by Anthony Havens, Collinsville, Illinois
Volume 68, Number 4, October 2021 Central States Archaeological Journal
It was around 20 years ago that I first learned one could acquire and trade Native American artifacts. Once I learned this, the only word I could think of was fun. One day I was looking through Who’s Who in Indian Relics Volume 5 and came across a picture of a man from my hometown. His name was Dale Van Blair. I got in touch with him and he was the first collector I met after Floyd Ritter, and Ben Thompson. These guys were all in books and were the collectors I wanted to meet.
Anyone who knew Dale knew he loved to bowl. We met at a bowling alley and had lunch. I picked his brain about relics. One of my favorite relics is the discoidal. I took one with me that he had owned and asked him about it. He gave me more history on it than I had known before, so I was pleased. It had been found near Cahokia in St. Clair County. Amazingly he said he found many near the river in the early 1970’s. He had gone fishing and the fish weren’t biting so he walked the gravel bars and found the discoidal.
This was the piece that got him into collecting. I asked if it was still his and he informed that he sold it several years prior to Floyd Ritter. Dale was Floyd’s English teacher up in Quincy, Illinois. I called Floyd after Dale and I parted ways to inquire about the disc. I went to Floyd’s the next day not dreaming Floyd would still have it. I asked Floyd about it and he just grinned like he does and informed me he still had the disc.
He placed it in my hands, and I was awestruck!!! It was a rough, peck-polished piece of pink and black granite with a harder quartz running through it. What a nice disc, with only one small plow ding in it. I tried in vain to get Floyd to let me acquire it that day. Over the years I made many requests for the discoidal and held it every time I went back to Floyd’s. Finally, in 2014 Floyd agreed to let me acquire the disc.
My persistence had paid off! I have had many nice discoidals over the years, but this one is a favorite. I loved everything about its discovery, from the water conditions, to the location, to the finder. It was found on October 9, 1971 and 43 years later I was the third owner of it. Sadly, Dale has passed on, but hopefully this article inspires a young collector to reach out and learn as much as they can from the old collectors. They will forget more than most of us will ever learn about this hobby of ours.
Good luck and never stop learning.
At top: Figures 1–3. Front, back and side views of the Jersey Bluff style discoidal found by Dale Van Blair in 1971.