What the heck is this thing?

[PJorgen]

Took a short adventure recently to remote part of California's high desert. Was doing some exploring and came upon this:



Its obviously a stone monument of some sort, built from local rock found around the base. It's about 12 feet tall and 4 feet square at the base. It's extremely sturdy and well built, I was able to climb it; whoever built it definitely knew how to build dry-stone structures. There appears to be part of a pole at the top. There were no plaques or signs around it. it's not a chimney as there are no openings anywhere around the base.

A few things that I found strange: there is no trail or even a footpath leading to it. It's about a quarter mile from the nearest dirt trail, which appeared to be little-used. You can just see my truck on the trail on the left in the photo. it's 15 to 20 miles of poor dirt road from the nearest paved road. There are no other man-made structures or objects in the area that I could find. There are no obvious scars from where the rock was dug out around it, so it must have been built many years ago as the desert landscape heals very slowly.

Any ideas?

 

[obscurotron]

Clampers.

 

[haven]

Can you be more specific about this location?

 

[JCTex]

If it's mot a fireplace, only other thing it could is someone's idea of a really big cairn. It's tall,enough to be seen in deep,snow. Maybe someone who used that mountain needed to know where the ridge was.

Jerry

 

[UK4X4]

Native american stone cairn....least it looks like one !,,and well made to last so long at that exposed point.....rebuilt maybe over the years

or area 51 take me home route marker

 

[PJorgen]

Clampers - LOL! I thought about that but they usually leave some sort of plaque or marker, don't they?

I don't want to be too specific about the location. However, it's about the middle of the state not too far from the Nevada border.

A cairn or marker is what I thought as well, it certainly can be seen from a distance. Even fartherif the pole were still there on top. I've researched the area and don't find any information about old ranches or landholdings, it's currently on BLM land. Native American does make sense, although I wasn't aware that they built thing like this.

 

[Haf-E]

May have been a survey marker for siting from a distance - they were done when there wasn't other prominent points to reference. Do the GPS coordinates line up with any major lat/long intersections?

Might also have been used for early flight navigation - perhaps from a training base or something - for early non-instrument flights (pre WWII).

The flag part at the top suggests it is not native american... I suppose that could have been done later.

 

[PJorgen]

GPS coordinates seem random. I assume a major intersection would be something like 40.000N, 120.000W?

A couple of my buddies suggested something related to the military. My admittedly limited experience with the modern military is that even something as apparently simple as a navigation marker is done on a big scale. Two or three trucks, 10 or 12 guys and a pre-fab tower. The absence of a road up to the base of the structure make that unlikely. I also don't see the military using local materials to build it.

Pre-20th century military may be a different thing altogether, I don't know.

 

[Desert Dan]

Part of the Von Schmidt line?

Maybe it is so big so it could be seen in the snow or line of sight?

 

[Explorer 1]

Them Basque sheep herders had a lot of free time on their hands..........

Thanks,

Fred
Explorer 1

 

[PJorgen]

Part of the Von Schmidt line?

Maybe it is so big so it could be seen in the snow or line of sight?

von Schmidt line, had to look that up. Best lead so far, seems to be a definite possibility as the Wikipedia entry indicates von Schmidt used stone markers in some cases. Will have to do more research on this.

BTW - how did you learn of the von Schmidt line? I thought I knew California history pretty well but had never heard of him.

 

[PirateMcGee]

Have you tried contacting the BLM?

 

[Explorer 1]

Them Basque sheep herders had a lot of free time on their hands..........

Thanks,

Fred
Explorer 1

Did you just think I was kidding around?

See:

http://pinerivertimes.com/apps/pbcs...150119999/0/COLUMNISTS05&template=printpicart

Thanks,
Fred
Explorer 1

 

[PJorgen]

Yes, I did think you were kidding; obviously you were not. Thanks for that link, very interesting and another possibility.

Had to post a gratuitous beauty shot. This guy and his harem were guarding the trail to the monument. Couldn't get a good pic of all the beautiful females he had with him.

 

[Explorer 1]

Yes, I did think you were kidding; obviously you were not. Thanks for that link, very interesting and another possibility.

Had to post a gratuitous beauty shot. This guy and his harem were guarding the trail to the monument. Couldn't get a good pic of all the beautiful females he had with him.

View attachment 291034

If this is where I think you are ( and I understand your desire not to post it), there are 2 small herds of wild ones. I've tracked them down a few times. Here is the other small herd, the white one in the rear is the Stallion.



Thanks,
Fred
Explorer 1