Clear Springs ( Hamilton Farm ) Step on the barb wire and come on in. Talk about a place that has seen alot of history, from slavery to civil war battles play out, and legend has it even buried Confederate treasure. Today we visit the pre 1902 McKinney cemetery that really seems like no one but the owners know about. The McKinney's from what I can tell from old maps and reading at the local library in Strawberry Plains is that they owned the Hamilton Farm prior to Hamilton Family settling there and they owned the island adjacent to the homestead. Just one hundred yards away from the McKinney Cemetery sits the Slave cemetery that we tried to locate today. We are pretty sure we were right on top of it but from lack of headstones it makes it super difficult to locate the deceased. Lots of blackberries, and raspberries to find on this land, I caught quite a few thorns in my hands Ouch! But not one damn Strawberry ironically. Strawberry Plains, Tn being named after the many fields of Strawberries growing after the Meeks settled the area. If you think thorns are to be worried about, think again the ticks are by the handfuls. I think the most common thing on this trek was walking into spider webs. Spiders and ticks uhhhh the two things I hate most ha. Cory and I had brought my H1 zoom for some EVP work, and used GHostRadar for some paranormal work. Data is still being looked at from this exploration as we are bit behind in our analysis. We did have time to roam around a little bit and we found a gully with remains of a cow and horse. How long ago were these animals deaths? Is the question in my mind just maybe 150yrs ago and washed down into this gully after so many years? Just over another ridge Cory found the bed of a truck peaking through the surface. We scattered down the ridge side without getting to far out of the way. We decided at the point it was time to head back over to the ridge we came from back to the barb wire fence. First photo in the gallery will show you the approx area where the Union crossed the Holston River towards Strawberry Plains Fort / Bridge, not too far behind them were the confederates carrying a bounty of gold. I have learned this is the site of local baptisms now for the church nearby. When the Union went to ford the river they realized the Union outnumbered them ahead, so instead of losing the gold in battle, they buried it around the rivers edge here some one hundred fifty plus years ago. It is said that the Hamilton family let people come back in the 60's and 70's and pay daily rates to search for gold. what would you be doing right now if a family member told you there might be Confederate gold hidden on your land?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
MiketheHikingGuide
Just an explorer searching for his next adventure Archives
January 2019
Categories |