Can you dig it?
A child’s dream of unearthing a fully intact dinosaur skeleton in the backyard is almost never fulfilled, but the guys from the reality TV series “Diggers” have apparently been able to uncover some compelling artifacts at a site in Buffalo Township.
For four days last week, George Wyant and Tim Saylor, the metal detector-wielding hosts of “Diggers,” which is set to begin its second season on the National Geographic Channel at 8 p.m. today were scanning the ground where Wolff’s Fort once stood in a hunt for 18th century treasures. It’s the second time that the “Diggers” hosts and crew have planted their flag in the area in recent months, having previously stopped by to examine the Whiskey Rebellion.
They set up shop on property owned by John Bruner, an officer with the South Strabane Township Police Department, and Annette Clemente, a Washington chiropractor. Though he couldn’t reveal what they found – the producers of the series don’t want to spoil the surprise – Bruner said they found some relics “just a few inches underground.”
“I was extremely impressed,” he added. “They had such respect for the land and they were able to unearth a lot of things.”
The items were turned over to Bruner and Clemente, and they hope to donate many of them to the Washington County Historical Society so they can be displayed for educational purposes and “everyone benefits,” Bruner explained.
Built about 1780 by Jacob Wolff, the fort was one of about 45 forts in the county designed for use by settlers, according to Clay Kilgore, the historical society’s executive director. They were to Revolutionary War America what fallout shelters were to Cold War America – a refuge for workaday folks who feared an imminent attack. Most of the settler forts fell into disuse and disrepair by the time the 1800s rolled around, as native Americans were pushed westward. Some were later scavenged by settlers for wood as they deteriorated.
Kilgore pointed out that the precise locations of the settler forts are sometimes hard to determine two centuries later, and the sites have been relatively untouched by archaeologists, so there are almost certainly other 200-year-old curios still awaiting discovery in the area.
“Very few of the fort sites have had anything done with them,” he said.
The “Diggers” episode featuring Wolff’s Fort is expected to air in October.