Meet: Ken Schmidt
Location: 5,600 ft. elevation in Southwest Montana
email: bisonjump@aol.com
Auction Handle: bisonjump@aol.com
About me!
Born somewhere back east in 1950 - spent
most early years overseas. Decided to head west after high
school. Been in Montana for 31 years... I'll never leave
this beautiful area. Got interested in early American
prehistory in 68, studied anthropology in college, even. So
now I teach computer use to state employees, and wander the hills
every chance I get. I go on Forest
Service archaeology digs every summer as kind of a local who
knows where all the sites are, and demonstrate flint knapping and
such to project volunteers. As a knapper, I make decorations and
jewelry. Never ever pass my work off as real. My
personal collection is almost exclusively local, from private
lands, but it's got some really fine artifacts.
How I got started collecting!
My wife and I went to a local lake sometime in '72, hearing there were a few "arrowheads" there. We sat down to lunch, and she picked up a perfect 1.5 inch atlatl dart point about 6,000 yrs old. That was all it took. We scoured that lake shore for hours, and I still go back there every week or so.
What I like to collect!
I collect all sorts of artifacts, but prefer to search for Paleolithics. So far I've found a few... My brother found the best Folsom I've ever seen, but you'll only see my rather poor specimens here. I also like to look for mauls and other ground stone artifacts, since they're so rare this far north.
My favorite relic!
All of my really nice artifacts are ones I've found - I especially like this large Paleo blade
A few pics!
This is what Montanans look like:
