So many things…
I left you with promises of geology and dugout history… and since then we’ve brought the cows down from the Mesa, it has snowed 7” and fallen as low as -1*, roads were nasty so I didn’t make it to my long awaited Mike Rowe show in Casper, everyone else worked and sorted cows in freezing weather, and my computer refuses to work with photos (which is kinda what I do!).
Overall, kind of a stinky week.
Oh, well… let’s look at the dugout!
That would have been the doorway. It’s not large AT ALL. If it was used to stay in, and there is trash scattered around, it was big enough to lay down in and keep some supplies in. If wood walls were added for height, it may have been different, but a simple tarp over the top would have turned it into a simple tent with semi warm walls. I don’t believe it lasted more than a season just due to the amount of garbage.
Indy looks over the main pile of rusted cans. Lard buckets and cans, one blue canning jar, wire, stove parts, bedstead, and one old spring trap I rescued for a hunting friend interested in such things.
“Jewel Acme” stove. Stove parts always seem to be left behind in these old dugouts and cabins…were they not made that well? You’d think they’d be precious enough to take to the next place! This little box stove had me confused. Is it made by the Jewel Stove Company or the Acme Stove Company. I found a picture of a Jewel Acme stove, but it doesn’t resemble this.
Then there’s the bed frame…
I suppose it would have been a “single” size, but I do like that even it had a simple decorative element at its intersecting rods.
A coffee cup and one broken shard of a green ivy covered bowl… not much to show… Maybe I’ll go back with some tools someday and see if I can discover more treasures.
Find me here!
Interesting finds and speculation on the way the dugout might have been
finished off as a temporary campsite. The stove part is really cool. Maybe the whole stove was just too heavy to transport as a whole, or in pieces!
Fun to think about!!
Love the Jewel Acme Stove iron piece. How many feet wide? Will you repurpose it into some art form ? I too am a lover of geology and enjoy all that you share with us!
I think this historic site deserves an archeological dig! Sounds like a great project to do with grandkids.
When we were on the ranch we found all kinds of treasure like this. I’m so thankful I didn’t come to Wyoming 100 years ago. We found a beautiful iron bed frame that my husband turned into a bench. I would put a piece of old barn wood on that stove part and make a book shelf out of it. Thanks for sharing