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Whew, this goes on and on - I haven't read it entirely yet, but thought I'd share.
Sue

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Speaking of Travel Channel, this Texas relic hunter is featured starting today. Sue


Travel Channel to air show on Sweeny man

By Mena El-Sharkawi
The Facts   
Published December 12, 2006

SWEENY ? Finding a penny in his pocket as a young adult is all it took for Larry Dean Cissna to go looking for treasure elsewhere.

The wheat penny reminded Cissna of his childhood hobby of treasure-hunting and would influence his adult life.

?I said, ?That?s an old coin,? and I remember the date ? 1919 ? and I said I wanted to find more of them, so I bought a metal detector,? he said.

Cissna, 43, started hunting for coins at old homes, but as he became more indulged in his hobby, his hunger for older and more significant artifacts grew.

Now, 24 years later, the Travel Channel is broadcasting a show about the relic-hunting tours Cissna provides people nationwide who are interested in the history of the United States.

The show, ?Cash and Treasures,? is scheduled to premiere at 9:30 p.m. Dec. 26 on the Travel Channel.

?It?s something I?ve never done before,? he said. ?I mean, c?mon, I live in Sweeny, Texas ? nothing ever happens in Sweeny, Texas.?

Cissna has searched in 16 different states for any artifacts pertaining to the military aspect of the Republic of Texas or the United States before 1865, he said.

?It?s just that history, at that point in time, becomes abundant,? he said. ?The items become more numerous in quantity. The rare stuff ? I guess what I?m really after is the transformation of this country and state that happened, which makes it extremely rare and harder to find.?

As a child, Larry Cissna would walk alongside his grandfather, who kept a constant lookout for neat findings on the ground, he said.

?I was always excited to walk down the river by him, and one day I said, ?There?s gotta be another way,?? he said.

But as he departed from his childhood and entered his teen years, Larry Cissna moved on and forgot about his hobby. Then, at the age of 20, Cissna walked into a store to purchase a Coke. When he received his change, the clerk had given him that fateful penny.

?When we first got married, he said he was gonna make his business metal-detecting,? said his wife, Chris Cissna. ?When he told me he was going to do this metal detecting, I thought he was nuts, but I supported him and he pulled it off, so nothing surprises me anymore.?

So far, he?s found buttons, buckles, guns, bullets, swords, cannonballs and artillery shells, among other relics.

He said he and his brother, Ken Cissna, discovered the locations of the four Republic of Texas military camps ? named Bowie, Crockett, Sydney Johnston and Huston ? historical sites people for years have looked for, including archeologists.

But it was nine years ago Larry Cissna?s hobby turned into a relic-hunting business, Chris Cissna said.

Larry Cissna formed his own Web site, on which he would chat with other history lovers around the nation, she said.

One day, Larry Cissna posted a message on the Web site asking its visitors whether they?d be interested in a relic-hunting trip. When they approved, the business was born, she said.

?It was more about meeting people from all over the United States,? Chris Cissna said. ?He talks to them all the time, but he doesn?t know who they are, and it just escalated from there.?

Now he gives four relic-hunting tours a year, he said. Each tour lasts three or four days and allows for 150 to 200 people at a time, he said. Between 300 and 400 people sign up to take each trip, and the couple randomly selects the tourists through a raffle.

After reading an article about Larry Cissna in a magazine last year, the Travel Channel contacted him, asking him whether he?d allow them to camp out with him during one of his relic-hunting trips, he said.

?I was kinda like, ?What the hell??? Cissna said about his reaction to the call. ?Not every day you get a phone call from some producing company out of California ? yeah, I was shocked, mesmerized.?

The show is scheduled to air 17 times this year and into 2007, Larry Cissna said.


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