The search for Okaloosa’s lost Fort Kirkland moves into the field
By Sandra Averhart
April 3, 2025 at 5:00 AM CDT
The search for Fort Kirkland is moving into a new phase. Now that much of the historical research and GIS mapping has been completed, the physical search for Okaloosa County’s lost fort is beginning. Recently, a team of University of West Florida archaeology students took part in the project’s first field survey using metal detectors.
Following a morning survey on flat, open terrain, the crew gathered for this afternoon survey in a more densely wooded area, near the small river tributary, known as Fort Kirkland Branch. The namesake area is a good place to start.
Here, the strategy is a bit different, but the equipment is the same.
“So you want to have a metal detector, pin pointer, trowel, shovel, bag and tarp,” said Nicole Grinnan, assistant director of the UWF Archaeology Institute and organizer of this operation.
Four small teams select their tools and head out in search of any metal dating to the 1830s and 1840s, when the fort existed.
Pretty quickly, they get some hits.
After the metal detector sounds off, the students dig and isolate the sound with their handheld pin pointers.
In this instance, the discovery turns out to be a beer can. But mostly they’re finding bullets. Soon, the metal detector alarms again.
“It’s my lucky day,” said one of the students. “There it is...another tiny little bullet.”
Case Draughn, a graduate student in historical archaeology, said their discoveries throughout the day have been consistent.
“We mostly found stuff that looked like where someone was hanging out, maybe shooting guns, hunting, that sort of thing,” said Draughn.
Nicole Grinnan, assistant director of the UWF Archaeology Institute, documents the discovery of a bullet during the recent survey of a wooded area north of Crestview in their search for Fort Kirkland. (4000x3000, AR: 1.3333333333333333)
In the background, cheering erupts from another team.
“One of our metal detecting teams was walking and they got a hit with their metal detector,” stated Grinnan, explaining that when metal is detected, the site is flagged and investigated by digging up a small area to see if they can identify what they hit on.
In this case, it was another modern bullet.
“So, even though it’s modern, it gives us a sense of what’s going on out here and how people have been using this land,” she said. “And, really finding just one indication of something from the time period that we’re looking at — from the Second Seminole War/Early American Territorial Period — even just that will help us kind of limit or narrow the area where we’re looking for the survey. So, it’s all good data.”
During the survey, Grinnan and other UWF archaeologists floated from team to team, mapping findings and helping out.
Also offering guidance was Casey Campetti, from Advanced Metal Detecting for the Archaeologist (AMDA), who trained the students the day before.
“Some of the skittering tones or getting a faint tone, even just those as they exist they can tell you a lot,” Campetti explained to one team of students.
Despite some assistance, here and there, the instructor was pleased with how well the students were catching on.
UWF archaeology students, Ellie Minette and Cheyenne Callahan, take part in the first field survey aimed at locating Okaloosa County's lost Fort Kirkland. (4000x3000, AR: 1.3333333333333333)
“Their actual surveying techniques, how well they’re moving the machines, the speed they’re moving through is really excellent,” she declared. “The pace they’re moving at, the way they’re using the ancillary tools, like the handheld pinpointing devices, they’re able to recover their artifacts really quickly and seems like everyone is having a good time.”
Historical archaeology graduate student Ellie Minette said she found the experience rewarding.
“I’m getting my degree in archaeology, so being able to gain this experience is awesome, adding a new tool to my tool belt,” Minette stated. “I’ve done some excavations, I’ve done some survey work, but now learning metal detecting...we get to walk around, listen for the beeps and then we get to dig a little bit and see what we find.”
Under the watchful eye of metal detecting instructor Casey Campetti, Veteran volunteers Richard Weltz and Richard Bacon, and Bacon's grandson, Donovan, assist in UWF Archaeology's search for Fort Kirkland. cientists (4000x3000, AR: 1.3333333333333333)
The search for Fort Kirkland also included a team of Veteran Special Forces citizen-scientists, Richard Weltz and Richard Bacon, along with his teenage grandson, Donovan.
Their discoveries primarily included several fragments of modern barbed wire.
“It’s got to be barbed wire,” said Weltz, after getting another hit.
“We’re out here hoping to locate some evidence to give us some indication that it’s in this area,” said Bacon. “But nobody has a recollection as to where the actual homestead or fort was pinpointed at. So, now we’re out here to confirm or deny. You know, if we can find it great, if not, we know where it’s not at.”
The project is funded by a $250,000 state grant secured by Rep. Patt Maney. Despite no significant findings, Archaeology Institute Director, Dr. Ramie Gougeon, says the search is off to a good start.
“This has been a great opportunity to introduce the students to metal detecting in a professional archaeology setting,” Gougeon said. “So, even though the parcel that we’re searching has a low probability of containing the site, it’s a great training opportunity for them so that when we do get access to other parcels, we’ll have people that are trained and ready to find those materials.”
