Whatzit?

[JohnRich 4]

Quote

The casting is rusty, but not REALLY rusty. Was it protected inside a building or something like that? I am used to seeing stuff that has been outdoors for more than a hundred years looking more like a lump of rust than an actual iron casting. If it were exposed to the elements for over a century, I'd expect more degradation, no?

NOTE: this may be due to the predominant weather in the area. If south Texas is as arid as my Yankee-raised (albeit Louisiana born) prejudices would suggest it is, then maybe the rusting would not be as bad over a hundred years. How did the rest of the "iron hardware" you mentioned look?

Gut feeling: this may not be from the 1880s. The overall condition of the piece including the lack of severe rust, good definition of corners and surface finish, and thin cross-sections suggest to me that this may be more recent manufacture.

I had the same thought about the degree of rust. For example, some of the old horse shoes laying around were much more degenerated (photo #1 attached).

It was laying out in the open, not inside any shelter. The average annual rainfall in the area is only about 15 inches per year - pretty dry.

There *was* a modern work party at some point at this location, which buttressed the remaining wall to preserve it. So maybe some more modern junk was brought in and left behind at that time.

I did look it over for any kind of markings, and found none. I've gotten into the habit of doing this after success in using manufacturing marks to research the heritage of things like old windmills, bricks and bottles.

Photo #2 shows some of the other iron stuff at the site. Of interest to note is the numbers "88" carved in the rock upon which these scraps are laying. This is part of "1888" carved into the headstone over the doorway of the outpost building, and matches exactly with an antique photo of the building in the park museum.

I did not collect the piece. It's still out there in the open desert.

Thanks for that interesting and detailed info. I'm always looking to expand my knowledge for interpreting such things.

For example, I kept seeing a lot of purple-colored glass fragments in old sites like this. And I came to find out that antique glass used to be made with some proportion of manganese content, which makes clear glass turn purple under long-term exposure to the sun. Modern glass is made with chromium, and retains it's clear color. So when you find purple glass like that, you know it is at least a certain age, when glass-makers started switching their methods. That helps date a site.

I find this stuff interesting...

[lawrocket 3]

You know, I would not suspect it is for a stove or something like that. Looking at the design, I see it has a round base. A pyramid slopes to the top, where 5 holes are available. The roundness must be important or else the sloping pyramid would be sufficient to provide stability. I would conclude the round base is used for spinning something.

The four square holes look more like an insertion point. The center round hole appears to be where a screw would secure it to a machine. Given the round base and the four point insertion contact, I would suspect that the it would spin round on its axis.

It doesn't look too heavy duty. Perhaps it is a piece to a spinning wheel or some other light use product used to mill something. Perhaps it is also part of an attachment for a type of wood lathe. The tapered design would allow square or rectangular pieces of wood of many sizes to fit into it.

That's my guess.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[jtval 0]

well the first picture apparently has all of you thrown of course. DOVE, was the closest one.

its OBVIOUSLY the hole Bugs bunny would used to escape all the traveling dangers. it seems after years of rain had deposited minerals it was filled up and collapsed upon it self. I bet if you go back to the site and look at the ground you removed it from there is a tunnell there. JUST BE VERY VERY CAREFUL a train may come blasting out of it.

My photos

My Videos