If you would like to have a whole page to "state your case", now is your chance. Anything that has to do with the Civil War, relic hunting, relic collecting, the Confederate flag, etc. is wecome here.
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I thought you might be interested in my "unabridged" letter to the editor that I mailed to the Washington Post.

January 25, 1999

Dear Washington Post Editor:

Linda Wheeler's article on Saturday, January 23rd, entitled, "Union Civil War Fort Defines Past, Present", raises some very legitimate concerns about our values, problems and priorities in Northern Virginia. Unfortunately, the ransacking of Civil War sites by relic hunters should not have been included among them. The Government historians who observed that a compost pile "probably saved the significant earth structure because it discouraged souvenir seekers from disturbing the land" is not only inaccurate and demeaning, but grossly misses the point.

The rifle pits that Laurie Ward inadvertently preserved on her lot were not threatened by relic hunters. Wheeler's own research identifies the cause as unregulated and unrelenting development. Since I moved to Northern Virginia in 1973, I have watched the quality of life in the region gradually deteriorate. I have noted with concern the systematic development of practically every vacant parcel of unprotected land resulting in deteriorating school systems, traffic congestion and gridlock, and the continuous deterioration of the environment.

Unfortunately, Fort Ethan Allen is gone today because the residents of Arlington County and their elected officials decided, years ago, that it was not worth protecting. They preferred development of the area over preservation of this historic site. I can assure you, although I don't know this for a fact, that the county approved development of the site with no requirement whatsoever that the historic relics left behind be recovered, recorded and preserved. With some luck, maybe a few relic hunters were able to exhume a handful of the thousands of historical artifacts that are now under roads, foundations, swimming pools and compost piles in the Old Glebe Road neighborhood.

As a member of the Northern Virginia Relic Hunters Association, I take pride in the fact that our club members have helped preserve and document much of this area's Civil War history before it disappears forever under the effects of our self imposed economic prosperity. Some of our most recent projects have been assisting the National Park Service archaeology team locate and recover artifacts at Manassas National Battlefield Park (before the expansion of Lee Highway and Sudley Road and construction of a new parking lot); teaming up with the Smithsonian Institution in the recovery of four Union Soldiers from their resting place (before a McDonalds was built on the site in Centreville), and a site survey at Opequan Church in Kernstown, Virginia.

Every month, Civil War sites in Arlington, Fairfax and Loudoun Counties are being destroyed, with the full knowledge of the governmental agencies involved, and little or no effort is being made to survey and preserve the artifacts left behind more than 133 years ago. Some of these sites are being developed by the very State and County governmental agencies that openly lament the passing of these historical areas.

Yet, these governmental agencies refuse, when asked, to allow us to help them survey the sites. This seems somewhat hypocritical to me. Could possibly the old saying, "Now that's the pot calling the kettle black", have originated during the Civil War?

I, for one, feel the legitimate relic hunter performs a great community service by locating and preserving extremely important pieces of our history before they are lost to us forever.

Ray M Culter

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