The Forgotten Winchester is a

Winchester Model 1873 Winchester rifle is a comprehensive term describing a series of lever action repeating rifles manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Developed from the 1860 Henry rifle, Winchester rifles were among the earliest repeaters. The Mo ...

lever-action centerfire rifle that archaeologists discovered in 2014 leaning against a Juniper tree in

Great Basin National Park Great Basin National Park is an American national park located in White Pine County in east-central Nevada, near the Utah border, established in 1986. The park is most commonly entered by way of Nevada State Route 488, which is connected to U. ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. The gun was manufactured in 1882, but nothing is known of its abandonment. The bottom of its stock was buried in 4-5 inches of accumulated soil and vegetation, and a round of ammunition stored in its buttstock dated between 1887 and 1911, indicating that it had been resting there for many years. A post about the weathered gun on the park's Facebook page captured the public's imagination and went viral because of the mystery of who left the gun propped against the tree and why they never returned for it. This gun has become an iconic rifle of the American west.

Discovery

Prior to the rifle's discovery, the National Park Service had started a $280,000 fuels reduction project around Strawberry Creek Campground to prevent campfires from sparking wildfires in the surrounding forest. As part of the project, the Park Service sent staff from their cultural resources office to search the project area for artifacts, which is when archaeologist Eva Jensen found the rifle leaning against a tree above the campground. The discovery was fortunate because less than two years later the Strawberry Fire swept through the area and consumed the juniper tree the rifle had been leaning against.

Conservation and description

The rifle is a Winchester Repeating Arms Company Model 1873, the same type featured in the 1950 film ''

Winchester '73 ''Winchester '73'' is a 1950 American Western film directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea and Stephen McNally. Written by Borden Chase and Robert L. Richards, the film is about the journey of a prized ...

''. The rifle's serial number indicates that it was manufactured in 1882. Winchester mass-produced this model of .44-40 caliber rifle that became known as the "Gun that Won the West," making 25,000 of them in 1882 alone. The First Model 1873 has a serial number of 1 to about 31000. The Second Model has serial number of 31000 to 90000. Original Winchester factory records are viewable for the 1873 model from the Cody Firearms Museum in Cody, Wyoming, from serial number 1 thru 720496, except 497 thru 610 and 199551 thru 199598. The park service sent the gun to the Firearms Museum at the

Buffalo Bill Center of the West The Buffalo Bill Center of the West, formerly known as the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, is a complex of five museums and a research library featuring art and artifacts of the American West located in Cody, Wyoming. The five museums include the ...

Cody, Wyoming Cody is a city in Northwest Wyoming and the seat of government of Park County, Wyoming, United States. It is named after Colonel William Frederick " Buffalo Bill" Cody for his part in the founding of Cody in 1896. The population was 10,066 at ...

for analysis and conservation. A team of researchers took the firearm to a local hospital to be X-rayed under the patient name "Rifle". While the chamber and ammunition tube were not loaded, the X-rays revealed a live .44-Winchester centerfire caliber cartridge in a compartment inside the

buttstock A gunstock or often simply stock, the back portion of which is also known as a shoulder stock, a buttstock or simply a butt, is a part of a long gun that provides structural support, to which the barrel, action, and firing mechanism are attached ...

. This cartridge was manufactured by the

Union Metallic Cartridge Company The Union Metallic Cartridge Company (UMC) was an early manufacturer of cartridge ammunition for small arms. The company was founded in 1867 during the most rapid evolution of cartridge design to date. Following merger with Remington Arms in 1912, ...

sometime between 1887 and 1911. The X-ray also showed that a crack in the stock had been repaired with metal pins. The conservators used

hydroxypropyl cellulose Hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) is a derivative of cellulose with both water solubility and organic solubility. It is used as an excipient, and topical ophthalmic protectant and lubricant. Chemistry HPC is an ether of cellulose in which some of t ...

to preserve the wooden gunstock and prevent it from further deterioration. The Forgotten Winchester is on permanent display in the Baker Visitor Center of

, along with its cartridge.

References

{{reflist Great Basin National Park Winchester Repeating Arms Company firearms Individual firearms