Any rock hounds ?

[Allen]

Wheat whacker, That is a nice one. I have a smaller one that is similar but yours has such a nice tapered tip to it. Guy, I kick myself after seeing your pic. We had a real nice old tomahawk like that but the rock was broken/split. It was all there just had a fracture. There was some faded red paint on the head. We had an antique auction and put it on there and I forget what it sold for but I wish we would have kept it or at least taken some pictures.

The one in the pic with the hole could either be for making arrows or a weight for a fish net. I met a old feller back in the late 70s while exploring out in the middle of nowhere north of Newtown and he asked what my bride and I were doing and he said hop in. we spent the afternoon with him and he knew a lot and shared a lot. He showed us what he called fossilized dinosaur eggs but I don't know what to believe on the streets sometime.

I am going to hazard a guess that old feller was my step-grandfather. Name was Ed Hansen and he owned a bunch of land up in that area around then. I was probably 10, or so, when he first showed me what he called dinosaur eggs that protruded out of the ground just a few miles north of town.

Note, they aren't dino eggs, but you could sure convince people that they look just like what you would think a dino egg should look like. Those geologic features are way too young for dinosaurs.

 

[Mr. Stevenson]

Just spent a fine hour reading this thread. Good stuff! That is all.

 

[Davey Crockett]

It's been a few years (42) but Ed Hansen sounds right. He drove a mid 70s Chevy pickup, I think it was yellow. Another thing I remember he showed me was "twin mounds" . He was a heck of a nice guy.


We hauled a few more treasures home from the field last summer. We have a few like this but I wonder how many we have picked up and threw down not realizing what we were looking at.

This guy has quite a few other interesting videos too



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Some neat carvings on these rocks if you look close.

 

[Migrator Man]

Cool beans,great finds guyz,seems over the years north dakota has digs where geolgists are working today,like old tar pits loaded with dinasour bones/skeletons,true?

Lots of good digs in ND for some very valuable and unique specimens. Landowners do not want anyone to know they are digging up fossils because of theft/fear of government takeover of their land. Some nice triceratops skulls have come out of the SW. I know a guy that digs in WY for fossils and a guy can make some good coin doing it. Especially if you find any T. rex fossils!

 

[Auggie]

The Face of North Dakota by Bluemle is a great resource on North Dakota Geology. I'm working on a collection of soil horizons. I do have a gypsum crystal that's bigger than a gold ball, trilobites, pieces of the Brenna and Sherack formations and some other odds and ends.

 

[Allen]

It's been a few years (42) but Ed Hansen sounds right. He drove a mid 70s Chevy pickup, I think it was yellow.

Yep, mid 70s Chevy with a 454 in it, but it was pine green. You missed out if he didn't take and show you his gun collection, easily one of the largest in the state at that point. Including about 1/3 of those in the old New Town movie theater that he loaned for display. I am guessing he had a couple hundred firearms.

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It's a really small world at times.

 

[Davey Crockett]

Yep, mid 70s Chevy with a 454 in it, but it was pine green. You missed out if he didn't take and show you his gun collection, easily one of the largest in the state at that point. Including about 1/3 of those in the old New Town movie theater that he loaned for display. I am guessing he had a couple hundred firearms.

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It's a really small world at times.

Yep, it was Ed. I think I was so fascinated with the geology of that area that we didn't get a chance to talk about guns. Up until then I only had knowledge of hills and prairie covered with black dirt and rocks. I don't remember exactly what those spheres looked like but I remember seeing yellow oxidized material around them and thinking there was a whole nest, (broken egg yokes) haha. I bet he had fun with us hillbillies. I'm guessing they must be iron deposits in sandstone ?

 

[snow]

I found this tooth this summer in a creek in the Sheyenne river valley. Any thoughts?

could be,however it also resembles my old buffalo tooth that was aged over 10k years old,only mine wasn't broken,about 3"s long and more girth,also found buffalo horns and other bones in that same creek bed with the tooth.

 

[Trapper62]

Davey we have found numerous fossils in the Turtle Mountains, along with gemstones and one Viking related (?) artifact. We took the fossils to the State Geologist a few years ago to identify but was told that we needed to tell them where they were found before he could tell us anything about them. Which I get as he would know the geologic layer for the area but the landowner did not want the info out. Fortunately I know a Geology professor at NDSU who identified the bones from prehistoric horses that used to roam the plains as well as prehistoric three toed sloth. It is really crazy the number of fossils out there once you find them. All the gemstones that we have found have been garnet, largest about the size of a pencil eraser, but nice qualify.

We have a mooring stone on the property that was identified by by Ed Milligan, a couple years ago I found a stone about the size of a basketball that had two distinct groves carved in it about an inch wide and deep and was flat on the bottom with two shallow groves. Was told it was Viking related but not positive but with the location to the mooring stone it could be. I will have to get some pictures to share of jawbones and pelvic bones of the horses and a 3' rib and claw from a sloth.

Have you ever been to the Viking cave on the west side of the Turtle Mountians?

