It Was Found In The Nevada Desert After How Long?

What an amazing story and incredible mystery.  In November, parks workers at Great Basin National Park in the Nevada desert found a Winchester rifle propped up against a tree they estimate has been there for 132 years.  Who left it there and why is anyone's guess. 

The Winchester Model 1873 is known as the "gun that won the West".  More than 760,000 were manufactured and this particular one dates back to 1882.  The park's Facebook page says a check of company records indicate the rifle was made and  shipped in 1882, but there's no evidence of who bought it or where it was shipped.

For decades thru the desert sun and heat and winter snow it stayed in that same spot until it was discovered.  Park workers taped the stock to the barrel so it wouldn't fall apart.

There's no plan to restore it.  It will be displayed in the condition it was found when it becomes a part of a display commemorating the park's 30th anniversary in 2016.