Another man’s treasure: Buxton, North Dakota, man digs discarded pieces of history from outhouse pits

BUXTON, N.D. – An outdated outhouse pit may not be the primary place that involves thoughts when looking for buried treasure. However for Tom Askjem, yesterday’s bathrooms are a treasure trove of knowledge that inform the tales of the previous.

The 31-year-old from Buxton has made a profession of digging bottles, dish fragments and different forgotten relics of the previous in outhouse pits, lots of which within the Crimson River Valley date again to the 1870s. He and his digging associate, Jake Cariveau, from East Grand Forks, journey throughout the nation looking for discarded objects and their long-lost tales.

One can be taught quite a bit concerning the individuals of the previous from what they threw away, says Askjem. Within the 1800s and early 1900s, most individuals didn’t have rubbish providers, so something that couldn’t be burned was thrown within the outhouse pit.

“It’s attention-grabbing to piece the puzzle collectively, roughly, of who lived there and what their way of life was like,” he mentioned.

In older pits, objects that predate the homestead have been doubtless introduced there by homesteaders. The pits of wealthy households typically maintain ornate dinnerware, whereas pits with out lots of objects in them could have belonged to a poor household, or one which was residing modestly. Typically, pits that date to the Spanish flu have extra medication bottles in them than older pits.

Askjem’s expertise residing on an 1870s homestead sparked his curiosity in historical past and began his pit-digging profession. His household moved from Grand Forks to the farm close to Buxton, North Dakota, after Grand Forks’ Flood of 1997.

“There have been outdated wagons within the woods, the home had Victorian-era vibes and lots of it was unique, with the unique door {hardware} and woodwork,” he mentioned. “So I simply sort of bought into the historical past.”

Askjem dug his first outhouse pit on his household’s farm when he was in sixth grade. He found the pit when his household was clearing the woods with a tractor, and unearthed range ashes and glass.

“I remembered studying on-line about ashes being thrown over outdated outhouse pits to neutralize the scent, so I began digging,” he mentioned.

He spent the summer season digging the pit on his household’s farm, after which began asking different native landowners about digging within the outhouse pits and deserted locations on their farms. Now, he has dug out greater than 1,300 outhouse pits throughout america, from coast to coast.

Cariveau went on his first dig with Askjem in 2016. They knew one another, and Askjem had informed Cariveau about digging in outhouse pits. However Cariveau had written it off as a weird curiosity — till he accompanied Askjem on a dig.

“It sort of blew my thoughts when he began pulling out a few of these bottles – they’re utterly intact – then all the things simply sort of clicked,” he mentioned.

By way of years of expertise and analysis, Askjem has realized the right way to determine what the various kinds of bottles could have been used for, and greater than the objects themselves, Askjem is within the tales they inform. The fragments of bottles he finds can affirm or add to tales concerning the locations he digs.

“A number of biographies about these pioneers don’t all the time inform the complete story,” he mentioned. “Typically I’ll discover pits packed stuffed with liquor flasks or drugstore bottles, so typically these outhouses have been used as a spot to eliminate contraband, both by native legislation or opinion of the family, so to talk.”

Cariveau says something they dig up of historic worth is obtainable first to native museums. Askjem and Cariveau maintain just a few objects for his or her private collections, and anything is given to property house owners or reburied.

In January, Askjem and Cariveau began a YouTube channel known as “Under the Plains,” the place they put up movies of their digs and finds. The channel has roughly 4,720 subscribers, and their most watched video — a dig in Yankton, South Dakota — has greater than 160,000 views.

Cariveau and Askjem began recording their digs two years in the past, and Cariveau started placing movies collectively over the winter in 2021. He’s shocked at how profitable the channel has been.

“It took off quicker than I anticipated,” mentioned Cariveau. “Clearly, it’s gratifying to see your work paying off.”

Askjem additionally has revealed two books —one about North Dakota soda bottles and the opposite about Nebraska soda bottles — and extra are on the best way. An ongoing e-book mission has been documenting the earliest bottles made and utilized by corporations within the western half of america from collections throughout america. He is also engaged on a e-book a few dig he accomplished on the website of Fort Pembina, in Pembina, North Dakota, and two different books.

Not all people is pleased with the efforts. Askjem says individuals typically assume he’s akin to a grave robber; some take difficulty with the truth that he doesn’t have an archaeology diploma; some would possibly assume the items of historical past ought to keep within the floor.

“I’m not a grave robber. I don’t dig up burial mounds or something like that,” he mentioned. “I’m specializing in outhouse pits from the pioneer period, and I all the time dig on non-public land with the proprietor’s permission.”

Plus, he says, if it stays within the floor, we are able to’t be taught something from it.

“There’s that sort of cliched saying, ‘If we don’t know the place we got here from, then we gained’t know the place we’re going,’” he mentioned. “Probably the most attention-grabbing factor for me is noticing how human nature hasn’t modified.”