 

[1lessdog]

[h=1]The Kensington Runestone: Minnesota’s most brilliant and durable hoax?[/h]The Kensington Runestone has provoked a host of scholarly and popular articles and books. The Minnesota Historical Society library carries more than forty titles on the subject.

By Paul Nelson
May 18, 2020

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Courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society
The Kensington Runestone, front view, ca. 1920.
The Kensington Runestone is a gravestone-sized slab of hard, gray sandstone called graywacke into which Scandinavian runes are cut. It stands on display in Alexandria, Minnesota, as either a unique record of Norse exploration of North America or of Minnesota’s most brilliant and durable hoax.Minnesota historian Theodore Blegen wrote in 1968 that “few questions in American history have stirred so much curiosity or provoked such extended discussions” as the Kensington Runestone. There are two uncontested facts. Swedish immigrant Olof Ohman came to Douglas County, Minnesota, in 1879. While clearing land on his farm near Kensington in the fall of 1898, he turned up a slab of rock with symbols carved on the side and underside. These markings were later identified as Scandinavian runic writing.
The generally accepted translation of those runes reads: “We are 8 Goths [Swedes] and 22 Norwegians on an exploration journey from Vinland through the West. We had camp by a lake with 2 skerries [small rocky islands] one day’s journey north from this stone. We were out and fished one day. After we came home we found 10 of our men red with blood and dead. AVM [Ave Virgo Maria, or Hail, Virgin Mary] save us from evil. We have 10 of our party by the sea to look after our ships, 14 days’ journey from this island. Year 1362.”
If the inscription is genuine it places Norse seafarers deep in the North American continent 130 years before Columbus reached the West Indies, and tells a story otherwise unknown.

ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER ADVERTISEMENT
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The details of the stone’s geology, discovery, carving, and weathering, and the personality, education, writings, and possessions of its finder have been dissected, analyzed, and debated for more than a century. There are four main controversies over the stone’s authenticity.
The first controversy centers on the plausibility of the story. For the party’s ships to lie fourteen days’ journey from Alexandria, the only possible route is south from Hudson Bay. That distance is nearly 800 miles by direct line, longer by river and portage—a distance difficult to manage in fourteen days. The route is “through the west” from a “Vinland” whose location in 1362, if any, is unknown. No other record of this expedition has been found. Why would explorers who had just suffered a massacre stop to carve — in well-crafted, even, and orderly characters — a stone inscription?
The writing and language of the text are questionable. Experts first analyzed the runic writing in 1899. They dismissed it as a fake, citing too many discrepancies in form and vocabulary from the known languages of fourteenth-century Scandinavia. Most experts since then have agreed.
The condition of the rock has also raised doubts. Though graywacke is a hard sandstone, had it been exposed to wind and rain for hundreds of years, as is supposed, the inscribed areas would show telltale weathering whose age could be estimated. A 2003 analysis conducted by Scott F. Wolter concluded that the inscriptions were more than 200 years old. This remains highly contested.
Finally, who was responsible for the alleged hoax? If the inscription is a fake, it must have been done by someone with knowledge of old Scandinavian language and runes, the ability to carve in stone, and the nerve to carry out the prank. The most likely perpetrator was Olof Ohman. Ohman had little education but owned a small library that included information about runes. His friend, former pastor Sven Fogelblad, may have had knowledge of runes and, like Ohman, may have sought to try to fool academics, whom both men reportedly disliked. Ohman never admitted to a hoax.
The Kensington Runestone has provoked a host of scholarly and popular articles and books. The Minnesota Historical Society library carries more than forty titles on the subject. The slab has been examined in Europe and displayed at the Smithsonian Institution and the 1965 New York World’s Fair. Expert opinion favors the conclusion that the inscription is not authentic, but the majority view asks the question: if a hoax, then who, how, when, and why? Definitive answers have so far proved beyond reach.

 

[Davey Crockett]

That is interesting Trapper. We find quite a few fossils here too, but no gemstones yet. You have nice pictures of the cave, I've been in it and looked with a flashlight but that was quite a few years ago before digital cameras and the couple of pictures that I took were so dark that you couldn't see much.

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Trapper , Do you ever find flint over that way ? I don't remember ever finding flint on the farm or anywhere in the hills for that matter. I'm surprised how fast and how deep artifacts get buried by Mother nature.

 

[snow]

Mooring stones....been about 20 years ago in western minnesota my old hunting grounds near the minnesota river,old farmer showed me large flat limestone river rock formation
with 2" diameter holes drilled in for mooring he claimed that a geology professor from the Uof M claimed were from the viking era as they explored up the river....??? kinda blew it off as here-say bullshit but now possible after the threads here.

Interesting thing about our town names in minnesota quite a few towns are named after surface rock formation around these towns like Hinkley ,st peter(sand stone formation,shakopee (lime stone) granite falls,st cloud (granite) to name a few,but many more.

 

[Davey Crockett]

Snow, This one is a couple of miles from my place.




https://sites.google.com/site/stonebankorg/fabulous-nd/mooring-stone

 

[Trapper62]

I haven't found any in the hills but have found a lot on the prairie, but most of that was when farmers still rotated crops and had summer fallow. I found a beautiful Scott's Bluff Point south of my house, also have some hammers, awls, scrapers and pottery chards. Used to spend hours just walking around fields.

Look for schist and you will eventually find garnet, it is fairly easy to separate. Most are pretty small but you can find some decent ones eventually. You ever look for gold?


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That is interesting Trapper. We find quite a few fossils here too, but no gemstones yet. You have nice pictures of the cave, I've been in it and looked with a flashlight but that was quite a few years ago before digital cameras and the couple of pictures that I took were so dark that you couldn't see much.

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Trapper , Do you ever find flint over that way ? I don't remember ever finding flint on the farm or anywhere in the hills for that matter. I'm surprised how fast and how deep artifacts get buried by Mother nature.

 

[Davey Crockett]

It would be interesting to map these mooring stones out on google earth and get an estimated elevation . The one I am referring to is around 1985' above sea level. My house is a little over 2 miles away and 200' higher in elevation.

 

[Trapper62]

According to Onx this one is about 2023'

It would be interesting to map these mooring stones out on google earth and get an estimated elevation . The one I am referring to is around 1985' above sea level. My house is a little over 2 miles away and 200' higher in elevation.

 

[snow]

Trapper,spent many years panning for gold,mostly in colorado,near breckenridge,modern gold claims today,folks with claims are very protective,lots of gold found in those hills over the years,infact this area has some of the purest gold in the world called wire gold,but I'm just a weekend warrior type panning,flower gold is common,few nuggets found,however dredging in alaska was alot better,back in the 80's young and dumb,old timer's brought me along to wear a dry suit to dive in streams,as we dredged in denali state park near mt mckinley,we were limited to a 4" dredge but we still did very well sucking up gold in deep stream pockets,today I'm thinking of spending more time panning in colorado now that I'm soon to be retired.Lot's of active gold mines in colorado these days,gotta be mindful as folks with gold claims are very protective of they're claims.

Might pick-up a good metal detector and work stream beds in the fall during low water,as we often peeled rock moss off river rocks then burned the moss to pan out gold,lots of work but we always found flower gold just not alot of it.figure I can fish as I hike the streams and work the metal detector,unlike alaska no worries of a grizz sneaking up.

 

[Davey Crockett]

I haven't found any in the hills but have found a lot on the prairie, but most of that was when farmers still rotated crops and had summer fallow. I found a beautiful Scott's Bluff Point south of my house, also have some hammers, awls, scrapers and pottery chards. Used to spend hours just walking around fields.

Look for schist and you will eventually find garnet, it is fairly easy to separate. Most are pretty small but you can find some decent ones eventually. You ever look for gold?


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The Oak creek runs through our farm and I have dug around there a few times over the years but I couldn't find any gold or even any good looking black sand. We recently got a metal detector and I was going to try detecting on the creek bottom last fall but the beaver had built a dam and flooded the area I was going to detect. I went downstream of the dam and tried a little bit but no luck. A couple of buddies set up a sloosh box in the foothills by the gorge and ran a lot of material through it and claimed they found a couple of teeny specks. I thinking it over I wonder if the gorge areas would be my best bet.


Well drilling is interesting, one time I hit coarse black sand from 15'- about 25' that would have been fun to get to with a pan. There's also a couple areas where around 220' you circulate up bits of sea shells and fossils and wood chunks, it smells like sulfer.

 

[Migrator Man]

It would be interesting to map these mooring stones out on google earth and get an estimated elevation . The one I am referring to is around 1985' above sea level. My house is a little over 2 miles away and 200' higher in elevation.

What would the Vikings use mooring stones for in the mountains? Isn’t that what they used to anchor their vessels on rivers/lakes?

 

[Davey Crockett]

https://www.dmr.nd.gov/ndfossil/poster/pierre/Pierre.pdf


NORTH DAKOTA’S UNDERWATER WORLD
During the Cretaceous, from about 90 million to 65 million years
ago, North Dakota was either completely or partially covered by subtropical
to warm temperate, shallow epicontinental seas. These seas occupied what
was called the Western Interior Seaway, essentially the North American
mid-continent. The seas were never very deep, perhaps a few hundred feet
at most, and at their greatest extent they connected the Arctic Ocean with
the Gulf of Mexico. During low sea level, the Hell Creek Delta covered
western North Dakota and Fox Hills Sea shoreline habitats occurred in
central North Dakota. Fine grained sediments, mostly silt and clay,
deposited on the floor of these oceans are now rocks of the Carlile,
Niobrara, and Pierre Formations. These are the oldest rocks exposed in
North Dakota. Entombed in these rocks are fossils of the animals and
plants that inhabited the seas. Remains of marine reptiles, including the
mosasaur Plioplatecarpus, plesiosaurs, and the sea turtle, Archelon; fish
(such as sharks, rays, and ratfish); birds; and invertebrates (including clams,
cephalopods, snails, corals, and crabs) have been recovered from these
rocks.