knife in England.

This spoon was found in a junk shop in Florida. At first glance, it seems like junk. Just a big wooden spoon that someone has carved on. But it's actually an amazing find... 🧵 This spoon is personalized with three separate carvings. The largest says “Jumper.”

This may be my FAVORITE find of all time. A little research discovered that this ugly, backwoods, salty-looking, 18th century "Franken-musket" was involved in some of the most epic battles of early American frontier warfare. 🧵 This French and Indian War era American musket was used by James McBride (1726-1812) to fight in the Battle of Point Pleasant on October 10, 1774. Here's the battlefield - Point Pleasant, West Virginia, at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha rivers.

19th century Tennessee rifles have a unique style. They just look cool. This is an original Tennessee flintlock Rifle made by (and signed by) JB Dugger and one E Smith. There’s an interesting story about Dugger… Family Tradition says James B. Dugger, born in 1821, fought a "bare fist" fight with an unknown person and won the fight fairly. But then he was knifed in the back on October 5, 1861, by Wash Potter as a consequence of the fight.

This is an actual Native American “scalping knife,” recovered out of the ground with a metal detector. Remnants of the original simple wood grip are still pinned in place on the tang. 🧵 For the most part, these were traded to natives in bulk - especially in the Great Lakes region- by both the English and French further 18th century. However, scalping one’s enemies long pre-dated European influence. It was later encouraged by European powers.

Who wants to see another really cool flea market find? A guy had some old-ish guns on a table at a flea market in Florida. Remember: what you want is not what they have on the table, but what they may have in the car. This 18th century silver-mounted flintlock was in the car... This is an English silver-mounted flintlock pistol made by James Barbar, circa 1754. How do I know it was made by Barbar? His name ("BARBAR") is engraved on the lock plate, for one thing.

This 19th century trunk was found in a junk shop. After investigating its contents, I discovered a direct connection to the creation of the Star-Spangled Banner (you know, the "national anthem")... 🧵 The trunk itself is of solid wood construction and is covered in what appears to be horsehide – though it’s hard to tell without looking closely. There's an old repair on the side. It has brass tacks along the trim and a lock stamped with a British crown.

Here's an original US Model 1805 flintlock pistol, dated 1807, and made at Harpers Ferry, VA (now WV). This is America's first military handgun produced by a national armory. Springfield, MA gets all the recognition, but WV had America’s second oldest national armory. 🧵 In 1794, the United States Congress passed a bill calling "for the erecting and repairing of Arsenals and Magazines".

You never know what you might find... This is a human tooth that I found at the site of one of the very few Revolutionary War battles in what is now West Virginia - the May 29, 1778 attack on Donnally's Fort. 🧵 This is the actual site. It's marked by an old marker, now mostly falling apart, installed by the Daughters of the American Revolution maybe 90 to 100 years ago.

Here’s another super interesting discovery. This 18th century case, made with shark skin, was found at an antique shop in Florida. What is it? Who owned it? My investigation revealed an almost unbelievable backstory…🧵 The first thing you notice is the very old museum sticker on the bottom of the case. The sticker reads, “Presented to the Fairfield County Historical Society of Connecticut by Misses Peck of Stratford, CT, 188?, Left by John Sterling in 177?”.

The first time I took my daughter metal detecting we were in the backyard of a Civil War era house. We saw something white in the dirt, as we dug a hole that appeared to be some sort of old trash pit. Then her little fingers pulled this creepy little thing out of the ground… Cleaned up, it wasn’t much better. Seriously, wtf…

Here’s one of my favorite discoveries… Imagine you’re at a flea market in West Virginia and you see this chair, that nobody wants because it’s sort of impressively ugly. But something about it says buy this thing, because it’s just so unusual. So you buy it for a couple hundred bucks. Then you bring it home and start researching it. In particular, you Google photos of old chairs, and then you see this… Is that Mark Twain sitting in the chair? It looks similar…

Some have asked for pics of the Revolutionary War fort we discovered inside an old plantation house in West Virginia. Almost none of the original Rev War frontier log forts survive. Historians believed an old log fort know as Byrnside’s Fort was still there, inside the walls of this large house. But…

We had to buy the property first before being able to take a crowbar to it to see if the logs were inside the walls. I was 90% sure they were there… This is what the outside looked like at the beginning.