Intrepid Explorers

How do you folks feel about taking things?

I personally will not take any artifact or relict. I almost did, once. I was going to take a couple pieces of wood to fashion a birdhouse, but I didn't. I feel as strong about taking things, as I do about leaving trash behind. It's a personal rule of mine. These ghost towns and mining camps ought to be there for everyone to explore, enjoy and wonder over. While we still can.

There was a line in the movie Raiders of The Lost Ark that has stuck with me for years. The character was the evil archeologist who said something about a wrist watch. It went something like this: Bury a cheap wrist watch and in 500 years, it becomes priceless. That is what I feel about these sites. Even the old piles of tin cans tell a story. Sometime in the future, after all these old sites have turned to dust or been covered over by sand, someone will stumble into one of these sites. Hopefully that person will have the presence of mind to preserve the artifacts in a museum or some other proper place for people like us to explore, enjoy and wonder over.