Opinion : The Native American/Redneck Archaeologist

Water pump (I think) for a tractor.

Fuel pump (I think) from a similar machine.

Lid for a tool box.

The rest of the tool box.

Iron pipe, male thread.

Stove pipe.

Muffler, or part of one, for something.

License plates from the 1970s.

Springs from a chair.

Fencing. Lots of it.

You don't have to dig far -- only an inch or two -- into the ground at my grandfather's place to find evidence that someone has lived there before.

I expected to find fencing; there were many fences still standing, and I have seen many other areas where the fence and grass seemed to combine into a very effective (put painful) barrier.

The chair springs were not that much of a surprise; my father had a habit of burning stuff like that until the county sent him a letter asking him to stop.

But the tractor parts were a surprise. I plan to take them to a local implement shop to find out for sure what they are. I am sure they no longer function, but it would be interesting to know what I found.

Some of those things have probably been there since 1965, when a tornado (or at least a very strong wind) blew through the farm, destroying some buildings while my grandfather stood in the front doorway watching (at least that is how my family told the story).

Civilizations always leave a trail -- evidence that they were there. Across the road, near the river, I found pieces of rock that were shaped too specifically to be naturally-formed. I thought they may have been tools. I sent photos to some experts; they think the stones are fire-cracked rock, stones used for a fire pit. The person who saw the photos say the rocks could be a hundred years old or older, or maybe many hundreds. But they are proof that at one time, Native Americans lived on our farm, and built a fire there. Another guy who has spent much time studying the land and plants of Iowa believes the top of one of the hills out here had once been an Indian burial ground.

I don't know.

All of this makes me wonder: What will I leave behind (or more accurately, what, given my propensity for forgetting and losing things, have I already started leaving behind?) for the generations of the 22nd Century to find?

Will people in another hundred years or more walk this place like I did, wondering who had been there before?

I hope so.

But, if they do, I hope they watch where they walk; you never know what I guy like me might lose there.