A friend and I were fishing out in the Gulf of Mexico off the west coast of Florida a while back when the fishing slowed down. "Why don't we go island exploring," my friend, Bert, said. "Maybe we can find some places to metal detect. Some of those islands were occupied during the Civil War and some of them even had forts."

Well, it sounded like a good idea so we picked one we could get onto without tearing up the boat. Most of the islands on the west coast of Florida are so dense in the shallows with oyster bars it is hard to get near them. Then, with the dense vegetation, it is almost impossible to penetrate the interiors.

The island we picked had one side where the water was deep enough we could run the boat right up on the shore - kind of like a beach - but getting up in the island was another story. We had to walk half the way around the island before we could find a place to get in through the thick underbrush.

When we managed to push away the vines and branches we were able to make it to a clearing in the middle that much to our surprise was a burial site. There were about thirty grave stones scattered about, mostly on their sides. Only a few were upright because they were cemented solid to the burial cribs.

Some of the grave plots had trees growing in the middle of them with girths in excess of two feet. The site obviously had been abandoned a long time ago. There was an eery feeling about the place. Still, we stayed long enough to take a few pictures and read some of the dates on the headstones.

The headstones were made of granite and with a little effort we could read most of the dates. Every one of the people buried there lived and died during the Civil War. The latest grave site was dated 1881 with the birth dates averaging 1824 to 1838. The average life spans of most people buried there was only 35-years-old.

At first we thought these were Civil War victims dying so young, but as it turned out most were women and there was no military ranks listed among the names. These were simply people who lived on the Island over one hundred and fifty years ago.

Henry Flagler, a wealthy railroad tycoon, put a rail line between Jacksonville and Cedar Key, Florida in the early 1800's and this is the time in which these people lived on the island. When the great hurricane at the turn of the century wiped out the railroad, prosperity to the area all but came to an end. The depression years later did island life in all together. The only thing on the west coast to this day is just a few fishing towns dependent on tourism.

But, what does this have to do with metal detecting? Well, there is much controversy about hunting grave sites. Some folks feel it is a desecration to swing a metal detector over a grave site. And, yes, I agree, but what we are talking about here is a grave site in a maintained grave yard where relatives come to pay their respects regularly. A small grave site on a state scrub island that has been abandoned for over a hundred years, is another thing all together.

Now, yes, I plan on going back with my metal detector but not to detect directly over the grave sites, but mostly to hunt the rest of the island where there may have been buildings. The island is scattered with red brick and terra-cotta from past structures that hurricanes have near disguised of any signs of life.

With a clear conscience I will detect around the grave plots but not on them. I do have my personal morals and ethics. Besides, I have heard that relatives often bury sentimental items just below the surface over the graves. Recovering these items would make me a grave robber and a grave robber I am not. They can stay with the dead. Coins and such dropped around the plots by the living, again, is another matter.