Adventures in metal detecting

Mike Kisling and Chris Heimsoth, Mid-Missouri metal detecting enthusiasts, shared their adventures and discoveries from searches in the Moniteau County area with the Moniteau County Historical Society May 14, 2018.
Mike Kisling and Chris Heimsoth, Mid-Missouri metal detecting enthusiasts, shared their adventures and discoveries from searches in the Moniteau County area with the Moniteau County Historical Society May 14, 2018.

Pioneer homesteads of Moniteau County are being rediscovered through the detailed metal detecting searches of area enthusiasts.

Chris Heimsoth and Mike Kisling discussed their Mid-Missouri finds, as well as their focused interest in searching the earliest local residences, with the Moniteau County Historical Society May 14.

Their business cards emphasize their intentions: "respecting history and private property."

They explained how they document each find, including a GPS location, and then research its historic significance. Their goal is to preserve history that has been hidden, lost or in a state of deterioration.

Heimsoth explained the origins of metal detecting, dating back to the 1881 assassination of Pres. James Garfield, when Alexander Graham Bell invented the induction balance machine to detect the metal bullet lodged in the president's side.

In Moniteau County, Heimsoth has found odds and ends from the Frank Moore House north of Jamestown, one of the oldest homes in the county, as well as the Carter Don Carlos homestead east of Prairie Home.

Finding a token issued from a 1800s local store under the dirt is more exciting than a gold ring, Heimsoth said, because of its tangible tie to the community.

The metal detecting enthusiasts have had success at many area Civil War sites, particularly Tipton and Syracuse, finding bullets, knapsack loops, belt buckles and other sundries.

Kisling showed one of his best finds, an ornate lightning rod top, from the Yarnell School site north of High Point.

"People come and go, but the history of the land and objects lasts," he said.

One of the pair's early successful searches was the Civil War-era College Hill Fort at Jefferson City. Although 90 percent of that historic site was lost when U.S. 54 was constructed, they managed to find items from each decade dating back to the 1840s.

"That was one of our best sites," Kisling said.

He told the story of "Old Abe," the bald eagle mascot of the 8th Wisconsin. One of the items collected at the College Hill Fort site, was a militia button with the Wisconsin state seal. His research revealed that the 8th Wisconsin stayed one night in Jefferson City in the fall of 1864, as they pursued Confederate Gen. Sterling Price.

The button and its location led Kisling on a research journey, learning about the celebrity bird, which today is still remembered as the mascot of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne.

Other unique finds in Mid-Missouri include a 1908 coin from China's Emperor Guangzu and a coin with the Machinery Building from the 1904 Worlds Fair stamped on it.

"This is why I like metal detecting," Kisling said. "Every now and then, you have some cool adventures."