Lost French trapper

[uno676]

This is from a local school construction. The article is a little ways down the web page but cool. http://campaign.r20.constantcontac...10801&ca=8d3022d6-004e-4246-8d2f-ab70e4f9bb8a

 

[uno676]

Skeleton, Gold, Artifacts Found.
Members of the construction crew working on the LCHS expansion project were astonished last week when an excavator operator unearthed human remains and an iron chest containing, among other artifacts, a leather bag of gold nuggets. Archeologists
from CSU and the French Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives (INRAP) were called in immediately and have been working excitedly to preserve and remove skeletal remains of an adult male covered sparsely by shreds of clothing indicative of


An archaeology team from CSU last week combed through the future site of the new LCHS parking lot where 1800s artifacts were found.

1800s French fur trappers. Additionally, archeologists dug up several kegs of gun powder, a few mining tools, traps, and various other artifacts signifying the site was a common cache used by trappers and explorers to hide supplies between excursions and forays. The iron chest has the letters R.M.F.C. clearly stamped on two sides leading archeologists to conclude the cache had been left by French members of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company founded by William H. Ashley. In the winter of 1824-25, Ashley's team traveled along the Poudre River hauling supplies for a Green River rendezvous - a timeframe that matches the age of items uncovered at LCHS last week. INRAP archeologists intend, under international law, to reclaim items of



Dig supervisor Felipe Criado-Boado of the French Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives exhumes skeletal remains of an 1800s French fur trapper discovered last week during earthmoving for the new LCHS parking lot.

French historical significance for the French Ministries of Research and Culture at the end of this week. Dig supervisor Felipe Criado-Boado said INRAP's only interest is in repatriating the remains and belongings of the French trapper. As to the rest of the artifacts, they'll be digitally catalogued for historical record, but belong to the landowner - Liberty Building Corporation. LCHS Principal Bob Schaffer said the school will likely donate the artifacts to either CSU or the Fort Collins History Museum. The gold nuggets are now in the possession of Mr. Blake Morgan, LCHS chemistry instructor who is assaying the minerals to determine purity and value. "It's possible the nuggets could be of sizeable value and used to help complete the school's expansion projects, maybe even allow for faculty pay raises," Schaffer said. "However, as a matter of principle, this incredible find really belongs to the students who define our award-winning school." Mr. Schaffer says he plans give the nuggets away to students in a classical poetry contest. Those to who compose and submit the best poems to him on the themes of "gold," "education," "Capstone Virtues," and LCHS will win one nugget. There are about fifteen "good-sized" nuggets available - one weighing nearly twenty ounces. Interested students may submit their poems to Mr. Schaffer's office-door mail bin by the contest deadline - this Friday, April 1, 2016 before the end of lunchtime. Poems will be judged by the faculty of the LCHS English department. Archeological operations are expected to wrap up by next weekend. It is not anticipated the incredible find will delay construction of the gymnasium.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

20 oz is a "nugget" indeed.

Forgive me but what do the french have to do with this. Could just as easily been American or Canadian.

I worked with a state Archeologist here in PA and whenever we found remains, there would be all manner of ridiculous claims made for the remains. Some body swore it was great aunt sally, or a tribe claimed it was repatriating it's own, when the skeleton was from a caucasion male etc.

 

[vtbuck223]

Very cool....but the second part of this has to be an April Fools joke....right? I mean a 20oz nugget is worth like 20K isn't it?

It will be interesting if they can determine cause of death. Very dangerous business. I have an ancestor who was a Voyageur....died of drowning.

 

[Nativearizonan]

Very interesting, and it raises plenty of questions. Why would they call in a French archeologist to do a dig on a site dated to after the Louisiana Purchase, regardless of the possible nationality of the clothing? The stuff in the chest probably belonged to the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, an American company. It could even have been stolen. I never read of gold coming out of the mountains at that period of time, so there could really be something of historical significance here. Maybe there was a hidden trade in placer gold among trappers and traders that has remained hidden until now?

A natural nugget, BTW, generally is worth at least twice the value of the gold in it, as a specimen. One found like this could be worth many times more, especially if the story gets out and how it was found. I'm surprised it hasn't been more widely reported. The fact the Revenant was a popular movie this year should create quite a bit of interest in any find from the era, especially one tied to the RMFC.

 

[Nativearizonan]

Very cool....but the second part of this has to be an April Fools joke....right? I mean a 20oz nugget is worth like 20K isn't it?

It will be interesting if they can determine cause of death. Very dangerous business. I have an ancestor who was a Voyageur....died of drowning.

You may have nailed it. The poetry contest to win one of the "gold nuggets" are to be entered by April 1st. Hmmm.

