Darn it, Ralphie, I warned you about this.

"Archaeologists traversing the Great Basin National Park in Nevada came across an interesting find: a 132-year-old Winchester Model 1873 repeating rifle.

The Facebook page for Great Basin National Park said in a post last week that researchers found the rifle, known as “the gun that won the West,” leaning up against a tree.

“The 132 year-old rifle, exposed to sun, wind, snow, and rain was found leaning against a tree in the park. The cracked wood stock, weathered to grey, and the brown rusted barrel blended into the colors of the old juniper tree in a remote rocky outcrop, keeping the rifle hidden for many years,” Great Basin National Park said in a statement.

The website said that “Model 1873” was distinctively engraved on the weapon and that the serial number corresponds with Winchester records held at the Center for the West, Cody Firearms Museum in Cody, Wyoming, with a manufacture and shipping date of 1882...

Staffers for the national park are looking into old newspaper records in order to answer the questions: “Who left the rifle? When and why it was leaned against the tree? And, why was it never retrieved?”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015...epeating-rifle/

Cool discovery!

For some reason I find stories like this to be fascinating. They make me wonder about what went on, day after day, for so many years without anyone around to observe, nor interfere.