🔎 UNIDENTIFIED Iron cane for very short person?

[robertk]

I dug this at an 1800's home site. I realize identification may be a long shot, but I figured it was worth asking.

It appears to be solid iron, and it is exactly 24" long. It is 3/4" diameter for most of that length, tapering to 1/2" diameter at the small end, and flaring to 1 1/4" diameter at the head end. There do not appear to be any threads at the small end like you'd expect on a carriage bolt, nor any holes for pins or clips or anything like that. It looks a lot like a walking cane, but it seems very heavy and very short for that purpose. The head almost looks like it has a square and possibly some letters embossed on it, but that could be wishful thinking. I can dump it in Evaporust if it seems warranted.

Any ideas?

 

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[bowwinkles]

We had a wagon with a removable loading ramp and it was about that size and had to be removed and ramp slid in a rack under the wagon and the pin also had a rack to handle the pin when not in use. once the cattle was loaded we wud just slip the ramp in the carrier and put the hinge pin in its own rack.

 

[robertk]

We had a wagon with a removable loading ramp and it was about that size and had to be removed and ramp slid in a rack under the wagon and the pin also had a rack to handle the pin when not in use. once the cattle was loaded we wud just slip the ramp in the carrier and put the hinge pin in its own rack.

That's possible, I guess. It definitely could be a pin of some sort. Not sure about loading ramps in the 1870's but maybe? (I say 1870's because a bottle fragment found in the same hole dates to that time.)

 

[Nathan W]

Looks like it could possibly be a picket line spike.

 

[WannaDig3687]

Could it possibly be for a fence or gate?

 

[Almy]

I have seen similar long spikes used to hold together old rock-filled, timber caissons in the water. I assume holes would be bored through the ends timbers set on top of one another and the spike driven through them to hold them together.

 

[robertk]

So many good possibilities! There is another piece of metal still in the hole (it was a big hole…). Maybe that will add a clue if I can get that out tomorrow.