Bakersfield-Flintknapping: McKitrick knap-in November.2009

FLINTKNAPPING AT McKitrick

McKitrick knap-in November. Gary Pickett Host. 661-444-6163 (phone)
www.lettherockroll.com air-o-head@webtv.net

“Gary is an excellent teacher. He has the gift of teaching and has a lot of patience with us,” said Jim Boatman, 61, of Tehachapi.
Pickett’s interest in flintknapping came more than 20 years ago when he began finding old arrowheads in the creeks of southern Missouri where he grew up. He was fascinated by the arrowheads and thought he could make them himself.
“I just started beating two rocks together,” said Pickett, 44, who moved to Bakersfield in 1997.
It was five years of trial and error before he made much progress, but moving to Bakersfield and meeting Harwood through a flintknapping Web site helped both of them progress faster. They decided to meet every month in Bakersfield and once a year in McKittrick, which is several miles to the southwest of Bakersfield, and work on rocks, but didn’t expect for the small group to grow like it did.
“I’m pleased with the progress and the people it’s brought,” said Pickett.
Every meeting brings folks from all over the state — Inglewood, Ridgecrest and Sacramento — and even from out of state. One man visiting California from Louisiana heard about the group and came out for a visit.
McKittrick was an old tar seep and flint mine for the Native Americans in the area. Older locals recall seeing Indians in the area collecting material. The flint is a tan material that is usually a bit rough. You can heat it but it does have the danger of mercury in it. The big danger of McKittrick is the deadly Valley Fever spore that can get into your lungs while digging in the fine dust for flint. The best material is a gray material found in the near by road cuts. The concrete cortex removed, this material is quite nice, but more and more rare every year. Heat treating helps the material a lot, but it contains mercury so one must take great care in the kiln process. No one digs in the aboriginal flint mines, as they are an archaeological site and also very dangerous, about to collapse at any time.
Some very nice artifacts, and new knapping art, have been knapped out of this material.