Posted on 09/30/2011 4:35:12 PM PDT by BenLurkin
When the weather is right, Lake Whitney State Park in Texas is a wonderful place for outdoor weekend athletes to get their fix. From boating, fishing, scuba diving and water skiing, the lake offers it all.
But with Texas locked in a record setting drought, the sinking water levels have turned the lake into something Indiana Jones would love. Texans have recently uncovered 8,000-year-old secrets, reports WFAA Dallas.
Both fossils and Native American tools have turned up at Lake Whitney. You have to go back at least 20 years since anyone has seen the formerly remote underwater caverns that have been exposed by the historic drought. For some visitors it has been exciting and new. But for others it has been a lesson in criminal law.
It's against Texas and federal regulations to remove Native American artifacts from archaeological sites. But WFAA reports burial sites from ancient times have been disturbed.
The 955-acre park is located near the ruins of Towash Village, an early Texas settlement named for the chief of Hainai Indians, who moved into the region in 1934.
So far, law enforcement has arrested 30 people for committing the crimes against history. Each was fined thousands of dollars and placed on probation.
(Excerpt) Read more at thepostgame.com ...
K. That's a new one for me. I'll have to study up on exactly how to do that.
/johnny
| "There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. "Atlas Shrugged," by Ayn Rand |
I recall visiting a ghost town in Arizona back in the sixties. There were these porcine couples literally shovelling refuse into the back of their station wagons and driving off.
Crimes against history?
They were probably charged with trespassing and criminal mischief and theft of something or another.
Crimes against history? I’d like to report an ongoing series of these taking place at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC
Just because someone dropped it a century ago, doesn’t make it government property! Finder keepers. :p
/sarc (sorta)
Uh, did there happen to be an historic drought 20 years ago? that is 1990?
It may be a sign I'm getting old but 20 years doesn't seem really historic to me.
My dad has socks older than this! ;-)
“crimes against history”
Isnt that what they charged Dan Rather with? ;)
A ghost town is an intentional relic for people to visit. These things would have just remained under the water. What the heck is the point of them staying there? Are they on the government’s balance sheet, ready to be handed over to China when they call the welfare debt in?
Pass out “Treasure” map of the area to illegals......Let them walk the dry lake bed........You think they will fine them “Thousands of Dollars”? NOPE
The economy is bad....people need cash......BUT,
This lake has their “Archao-Nazis” on duty, pilfering goodies when nobody is looking.
At least some of them do.
OK I can appreciate that’s your opinion, but why is it like a “nazi”?
I think its pretty ridiculous. Is it because its in a State Park?
There are literally thousands of burial sites and millions of points/arrowheads to be found up and down the Brazos River basin.
I saw some locals the other day at Cedar Creek Lake searching for points and no cops were harassing them.
Too many laws, yes.
I can understand them not wanting folks to scavenge Indian ruins but the headline suggests it is illegal to hunt fossils????? That’s a new and ominous law to me. Also I can’t see the harm in picking up an arrowhead as long as it is on the surface and you don’t dig.
Lake Whitney’s not that old. It’s an Army Corps of Engineers reservoir, made in 1951.
That’s when the dam was completed, BTW.
What would have happened say ten years ago if a swimmer found these relics underwater?
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