A Strange Hole Opening in a Field Leads to an Underground Structure Full of Old Valuables
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- Excavating a privy at the former site of the Pioneer Hotel in Balfour, North Dakota. (Part 1)
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Hi everyone! The second part of this video will be out tomorrow at the same time. Remember to hit that like and leave a comment. If you want to see some early content, you can head over to our pattern. Theres a link in the description. Hope you are having a good holiday season!
Hey T If you feel like snowbirding then hmu Ive got 2 1890s era cisterns to dig here in Louisiana this winter
What do you do with all of these bottles?
Happy Holidays Below the Plains!🎄 😊
!!!!!!!!! would be interested... its just really hard to carry on a conversation thru the comments on a video.. the way this is set up, it notifies me on every comment, so i never know when anyone says anything back... Tom is out of town right now for like another 10 days.. you can message him on his facebook and ask him, but we also get a ton of messages there so it might get buried.... OR how about you message me again in the comments of my video next saturday? and we can go from there.. i need to set up a way people can more easily message me.. when i release a video next week, i will leave a comment and pin it to the top, and you can reply to that, and thats how i can find your message. (sorry this is overly complicated)
We usually take the best stuff for photos at the end of the video but the majority of the stuff goes to historic societies, (sometimes museums but they only take the really good stuff) or to the homeowner.. theres usually a local "history enthusiast" who collects old documents and local "treasures" or sometimes they put it in like the town hall or library or community center.. we keep some of it, we re-bury it a lot of the time.. it kinda all just depends on the circumstances but basically we give it to who ever wants it (as long as we think that person isnt gonna just throw it away in a few weeks or something).
thanks for watching
Former medical museum employee here- it might be worth looking into the history of the area during the 1918 influenza pandemic, as many “emergency hospitals” were set up in churches and hotels during the period. If the jars held gauze rolls, nurses and the general public would have been making masks out of it
Totally agree! Too many medical items to be discounted, that also looked like a kidney dish for medical instruments when it came out.
I’m so glad you don’t show exasperation when finding the same ole thing over and over, I enjoy seeing all the bottles and wondering what was going on. ❤Thanks for your had work!
He's likely making bank selling those things to collectors.
@@CDale-tc3xz I hope so. Lots of work goes into this. From research to excavation to then selling them.
Tom, this dig looked like a doctors office type items. No kitchen ware, crocks etc. This was an awesome dig. Congrats.👍👏😀
haha yeah i just wish there was some more embossing! thanks for watching. part 2 will be out tomorrow
Wow, never saw so many bottles come out of 1 pit. Look forward to part 2. Take care and stay safe. 👍
Yeah it turned out to be a record for a single pit. Part 2 will be out tomorrow at 3 central and its pretty good! thanks for watching
Wow fantastic find! Would love to see them all cleaned and displayed! Great video thank you for posting!
If you look at the 1910 Federal Census for Balfour Village, there was a doctor living in between two hotels.
Edited to add: also a nurse and Porter in the same household show as working at a private hospital.
The Balfour pharmacy bottle turned out nice!! I am extatic I was part of this dig, (The next day). Absolutely loaded!!!!!
haha yeah... i only wish there was more variety!! but yeah. Part 2 out tomorrow. Thanks Sam
Excellent dig, I am looking forward to part 2. The gauze jars with the lids, I love them and of course the perfume bottles with embossing, Richard Hudnut bottle design is gorgeous. The intro where the hotel and town stood was thought provoking, I'd like to see beyond the film scenes to the reality but never can, your digs satisfy part of that. Thank you super videos.
I watch many of your videos what a very interesting life you lead, you are also showing history, enlightenment to so much in formation of past companies relating to medical of past generations, you certainly know your subjects, greeting from Grandpa Pete from France 🇫🇷🙏❤️👍👍👍
WHOA FRANCE?!! thats amazing. it always blows my mind when people from non-english speaking countries watch my videos! well thank you grandpa Pete! we appreciate the comment
I enjoy watching all of your videos! It's amazing the number of intact pieces that are down there. When you think about it, it all makes sense that back in the day they did not have curbside trash pickup. A person had to dispose of their trash somehow, just throw down the outhouse pit! Looking forward to tomorrow's video.
Man the work that goes into these finds is unbelievable. Kudos to you.
My god the bottles eh? I was at the 45 or 46 minute mark or so and really bummed out for you that you never got an intact Balfour, but then you found one in mint condition! Good for you! You deserved it after digging out a record amount of bottles in that muck! Great video Tom and Jake! look forward to the next!
haha thank you.. yeah, this was like the 5th pit we had dug at this town, and we had only found 1 other broken one.. so at this point, i had basically given up... but there is a part 2 to the video which will be out tomorrow.. we ended up finding an even better bottle in the other half!! so it was all worth it
😢@@BelowthePlainswow well I look forward to part two!
Bro... I had no idea you had a UA-cam channel. I knew about you doing this type of thing and digging up history since we were in high school together. I grew up a mile away from you in the middle of nowhere. It's awesome to see you have 100k followers. Keep up the hard work, bro. And obviously, I liked and subscribed. Lol
He knows his stuff!!!