Looking ahead, Gougeon says the team will review their findings and line up access some new survey sites.
Following a morning survey on flat, open terrain, the crew gathered for this afternoon survey in a more densely wooded area, near the small river tributary, known as Fort Kirkland Branch. The namesake area is a good place to start.
Here, the strategy is a bit different, but the equipment is the same.
“So you want to have a metal detector, pin pointer, trowel, shovel, bag and tarp,” said Nicole Grinnan, assistant director of the UWF Archaeology Institute and organizer of this operation.
Four small teams select their tools and head out in search of any metal dating to the 1830s and 1840s, when the fort existed.
Pretty quickly, they get some hits.
After the metal detector sounds off, the students dig and isolate the sound with their handheld pin pointers.
In this instance, the discovery turns out to be a beer can. But mostly they’re finding bullets. Soon, the metal detector alarms again.
“It’s my lucky day,” said one of the students. “There it is...another tiny little bullet.”
Case Draughn, a graduate student in historical archaeology, said their discoveries throughout the day have been consistent.
“We mostly found stuff that looked like where someone was hanging out, maybe shooting guns, hunting, that sort of thing,” said Draughn.
Nicole Grinnan, assistant director of the UWF Archaeology Institute, documents the discovery of a bullet during the recent survey of a wooded area north of Crestview in their search for Fort Kirkland. (4000x3000, AR: 1.3333333333333333)
In the background, cheering erupts from another team.
“One of our metal detecting teams was walking and they got a hit with their metal detector,” stated Grinnan, explaining that when metal is detected, the site is flagged and investigated by digging up a small area to see if they can identify what they hit on.
In this case, it was another modern bullet.
“So, even though it’s modern, it gives us a sense of what’s going on out here and how people have been using this land,” she said. “And, really finding just one indication of something from the time period that we’re looking at — from the Second Seminole War/Early American Territorial Period — even just that will help us kind of limit or narrow the area where we’re looking for the survey. So, it’s all good data.”
During the survey, Grinnan and other UWF archaeologists floated from team to team, mapping findings and helping out.
Also offering guidance was Casey Campetti, from Advanced Metal Detecting for the Archaeologist (AMDA), who trained the students the day before.
“Some of the skittering tones or getting a faint tone, even just those as they exist they can tell you a lot,” Campetti explained to one team of students.
Despite some assistance, here and there, the instructor was pleased with how well the students were catching on.
UWF archaeology students, Ellie Minette and Cheyenne Callahan, take part in the first field survey aimed at locating Okaloosa County's lost Fort Kirkland. (4000x3000, AR: 1.3333333333333333)
“Their actual surveying techniques, how well they’re moving the machines, the speed they’re moving through is really excellent,” she declared. “The pace they’re moving at, the way they’re using the ancillary tools, like the handheld pinpointing devices, they’re able to recover their artifacts really quickly and seems like everyone is having a good time.”
Historical archaeology graduate student Ellie Minette said she found the experience rewarding.
“I’m getting my degree in archaeology, so being able to gain this experience is awesome, adding a new tool to my tool belt,” Minette stated. “I’ve done some excavations, I’ve done some survey work, but now learning metal detecting...we get to walk around, listen for the beeps and then we get to dig a little bit and see what we find.”
Under the watchful eye of metal detecting instructor Casey Campetti, Veteran volunteers Richard Weltz and Richard Bacon, and Bacon's grandson, Donovan, assist in UWF Archaeology's search for Fort Kirkland. cientists (4000x3000, AR: 1.3333333333333333)
The search for Fort Kirkland also included a team of Veteran Special Forces citizen-scientists, Richard Weltz and Richard Bacon, along with his teenage grandson, Donovan.
Their discoveries primarily included several fragments of modern barbed wire.
“It’s got to be barbed wire,” said Weltz, after getting another hit.
“We’re out here hoping to locate some evidence to give us some indication that it’s in this area,” said Bacon. “But nobody has a recollection as to where the actual homestead or fort was pinpointed at. So, now we’re out here to confirm or deny. You know, if we can find it great, if not, we know where it’s not at.”
The project is funded by a $250,000 state grant secured by Rep. Patt Maney. Despite no significant findings, Archaeology Institute Director, Dr. Ramie Gougeon, says the search is off to a good start.
“This has been a great opportunity to introduce the students to metal detecting in a professional archaeology setting,” Gougeon said. “So, even though the parcel that we’re searching has a low probability of containing the site, it’s a great training opportunity for them so that when we do get access to other parcels, we’ll have people that are trained and ready to find those materials.”
Looking ahead, Gougeon says the team will review their findings and line up access some new survey sites.