132-year-old rifle found in Great Basin National Park

GREAT BASIN NATIONAL PARK, Nev. -- A rifle from 1882 was found in a Nevada national park, just leaning against a tree. The mystery into how it got there continues to unravel.

In a post on its Facebook page Saturday, Great Basin National Park said its staff was continuing to determine the gun's exact origin.

The Winchester Model 1873 Rifle was found in November by park archaeologists.

"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," the park's Facebook post reads.

The parks says the serial number corresponds in Winchester records held at the Center for the West, Cody Firearms Museum in Cody, Wyoming, with a manufacture and shipping date of 1882. Winchester records do not indicate who purchased the rifle from the warehouse or where it was shipped.

Who left the rifle? When and why it was leaned against the tree? And, why was it never retrieved?

Park researchers are combing old newspapers and family histories hoping to resolve some of the mystery and fill in details about the story of the rifle.

The park will provide a viewing opportunity for the community before sending the rifle to conservators to stabilize the wood and apply museum conservation techniques. The treatment will keep the gun looking as it was found and prevent further deterioration.

When the rifle is returned to the park, it will be displayed as part of the Park's 30th Birthday and the NPS Centennial celebration.

Great Basin National Park is located in east central Nevada, five miles west of the town of Baker and about 234 miles from Salt Lake City, Utah.