Perhaps the whole thing is made up. It is a high school site. Felipe Criado-Boado is a real archeologist, though.

 

[vtbuck223]

Well the kids spun a pretty entertaining yarn. I wonder how many of their unsuspecting classmates are trying to write some poetry?

"Roses are Red....."

 

[Elkeater]

Very cool, thanks uno.

 

[uno676]

I believe this is true I got it from the principal of the school.

 

[Nativearizonan]

If it is true, some lucky poet is going to get a nugget worth 6 figures. When it comes to specimen nuggets, the larger they are the more they are worth relative to the price of gold, because large nuggets are so rare. A 20 oz. nugget would be a sought after collectible by those who want a rare gold nugget. There are just not that many gold nuggets that large around, and most were melted down a long time ago. Add to that the historic provenance and there is no telling how much some museum or wealthy individual would pay for something like that. Just the gold in it would be worth $25,000. I'm guessing it could be auctioned off for 10x that amount, if it was properly advertised. The school might be giving away a million bucks. Not a bad purse for a high school poetry contest.

 

[uno676]

I'm sure it's a smaller nugget they would give away. I thought the skeleton and cache find was more interesting.

 

[Nativearizonan]

From the article:

There are about fifteen "good-sized" nuggets available - one weighing nearly twenty ounces. Interested students may submit their poems to Mr. Schaffer's office-door mail bin by the contest deadline - this Friday, April 1, 2016 before the end of lunchtime. Poems will be judged by the faculty of the LCHS English department. Archeological operations are expected to wrap up by next weekend. It is not anticipated the incredible find will delay construction of the gymnasium.



Win this gold nugget in this week's poetry contest. See details nearby.

Write Poem. Win Gold. Contest details for winning a gold nugget (see nearby story about the LCHS archeological discovery) are as follows: LCHS will award one gold nugget to each writer of the top fifteen poetry entries received by Mr. Schaffer in this week's poetry contest. Handwritten or printed hardcopy entries must be received in the principal's office-door mail bin by 12:18PM on Friday, April 1, 2016. Include name, date, age, and poem title. Poems may be of any legitimate poetic style and must capture any or all of the following themes: "Gold," "education," "LCHS Capstone Virtues," "LCHS." Entries will be judged by instructors of the LCHS English Department. Winning entries will be posted in the school, and each writer will be able to choose a gold nugget in the rank order of poetic quality as determined by the judges (first-prize gets first pick of the 15 nuggets).

It sure sounds to me like they are giving away all of the larger nuggets, including the 20 oz. one.

I wonder if they ran this by the school board first. It sounds like a very hurried decision to get rid of the gold.

 

[Nativearizonan]

The skeleton and cache find is definitely more interesting, but the gold is part of the history, and an amazing part. Who knew their would have been employees of the RMFC carrying a strongbox of native gold around Colorado in 1824? That is astounding. The whole find is astounding. Perhaps the buried French trapper was killed over it, the guilty party cached everything, along with hiding the body and was killed himself before he ever came back for it.

That is quite a mystery. It will be interesting to hear what these French archeologists have to say about it.

 

[Nativearizonan]

BTW, gold was not officially discovered in that part of Colorado until the late 1850s:

In 1848, a group of Cherokee on their way to California over the Cherokee Trail discovered gold in a stream bed in the South Platte basin. The Cherokee did not stop to work the stream beds, but they reported the information to other members of their tribe upon returning to Oklahoma. The information remained unused for the following decade, however, until it reached William Green Russell, a Georgian who had worked the California gold fields in the 1850s. Russell was married to a Cherokee woman, and through his connections to the tribe, he heard about the reported gold in the Pikes Peak region of the western Kansas Territory. In 1858, upon returning from California, Russel organized a party to the area, setting off with his two brothers and six companions in February 1858. They rendezvoused with Cherokee tribe members along the Arkansas River in present-day Oklahoma and continued westward along the Santa Fe Trail. Others joined the party along the way until the number reached 104.

Upon reaching Bent's Fort, they turned to the northwest, reaching the confluence of Cherry Creek and the South Platton May 23. The site of their initial explorations is in present-day Confluence Park in Denver. They began prospecting in the river beds, exploring Cherry Creek and nearby Ralston Creek, but without success. After twenty days, a number of them decided to return home, leaving the Russell brothers and ten other men behind. In the first week of July 1858, they finally discovered "good diggings" at the mouth of Little Dry Creek on the South Platte, panning out several hundred dollars of gold dust from a small pocket, the first significant gold discovery in the region.

http://www.westernmininghistory.com/articles/11/page1

 

[Follett]

I think it's Pasquinel, de trapper.