Maybe a Dr. Office filling his own medicines like cough syrup with the grape juice for flavoring. Another great find!
Watching from Sydney Australia thanks for the time and efforts you put into these videos..peace..
At one time the Cleveland Fruit Juice Co. bottle was considered the rarest and most desirable of all the embossed grape juice bottles,................then Tom came to town! 🤭
Awesome as always tom !!!!
I work pharmacy...and love seeing all the old prescription bottles. How cool! And the old commercial iron stone .....my favorite. Love the channel
I think that the abundance of juice bottles indicates that a physician was checking people's blood sugar after they drank it like the glucose bottle that people would drink much later.
I love to watch your videos, because they make me feel young again! I use to dig bottles in old dumps when I was a kid 😊
Love your content, from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.I have a few bottles from here.One is Sampsons Soda bottle from Halifax.Halifaxiswhere the great explosion of 1917 where two ships collided in the Halifax Harbor. It was the largest man made explosion before the atom bomb.There is alot of history here on the east coast of Canada.Thanks for your videos. 😊😊😊
Good job!
Hard work!
Looking forward to the other half
Thanks! will be out tomorrow!!
Once again you guys have blew my mind and now it’s 3am. Good thing it’s Saturday. So dang cool what you do. I wish you could dig up my back yard.
Wonder if this could have started out as a hotel, then maybe a hospital, then a hotel again.? Great finds😊
All that hand digging, a labor of love there!!
Banger video bro! Hard to believe there is a part 2. Can't wait!
I wanted to share with you I have had older people to tell me that grape juice helps with stomach issues I sharing that with family and it helped them so maybe that's why there are so many juice bottles Thanks for sharing I hope you have a Merry Christmas as well 🎅🎅🎅👍♥️♥️♥️⚒️🇺🇸🗝️
Wow, what a haul!!!!! Awesome videos!!!!
I love to watch old movies. Thanks to you, I’m now identifying the prop bottles.
got me a chocolate shake, a fine indy live rosin and tom and jake are shoulder deep in an old privy pit, diggin up histry. life is good.
hahahaha thanks!
@@BelowthePlains yeah, man. thanx for taking us with yas deep down in that hole.
Your always are so interesting to watch, You have found so many bottles in this pit.❤❤❤❤❤👍👍👍
DUDE--you gotta love what you do to dig that many holes. I mean, at our cabin I helped dig the hole for our outhouse and that was a lot of work and you do it weekly....
Tom?.........just want you to know that I" we! Appreciate you man.. and rock all things as well. N.T.
haha thank you! we really appreciate that
I'm glad you appreciate it! Because you are appreciated,and the team your with. Hey? Would you by chance know where I could find me a un embossed prescription bottle by chance? Just wonderin! Haha. N.T.
I'm curious like what do you do with all these bottles?
Great dig guys!❤
Hi, it's funny that you stumbled onto a late 1800's open garbage dump that nature had grown over to conceal in just an ordinary looking field.
In Australia, my dad, who was too poor to be able to take trash to a garbage dump on a regular basis so used to dig an open pit in the backyard to not only bury stuff in but also used as an incinerator because he couldn't afford to buy one until much later down the track before the introduction of galvanised garbage bins and modern sanitation trucks taking away household garbage.
So I imagine what you came across was the Equivalent of my dad's open pit Garbage disposal system - that may have been common in the 1800'- Mid 1900's - before the introduction of large scale sanitation and garbage truck removal of waste products etc. 😉🤔🤨🙂
It seems to be a rare find...lots of intact bottles... very little breakage
Amazing dig!!!
Wow you guys are really working hard. Well done.
Great episode
47:00 YES!!! 49:35 I like that one too. ThX for sharing.
What I find so interesting about this series is how the finds lead to individual people of the era, and their stories are given new life, people otherwise forgotten over time. Brought to us from a perspective they never would have imagined. What they deemed valueless turned out to be the key to their own rediscovery. There is a touch of irony to this story.
Interesting bottles those square brown ones that held medical supplies. Wouldn't mind having a few of those myself though. Seems like a doctors office was inside the hotel. Have a great day and happy digging.
a whole lifetime collection of slicks in one hole. I think someone had a drinking problem.
I love how you show the history! Your knowledge is vast, thanks for sharing!
Seeing this latest dig tells me one thing, finding good loaded privies is a total crapshoot, pardon the bad pun. No doubt you've had some spectacular success on some of your recent ones.That has me looking forward to your next 1870s to 1890s period digs.My favourites are the pioneer hotels and stagecoach stops.Greetings from B.C.
Wow. So many in tact. Great video again. Sending good vibes from Oklahoma.
My eyes could not keep up with your finds! Regards UK.
So glad to see another video from you so enjoy them❤😊
I think you've hit where a small town hospital/doctors office was.❤ I just so enjoy watching your channel ❤❤😊
Hey Tom, great watch as always. Are you sure that was not some kind of hospital as well as a hotel? It seems as though there was a lot of medical stuff going on there. Railway workers needing medical treatment? Army? Something had to be going on.
