January 16: 2015: Forgotten Rifle
 

Archeologists found a 130-year-old rifle that had been propped against a tree in a Nevada National Park and then forgotten. Maybe not for 130 years, but long enough for it to look like part of the tree.

I wonder how long it had been there, why it was propped then and how it came to be forgotten. is it loaded? But also I wonder what on earth the archeologists were doing out there? Are they looking for something that might be related or completely unrelated? What made them notice it?

http://cellar.org/2015/olderifleontree.jpg

Story from BBC

I bet there's a body somewhere nearby. Kill your hunting buddy, quickly bury him, forget to bring the second rifle home.

They made something like 25,000 of those Winchesters in 1882, everybody and his brother had one. But whether it was 1882, 1932 or 1982, it's had to comprehend leaving it behind unless the owner met some real bad luck. Could have gotten hurt and taken out by horse or chopper, but he had to be in bad shape to leave his rifle. Or could have been eaten by Dingos. :eek:

I guess I'm everybody and my brother has one as well. The bluing is a bit better on mine.

I'd be interested in a short story from any and all interested dwellars telling us precisely what happened. I have one percolating, who knows when I'd write it though. Maybe I'll try this weekend.

Great Idea! I'm in.

Also can't understand why they only have that one shitty photo. Even iphone 4 has HDR on it.

Yeah, there should have been a great iotd quality photo there.

What are the chances one of the "archeologists" was the owner? or a descendant of the owner?

I think a hunter/bad guy was hiding in the tree fell and broke his pelvis. He propped the gun in the tree to fire a shot upwards to attract help. Help came, but not before he had passed out and coyotes had dragged his body a short distance from the rifle and his rescuers never thought about it in the heat of the moment and were unable to find it when they went back.


I wonder how far off any beaten path that tree is?

Pretty slim, it's only been a park since 1986, and money for stuff like archeology surveys is pretty slim. Archeologists are looking closely for signs of human habitation, so are much more likely to spot this rifle than a tourist looking for pretty scenery.

Death by misadventure

"Hey Josey, set yer gun down and lookit this massive herd of buffalo coming... straight at us."

I like the idea of creating a short story around how the rifle got there.
Actually I recently read a novel with such a discovery as a main subplot.
I cannot remember who wrote it, only that is close to the work of C.J Box and Craig Johnson.
It may be bad form to ask, but I do wonder if 3Foots "fudge packing" comment is pertinent to all the threads where it appears.

That's a signature line which is irrelevant to any thread it's in. ;)