By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
A trail of marbles led to a spectacular find Saturday morning during the Crawford Park District’s annual Arrowhead Hunt.
Less than 10 minutes into his arrowhead search, a trail of colorful marbles caught Greg Wills’ eye along the edge of a field. While he collected the marbles on a whim, a few inches of what he suspected was an arrowhead stuck out of the former corn field. More and more of the arrowhead was revealed as Wills pulled it out of the ground.
The end result was a 5-inch arrowhead missing its tip.
“I’ve come out to the Arrowhead Hunt for about four or five years now,” Wills said, who admitted he never had a find quite like the one he did Saturday. “Most of them are usually smaller, but I have found full ones, just not this length.”
Wills’ latest addition to his collection was the find of the day and was estimated to be around 3,000 years old.
PHOTO GALLERY: 2017 Arrowhead Hunt
Ten-year-old Wayla Sutton roamed the fields with her mom, Candy Yocum, though she admitted she was more on the lookout for colorful rocks than arrowheads. It was the first time the pair took part in the Park District’s Arrowhead Hunt, but Wayla had been trekking fields since she was two.
Finding the “cool rocks” was Wayla’s favorite part and she already had a bag full of them. Of course, Yocum said, her daughter set a high bar for herself when it came to artifact treasures after finding a broken drill three feet into a field her first time out.
“We got her expectations up,” Yocum admitted with a laugh.
Yocum was grateful to the Park District for putting on events like the Arrowhead Hunt, especially since her family no longer lives in the country with easy access to fields for arrowhead hunts.
“I don’t have this opportunity that much. I wouldn’t have it if it weren’t for them,” Yocum said.
Skip James, a member of the Johnny Appleseed Archeological Society and the go-to person for identifications that day, loved being able to teach children – and even adults – about the history of the area when it comes to artifacts.
“It’s very unique,” James said about the area’s history. “Leesville is very unique because it’s a hub of different Native American cultures, Colonel (William) Crawford, all that type of history – and a lot of people don’t know it.
“The kids have a ball and I enjoy doing it,” James said.
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