Presidential secret not in Nashville yard

NASHVILLE, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Archaeologists and historians dug in a Nashville yard for four hours before calling off a hunt for the body of a man President Andrew Jackson killed in a duel.

The body of Charles Dickinson, who was shot by Jackson May 30, 1806 -- 23 years before Jackson became president -- has been missing for about 200 years. Archaeologist Larry McKee hoped to find it Saturday in the front yard of west Nashville couple Laura and Jim Bowen, The Nashville Tennessean reported Sunday.

A study of the Bowens' yard -- which used to part of Dickinson's father-in-law's plantation -- revealed old soil disturbances that caused McKee and others to think they may have found the right spot to dig, the newspaper said. But about two feet down, some of the patterns turned out to be rodent tracks, leaving both history enthusiasts and Jackson's descendents disappointed.

The duel, believed to have been fought because of a horse race -- took place in Kentucky where duels were legal at the time. Dickinson hit the future president first, breaking at least one of his ribs, but Jackson managed to fire back.

An alternate theory holds that Dickinson was buried in Maryland, his native state.