We have been wondering that since we dug it last July. I think there was at least a doctor who set up shop there. its so hard to say, but... i think there was some medical reason for all that stuff. thanks for watching
@@BelowthePlains, it could have been from when the town burned and some people were burned too, hence the need of all the gause and meds...
Hi Tom and jake another good video what a full pit yes I was thinking that a doctor was staying or had a business there it's amazing what you come across I still find the outhouse pits specially looking at the prairie land always be proud of your history Tom just keep digging those pits all the best Andrew south wales uk 👍 👌 😀 🇬🇧
That's good soil you are digging in ....Black and loamy.... Why's it sitting there fallow? Good luck for your hunting...Lyka Till !!!!!😊😊🇸🇪🇺🇲
The soil is always so dark in that area. Centuries of prairie grass decomposition I suppose. Must be very fertile for farming.
I was rooting for you to find anything with something on it then you hit a home run again thanks for taking us along. God bless and save our Republic.
I have been watching a while I really enjoy finding out what comes next. It takes a lot of work.
Awesome finds congratulations have a great nite brother
I like when stuff from Detroit pops out, since I grew up in one of its suburbs. Amazing to me that local products would make their way out to the Dakotas.
What a great pit! Amazing number of bottles!
And maybe the grape juice was someone’s hangover cure??
I enjoy watching you
Thanks! glad you found the channel
Such rich soil....and such an unexpected variety of glass
Good pit guys. Stay safe. Keep up the good work finding rare ones. See ya soon.
Another nice dig!!
You really hit the jackpot on this one 95% unbroken .NICE
Right before you said hospital that was what i was thinking
Holy crap! That’s a lot of bottles lol! Wicked!
That was a great one!
You got some good finds. Happy Holidays to all.
Very nice 👍
Would love to see follow ups to what was found. Cleaned up glass and artifacts.
Keep up the good work.
Do you have a chance to sell most of what you dig I’m sure there are alot of people would love a part of history that is over 100 years old if I wanted it purchase any where do I go
Thats a wowzahhh!!😃😃💖💖💖
WOO HOO! Lets dig!!
Seems like they did a Lot of medical work at that location. A Dr or such had to share that pit, Commented while watching then you echoed my sentiment. I also wonder about so many grape juices. Makes me think the Dr. had them & gave them to patients, who probably were deficient of vitamins in that area. So the grape juice would act as help against scurvy. Ty for taking us along
That was an insane amount of glassware you found on this day!
Killer haul in that pit man , congratulations
Tom, do you keep all these bottles you dig up or throw them back in the hole and rebury them?
You do good work.
Tom ,what do you do with all the bottles
Wow what a great pit. Looking at all of the liquor bottles, medication and gauze bottles. I am wondering if a dentist may have worked in that building at some point. Thank you for sharing your video I do appreciate it.
Very good dig,tells quite a bit of history on that spot. The west was still pretty rowdy but so was my town in KY,especially around bars in the early 1900 s,all that gauze must have patched up a lot of injuries. I love those little grape juice bottles.
When the store burnt down, there was still a lot of stock within. Entire boxes full of jared goods survived intact but the boxes did not survive the demolition process. The contents were loaded into barrows along with ashes and emptied into the pit. The ashes cushioned successive dumps of bottles.
You should consider selling the bottles for the community. Ya never know maybe there is something y'all need fixed up or whatever. Those bottles can come in handy, talk to whoever about it and set up an account. I think it be nice for y'alls community.
I loved the square stoneware jar with the handle. How much do you want for it?😂😂😂
Congrats on that pharmacy bottle!
What do you do with all the bottles you find? Etsy?
Do you sell the bottles? If so how do you get the staining off them?
Amazing stuff! Thanks for all the research and descriptions you give of all your finds.
How do you get your clothes clean?
Looks like you might want to invest in some waders.... Love the videos!
Man that's some good dirt
I am curious why you aren't worried about scratch the glass when you dig hard. Also, sometimes you say you've reached bottom - do you probe the hole again before you conclude you have reached the bottom? What do you do with all the materials you pull out of these dig sites? Have you put out a book?
Love your videos, I’ve been a subscriber for awhile now and continue to pour through your older videos. I was wondering if you ever find any early Coke bottles out there in the Dakotas?
A doctors office would use a lot of gauze and possibly gave patients juice after procedures!!!
yeah thats what i was thinking! couldnt find any records that mentioned it but.... thats probably what it was. thanks for watching
Tom just wondering what you do with all the bottles you find.
Are you selling the J&j gauze jar? Would love to buy , with the lid. You have found many?
You are finding a lot of the same bottles that I dig in 1920s dumps
its crazy to me that you can just see a low spot in a field and recognize it as a potential treasure trove. have you ever tried this in Utah or out west?
What do you do with all your bottles
Amazing dig my friend !
That little jug was sweet.