1880’s Wyoming Battlefield - Red Cloud vs US Army (Maybe Finial - HELP)

[zoomie97]

Found this today in northern Wyoming as I was sledding with the kids. Can anyone help tell me what this is?

Thank you in advance, for the help.

 

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[jewelerguy]

reminds me of a curtain rod end

 

[zoomie97]

Thank you for your response, but I don’t think it’s a curtain rod end. I believe it’s a Calvary flag end called a Finial.

 

[Southern loyalist]

May be a finial of some sort, but most of those for a guidon or flag were brass and attached to the wooden flag staff, by wrapping around the staff and were anchored by a brass rivets, tacks or screws. Your piece looks like it would be inserted into something. I thought it might be a tompion at first, but they're not often made of ferrous metals (at least those that I've dug weren't). Tompions of the period, again in my experience, don't have metal that would go into the bore either. Did you find, or do you know of, other military relics found at the site?

 

[zoomie97]

 

[azdave]

I believe it is a tooth for a trencher chain (or rock wheel).... changed hundreds if not THOUSANDS back in the day when i worked undeground utilities.

 

[azdave]

Here is a pic from a supplier of common teeth.... there is a gazillion styles out there, but they all share a common design and have a carbide tip

 

[SWINGER1969]

I think you nailed it.

 

[azdave]

Here is a Vermeer rock wheel and what we called a rock saw, which is what I worked with primarily (except about twice as big). If you checked the deserts of southern Az along some of the right-of-ways I've worked on, I bet you would find plenty of well worn teeth just like the one he found.... we changed worn teeth every morning and chucked them everywhere for the future generations of detectorists to find

 

[zoomie97]

Mystery solved - Thank you everyone.