Collector Spotlight- LoneStar

December 2024

Frank Garry Hartmann. Born in Passaic, New Jersey in 1951. Graduated from Boonton High School in 1969. Attended Oceanography School at Florida Institute of Technology until 1971. Moved to Texas in 1976. Worked for Brown and Root Constructors and as a Union Carpenter until 1980. Opened Lone Star Remodeling and G.C., Inc. in 1982. and operated a full service upper end residential and commercial remodeling company until 2017 when I retired and dedicated my time to fishing, fossils and chasing history with metal detecting and Prehistoric Texas Indian Artifacts.

I always had an interest in History and old stuff from a young age. I built my first metal detector from a RELCO add on the back cover of Popular Science Magazine in 1967 with the help of my dad.

After I moved to Texas I searched all over Galveston Bay’s shorelines for the pirate Jean Laffitte’s booty and found some of the home sites from a few of his captains that settled after he left Texas waters in 1822. I found that under most the colonial remains and debris were the remains of prehistoric Indian camps as they had first dibs on the real estate before the white man cometh. That started a whole new look at history for me.

For the last 45 years I’ve participated in Pay digs and screen digs all around the Texas Hill Country and amassed quite a collection. I designed and built a shaker/screener trailer years ago and fed it with a Kubota Loader-backhoe. It would shake and screen a yard of Texas Dirt in about 6 minutes. The waste dirt fell onto a conveyer that threw it out the back and all the good stuff stayed on the screen. This way you didn’t have to keep moving the screen to be clear of dirt. When business got tough I had to sell it to a well to do gentleman rancher who had a bunch of camps on his property. I never got to build another.

About 7 years ago I got involved with archaeology on an avocational level and started volunteering with The Houston Archaeological Society. From there I met and volunteered with other groups around the State such as The Hill Country Archaeological Society, Coastal Bend Archaeology Society and the Texas Archaeology Society.

I Try to attend the yearly field school that TAS does on a yearly basis. It’s a week long get together of about 350 like minded people who work together as teams at a prehistoric site, many times one with historic influences of some sort. It’s a great learning experience and people from all over the country come and play. I highly recommend it to young and old alike. Camping or motels are always available nearby. Kids are welcome.

Just about every day I have to pinch myself and see if I’m dreaming. I’m pleased to be living in The Lone Star State, and having all these things available to me at a time when I can kick back and enjoy it all. K.

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