Once upon a time, Chesapeake oysters were good as gold — so plentiful and so valuable that men fought bloody battles over them. Greg Bartles, historian of the Maryland Natural Resources Police, tells of the bay's deadly oyster wars of the 19th Century, as local watermen put down their tongs and picked up guns to fight each other and invading ----drudgers----over access to oyster beds. This month marks 150 years since the establishment of Maryland's ----oyster navy,---- a forerunner of the Natural Resources Police.Links:http://dnr.maryland.gov/Pages/md-conservation-history/Oyster-Cannon-State-House.aspx