The snake range of the Silver State looms large within Great Basin National Park.

The peaks, several reaching over 12,000 feet, have a way of making the valley below look small.

But that is a trick of the eye.

For the swaths of land hugged by these mountains, its bristlecone, pine forests, and sagebrush sea are large enough to get lost or

forgotten in. On November 6, 2014, Ava Jensen, a member of the park's archaeological team,

was out on an archaeological survey ahead of a prescribed burn project when she stumbled upon

something surprising. Leaning against a juniper

tree was an 1873 Winchester repeating rifle. Heart beating, eyes likely squinting in the bright

Nevada sun, Eva approached her find. The rifle was resting gently against the tree, as if the owner

simply set it down and forgot where they left it.

And it had seemingly been there, baking in the desert sun next to the Strawberry Creek campground

for over 100 years. When its owner set it down, the Winchester rifle was arguably the most important

gun in America. Its unique level action design allowed it to shoot

30 rounds a minute, around 10 times faster than the muzzle-loading single-shot rifles that came

before it. Versatile and easy to use, it was the rifle of choice for many frontiersmen.

Called the gun that won the West, it was carried by pioneers, cattle ranchers,

and law enforcement. President Theodore Roosevelt loved it, while Buffalo Bill Cody and Annie Oakley

took the rifle on tour in traveling shows. Even as the Old West faded from view,

John Wayne brandished a Winchester on the silver screen, twirling it with one hand the way

others might twirl a pistol. We don't know what the owner of the forgotten rifle and Great

Basin used it for. Despite the best efforts of park archaeologists, the owner of the rifle remains unknown.

And truth be told, the Winchester rifle is no stranger to mystery. In fact, the Winchester

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