Top of Utah man glories in collecting Native American artifacts
NICK SHORT/Standard-ExaminerGilmer Bush has been collecting Indian artifacts since he was a young child on business trips with his father in California. Bush is pictured on Tuesday at his home in Plain City.
NICK SHORT/Standard-ExaminerA collection of arrowheads is on display at the home of Gilmer Bush on Tuesday in Plain City.
NICK SHORT/Standard-ExaminerA Fremont Indian headdress is on display at the home of Gilmer Bush on Tuesday in Plain City.
NICK SHORT/Standard-ExaminerAn Apache hunting charm is on display at the home of Gilmer Bush on Tuesday in Plain City.
NICK SHORT/Standard-ExaminerSpindle whirls and a fish hook are on display at the home of Gilmer Bush on Tuesday in Plain City.
NICK SHORT/Standard-ExaminerAtlatl weights are on display at the home of Gilmer Bush on Tuesday in Plain City.
PLAIN CITY — Walk into the home of Gilmer Bush and you step back into hundreds of different time periods of Native American cultures.
Artifacts adorn just about every nook, wherever you turn.
Bush has spent a lifetime becoming familiar with and collecting artifacts from private properties.
Because he knows what to look for, he said, it’s second nature for him to discover a site of Native American dwellings just by the lay of the land and the location of a natural water source.
“I’ve bought a lot of old books that document where some sites have been found,” he said. “You learn to recognize what these sites have in common.”
Bush has made a business of buying and trading Native American artifacts.
His company is named The Hogup Trade Company after Box Elder County mountains where the family has found some historical items.
Bush specializes in artifacts made of perishable materials.
“Because they are plant fibers, how they last so many years is beyond me,” he said, pointing to pieces of a basket he found that are estimated to be 1,200 years old.
Bush, 59, has had a love for collecting Native American artifacts since he was 7. He said his father took him along when he went to photograph a San Fernando Valley mission that had been damaged in an earthquake.
Both of Bush’s parents were world-renowned photographers for the Los Angeles Daily News.
“My dad said to go out there in the field and see what I could find,” he said. “There were iron axes and hoes and a very large (stone bowl) that was 40 inches tall. … Why it was left laying out there in the field was beyond me, because it was of great historical value to the mission.”
Bush said he loaded his father’s car so tight with all the treasures he found that day that his dad had to remove some to make room to take camera equipment home.
“I was quite angry with him for several days because of what we had to leave behind,” he said. “We never went back.”
When he was 10, he studied under the tutelage of Alex Apostolides, who has been recognized as a real-life Indiana Jones, who taught archaeology at University of California, Los Angeles.
Bush said he spent time in Apostolides’ classes while his father taught photography classes at UCLA.
He also spent time during his formative years at Apostolides’ home in Malibu, Calif.
“He had a Chumash site in his back yard he worked on in his spare time,” Bush said. “That was the largest Native American culture in California.”
Bush talked about his admiration for those people who lived long ago.
“Can you imagine going out in a dugout canoe and fishing for great whites and giant whales?” he said.
Just as there was danger in those days, Bush said, today there is a different type of danger for those who collect ancient items illegally.
“We do not encourage people to just pick up arrowheads anywhere,” Bush said. “On state, federal and BLM land, it’s against the law. It’s a felony. There can be a federal charge for taking artifacts off that land.”
He said people should take precautions to know when they are on government land and alert authorities when they find ancient sites on those lands.
“It’s legal to obtain artifacts on private land,” he said. “Make sure the landowner gives you permission.”
He also warns against fraud in the antiquities market.
“Ninety-five percent of the artifacts in the United States are fakes,” he said. “There are fellows in the United States who make a lucrative living at making fake artifacts.”
Bush said it takes a well-trained eye to know the difference between real artifacts and those manufactured to copy them.
He talked about his years of study to know the difference.
Bush said his love of the past is something he has passed on to his son, Loring, 25.
Loring has been looking for artifacts with his dad since he was 5.
The two had their greatest find when Loring was 10 or 11, a Fremont sword point made of brown jasper. When a Virginia Beach television station heard about the find, station officials invited Bush and his son on an all-expenses paid trip to a taping of its Treasures in Your Home program and an offer from the program’s host to purchase the artifact for $10,000.
“There were other people there to be interviewed,” Bush said of the taping. “They ended up talking to us for 45 minutes. The people behind us didn’t get on.”
The point, now named Loring’s sword, measures 9 1/8 inches long, 3 3/16 inches wide and 1/8 inch thick at its thickest point.
Today that sword point sits in a well-secured display cabinet for the family to admire and has been written about in some archeological collection materials.
“It’s the premium point of its type,” Bush said. “It’s the largest known example.”
Bush said the item is not for sale unless the family comes into a great financial need sometime.
He’s employed as a general contractor, a business that has its ups and downs.
The collector hopes his finds will bring joy to both his son and his grandson for many years to come.
