I cannot say why Nacho does not provide updates, etc., However, I guess I will offer one since I went for an 8hr. screen dig on Sunday the 14th. Yes, you heard right Hal, I crawled out of our cave to go dig on someone elses property!
His new dig is about 2 miles NE of Barksdale right on the river. Saturday was the First day (ground breaking), and a friend went. I did not as it was going to be windy (glad I didn't, as he said he could barely even see the table at times. Sunday however, was a perfect day. This was my First Pay Screen Dig, and at $200 for the day, I did not take the camera, and kept it strictly focused on moving lots of dirt through the screen. It's still really dry here, so it got super dusty after the first couple of hrs. I had a pre-concieved notion about using a rectangular concrete trowel to aid in going through the material. As it turned out, it was probably the best thing I could have done. Ike and Nacho ran skid loaders for 3 tables (6 people), and Ike particularly was great at keeping my table loaded as there was no more than a 30 second break in between loads. Here are my statistical results for the day:
Total finds = 79 - Of these,
9 were perfect - undamaged
5 were nice bi-face scrapers - undamaged
10 were nicked with minor damage
The remaining 55 were all broken. Of these,
2 were super worked huge bases (Pedernales & Bulverde), and 3 were broken Bell points (valuable type that gives encouragement to the site).
Numerous comments were made, but the one negative one that all agreed on was simply that there was too much broken stuff, of which No one is to blame but the indians. I had the feeling that we were digging in an old refuse area of the encampment. I and my partner for the day went through 72 bucket loads in the 8hrs. They said they would contact us if the ratio of broken to whole pieces substantially improves, otherwise, it's back to the cave for me!
I came out well because I sold 3 pieces before I left, and still had 11 good ones left over. This new site would not be very productive for just hand digging. I had a good enjoyable day, with good company to boot. Just wish one of those big ones, or even one of the Bell points had been whole! Things I learned, use an efficient hand tool, and really get in there and MOVE the dirt! Everybody did about the same, but I probably got more through my approach.

Hey mike
Sounds great been thinking about going to Nachos but wanted to know if it was worth the trip since I live 20 miles south of Houston, thanks for the great report!!!!!!!!!
jpthedigger

Hey Mike,
Do you have any pics?

An absolutly glowing report Mike, Thanks for taking the time.
Sounds like a really good day, even the brokes keep you alive as time goes by [ course it wasn't MY $200.]
Makes it doubly good for a first dip in the well, Nacho will be noting which direction will be yielding
the best results.

Re pics, it's close but there should still be enough time left to make a Christmas "suprise " gift request. . . .
One of those "hunters" caps they now sell with a Dig Camera built in just over the bill. Reach up and


Naturally time is money . . . . Rig up a mercury switch, [ like on home thermostats ] that will

when you tilt your head just right !