A recent article noted that construction near a small portion of a once-massive Civil War camp in southern Stafford County might deter "looters" of history ["Civil War camp will teach history," March 7]. The article also repeatedly quoted an investigator with Cultural Resources Inc. I'm all for historic preservation, but who is looting whom?
This "saved camp" was long ago cultivated to where no discernible structure survived above ground, and local residents hunted its below-ground relics legally for years. Now, the investigator has revealed that troops from New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey were there. He traced a glass fragment to a New York factory. Wow!
One trip to D.P. Newton's White Oak Museum and one hour of research could have revealed this. The fragment was probably one of many Civil War bottles with "NY" and the factory name molded in. A quick check of the "Collectors Guide to Civil War Period Bottles and Jars" reveals a price. Total cost: $18. What did Stafford pay?
But the "investigator" scattered BBs and other metal to distract metal detectors--that's priceless. Stafford has the answer to historic preservation! Protect historical sites by building near or over them and hire archeological mercenaries to identify the remains.
Two weeks ago, an intact Union fort was leveled in SYG Associates' new Brooke Road subdivision. Where was the county? Where was the investigator? How did they miss a one-of-a-kind, 60-foot-wide by 12-foot-high, walled and moated treasure?
Were they out spreading BBs? A one-acre set-aside would have saved this fort. The "experts" did nothing, and not one looter held a metal detector.
If these looters get wind now of an article in your paper, then it will be, "As soon as we heard, we isolated the area and brought in experts." Yet any second-grader would have known this was a fort.
Just part of legal development. But legal isn't always right.
In the 1860s, 600,000 men laid down their lives to end a perfectly legal, yet perfectly wrong, practice. Wouldn't they be proud?
Glenn Allan Trimmer
Stafford