With the stealth of a cat on the prowl, the young hunter ever so slowly inched his way through knee-high grass along the Neosho River, north of where Humboldt is today.
His skin was deeply tanned from living outdoors since birth, giving natural camouflage. Dark brown eyes under an arched brow never wavered from a deer nibbling on tender shoots near where the river’s water lazily flowed along the edge of a long, narrow gravel bar.
The hunter knew before he arrived an hour earlier he was likely to find a deer; they fed here often. He was confident of success when he launched a throwing stick, tipped with a fluted point made of distinctively colorful alibates flint. The material wasn’t native to where the hunter and his clan wandered, often quitting one site in favor of another that offered better opportunities to deal with the hard life they endured. But, it was coveted by early North Americans and sold well in a trade.
When he was near enough to the deer, he silently rolled on his left side, took hold of the weapon near its midpoint and hurled it with long-practiced accuracy. The point entered the deer’s side just behind a front shoulder. The heart and lungs were pierced. The deer leaped, then ran through brush, the flint-tipped spear causing more internal damage.
The deer didn’t go far, but as it dashed onto the gravel bar, the spear flew out and during its exit its tip skipped off into the river’s dark waters.
The hunter quickly found the deer; the blood trail easy to follow. He and an extended family would dine well for several days.
On leaving, he scanned the gravel bar and found the throwing stick, more important to him than the point. Points could be knapped quickly from brittle river gravel or flint nodules embedded in limestone. A straight delivery shaft was harder to find, and took time to smooth and prepare for optimum use.
ABOUT 35 years ago I was hunting artifacts along the river.
I’d found flint chippings and a couple of bones nearing petrification, ample evidence I might find an addition for my collection.
Sure enough, lying in plain sight on top of hundreds of tons of gravel, sandstone and water-borne debris that had been churned untold times by floodwater, was one of the most beautiful — and historically important — objects I had found during my years of scavenging. The point was of alibates, a material seldom found anywhere other than an ancient quarry near Amarillo, Texas.
Being fluted on each side enhanced immeasurably its historic importance. The style is of the Paleo period of 12,000 or more years ago. Paleo points were first found in New Mexico, south of Clovis for which they are named.
The alibates example is one of two Clovis points I have found. The other also came from along the Neosho River, and is of more common local material.
I began hunting artifacts in July 1969. When I found two points the first day I was hooked.
The two paleo points and a corner-tang knife — displayed in son Bob’s law office — are among the most cherished of my collection.
The coronavirus has not curtailed my hunting this year — I usually go alone — and that is the only good thing I can say about the devastating illness.
