Elk in Estes Park

[buffybr]

What it was made from and if you find whole weapons, how those were made, like I did in Washington County in Colorado can tell you who likely it belong too. Cheyenne tribes tended to prefer gypsum to make arrow and spear points with. I donated an intact tomahawk to the museum near Limon that I found when I was out there antelope hunting.

When we belonged to the Colorado Archeological Society they would have a "State Fair" every year in Loveland. The members would put their "finds" in display frames and display them at the fair. My Grandparents had dozens of these frames, all full of arrowheads and other artifacts. I also had several frames of my finds, including the point that I found in Estes Park.

When I went into the Army in 1968 I left my arrowhead collection with my Grandparents. Several years later, got out of the Army, finished college, got married, and moved from Colorado to Montana. I was too busy to think about my arrowhead collection. Years later I found out that a few years before my Grandparents passed, they gave or sold all of the frames with their arrowheads, including mine, to a neighbor.

WyoDoug, I think that you have gypsum confused with some other mineral, like flint, chert, or obsidian. Gypsum is very soft and would not make good arrowheads. You can even scratch gypsum with your fingernail. I've always wanted to find a tomahawk. A farmer friend of mine in southern Illinois found a couple working his fields. Since the government made it illegal to pick up arrowheads on federal land, I've pretty much quit looking for them.

 

[WyoDoug]

When we belonged to the Colorado Archeological Society they would have a "State Fair" every year in Loveland. The members would put their "finds" in display frames and display them at the fair. My Grandparents had dozens of these frames, all full of arrowheads and other artifacts. I also had several frames of my finds, including the point that I found in Estes Park.

When I went into the Army in 1968 I left my arrowhead collection with my Grandparents. Several years later, got out of the Army, finished college, got married, and moved from Colorado to Montana. I was too busy to think about my arrowhead collection. Years later I found out that a few years before my Grandparents passed, they gave or sold all of the frames with their arrowheads, including mine, to a neighbor.

WyoDoug, I think that you have gypsum confused with some other mineral, like flint, chert, or obsidian. Gypsum is very soft and would not make good arrowheads. You can even scratch gypsum with your fingernail. I've always wanted to find a tomahawk. A farmer friend of mine in southern Illinois found a couple working his fields. Since the government made it illegal to pick up arrowheads on federal land, I've pretty much quit looking for them.

You are correct. Most arrowheads in the Arikeree (sp) River area around Genoa was flint or obsidian. More recent dated finds also include metal. Flint was what I was meaning to say. Cheyenne tribes once wandered the area between Wyoming to southern Colorado. Pure gypsum was not used. However mixed with other materials, it becomes very hard and is used in hardening concrete. It was used in some of their primitive construction i.e, huts but not arrowheads near as I can tell by what research I did.