This sport reminds me a lot of fishing. Weighs in at 13.2 lbs, my largest so far.
This piece was most likely cast in a factory back east, shipped around the Horn to San Francisco, then loaded on a riverboat and then pack mule to its destination near where I found it. Probably embedded in the riverbank for nearly 160 years.
It may have been part of the sawmill "ragwheel", which used a ratcheting mechanism to advance the log carriage into the saw.
Looks like I'm probably wrong about this piece being cast back east. I found this advertisement in the 7 February 1856 edition of the Marysville Daily Herald. This gear section could easily have been cast in this foundry.
