Archaeologists have found a 132-year-old rifle propped against a tree in Nevada's Great Basin National Park.
It is unclear exactly how long the Winchester rifle had been left there, but it was long enough to leave the stock cracked and buried in dirt.
"It really is a mystery," said Nichole Andler, a spokeswoman for the park.
The Winchester rifle was common at the turn of the 20th century in the US West during a time when the now parklands were used for mining and ranching.
More than 700,000 rifles were made by the firm between 1873 and 1916.
Records for the gun show it was