I thought I would share a few pictures of the beads I found in east Texas.I would say I found somewhere around 100,000 of them but who is counting.I bet any given day I still could screen up 100 or more a day.One of the best finds I have ever found.

When I first found them wash out of the lake the ground was a stain red,white,blue.I found so many beads I had to take off my blue jeans tie a knot in the leg ends and stuff them in both in both legs.LOL
What A day that was.

i'll see u soon, be in tatum on the 5th, what is that found with the beads?

I was the one that ask about the beads. Just wanted to know if any glass beads have been in Tx. I've seen them in southwestern and northwestern states, but never have heard much of them here. Seems when they are found, it's usually in large amounts. Not just one or two.

I found a beaded bag with a mirror,metal arrowhead,scissors,smallest caddo paint pot ever found,pipe(note the beads stuck inside the pipe)metal knife(note the beads on the knife)I even found a french sword.Found lots of other things.All washed out of a lake that was studied but never salavaged.So now it has no archaeolgy value.Ant that what they say.
This is why I feel very strong about sites that are going to be destroyed needs to a salavged at all cost.Not a 10% field study.I really like to thank north wastern state of Louisiana for a good job of studing of the artifacts I found.

that's an amazing find!!

Steven those beads are outstanding,one of these days I want to hook up with you and go digging or bead hunting in your area.By the way I had a good time digging with you Sunday.

WELL NOW, , , , , NO WONDER that nobody else can find ANY beads in the entire state of Tx ! YOU gottum all !
Thats a heck of a find and a great story to go with it
Steve. The original owner must have been a heck of an agressive trader / collector.

Your description of how concentrated the find was seems like it was just from one "family", rather than many tribal members scattered over an entire camp area. Wonder if there could be a parallel to some of the unusual hoards they have found in England dating from the Roman times, where in times of trouble, people buried family silver ware and coinage, then never recovered them ?

Its also scary to note how close we all came to never even getting to share this find. . .
Just immagine if it had been a really hot day and you had been wearing Bermuda SHORTS !

Never seen that many beads in one haul, how old would you estimate them to be? What is that in the lower pictures, is that the paint pot or what? I'm ready to go diggin', just let me know when's the best time.....

Well Cr@p! That makes my bead collection look pitiful. That is astounding. I know of collections in museums that large but none that I have seen from one location. I've heard of some from Oregon/Washington though. I always thought trade beads were not common in these parts.
Here's the original thread started by Tehuacana that I posted on:
http://pub17.bravenet.com/forum/1430426313/show/803912
I'd be curious to find out the age. The site where a lot of my beads came from had to be post-Civil war because of this button that was ID'ed by the Platt Brothers Company in Waterbury Connecticut as Union Army surplus.

Many of the beads were found not far from a still-standing wikieup:

I also found lots of other cool stuff in the area. This is the only "dentalia" bead I found there. It is sitting on a pottery smoothing tool. Dentalias are from the NW pacific coast. They are from underwater worms found in fairly deep water only. They were very valuable to the indians.

I also found a red-ochre paint cup, several metal bangles, thimbles, a jew's harp, a couple beer cans, a 1972 penny - I knew I wasn't the first one to look at the site, a black steatite shaft straightener - most likely from the Channel Islands area, a few other pendants including one that looked burned, a few late-prehistoric arrowheads, and a rusted gold sluice pan that I left there.

Here are a couple great websites with information:

http://www.thefurtrapper.com/trade_beads.htm

http://www.native-american-market.com/glass_trade_beads.html

hey, Douglas...may I ask you if you are going to be in Tatum, for business or pleasure(digging or hunting) if for pleasure, hubby says if you come thru by way of Lamesa theres a good spot to stop at and do some surfacing hunting, on the way into Seminole. If you are interested and will have time, let me know, will try to meet up with you and show you where its at.Hubby found a lot of points around that site when he was a kid.
Anyway, becareful in and around Tatum, lol...they some nasty little speed traps out that way.

I'M GOIN OUT THERE FER A 2 MONTH JOB SANDY, DONT THINK LAMESA IS ON THE WAY, BUT TELL MW WHERE IT IS ANYWAYS AND I MITE MAKE A STOP!

Steve and Mojave, that's kind of what I wanted to know. I've seen stone and bone beads but just wondered it glass or porcelan beads had been found in Tx. With Indian trade I couldn't believe we had been bypassed. And Steve, as I posted earlier, the woman in Montana said she'd found around 40 grand on their ranch in Wyoming. Seems like when found, it is in quantity. Not just one or two. I've found calvary buttons and shell casings around forts in West Texas, but not to the amount Mojave has found.

hey Sandy . im in lubbock . found a huge salt lake north of brownfield , camps all along one side , havent been to the other yet , i hear there is another large salt lake somewhere between lamesa and tahoka , i suppose there would be a few good surface hunting places from lamesa all the way south to odesaa and beyond

Good show again Mo. Interesting that location shot too. All those previous visitors there and you still found those good artifacts [ wonder what they reused the wrought iron parachute rip cord for ? ]

That shaft straightener is cool. I have seen a few here in TX and was never impressed how SHALLOW the
grooves were, never seemed enough to do the job. Yours must have been a valued tool to the original owner. That looks like a hardstone material, requireing lots of labor !