We Found a Fortified Stone Cabin That Isn't on Any Map…Then We Learned What Happened Here in 1874

On a previous adventure, Elle and I had struck cross-country in search of an ancient ruin site we had hoped to document. About five miles into our hike, we unexpectedly came across a stone structure. Now one of the things I found most intriguing about this structure was just how robust it was, almost as though it served a secondary purpose as a defensive structure. Now when I got home, I began researching this place looking for who built it and when, but the old court records and old plat maps of the county and even old USGS maps did not show this structure. It's as though it never existed, but yet here it is. Sure, it's got little strokes on it. Oh wow, that is a cool piece. Just came across this. Look at this. Tell it's a circular structure. I'm gonna guess probably a corral. Probably, you know, from the pioneer days. You see the entrance, Ella? I don't know if I see a perfectly defined entrance here. It was just pretty much created with wood. Very interesting. All right, well, if anyone in the comments knows or has an idea what they think it is, let us know. What? What do you got? Now even though my research was a dead end on who built this, I did turn up some nearby historical facts that may lend some circumstantial evidence to whom and when this was built. The first piece of evidence being that in 1874, the Battle of Sunset Pass took place about five miles from this structure, and in that battle, the 5th Cavalry were ambushed by the Tonto Apaches. So with that battle fresh in their mind, perhaps that influenced how they built this structure. Some sort of tin, lots of tin. I'm looking, that looks like a structure. Maybe an old church? Old Catholic mission? It's out in the middle of nowhere. Talk about the Alamo. Boy, is that fortified. Well, that is impressive. Babar? Riveted together. It's fairly old. I'd say those were probably for a barrel. The straps wrapped around a wooden barrel. Now this was not on the itinerary, so I do not know what this is, when it's dated to. As it sits, there are no roads within miles of this structure other than an old ranch trail. Though I did learn about three miles to the west, there was old Mormon settler wagon train roads headed west, so perhaps the road at one time did come up near this structure. So perhaps this was an old Mormon settler, or perhaps it was a stagecoach stop. So it's hard to say, but why don't we take a look at the structure itself and let me know what you think, based on the evidence that we can see. The window back here. Ella, check all the cornerstones for carvings. See if there's a date in them. I'll check them out here in a little bit. Used to have mortar. Looks like round nails, so it's square nails. Although it is possible, you know, this was occupied for 50, 75 years, and those were driven in later for something. I don't know if I can find any square nails at all. Boy, that chimney is pretty impressive. Yeah, I believe so. Yeah, I don't know what it was for. A header of some sort? Still a little bit of the door sill there. I mean the window sill. Oh, you can still see, I don't know if that little chain is for the dampener or for hanging a pot on. One of the two. Pretty cool. Oh, I just noticed on this chimney too, look how there's a railroad tie. Looks like a, yeah, appears to be a like a narrow gauge railroad tie holding it up. Very interesting. I don't see any carvings or anything. What do you got out there, Ella? Oh wow, cool, a little clawfoot. Sure, that's cool. Yeah, that's a little clawfoot, probably for a little stove, cast iron. All right, well, let me know in the comments below what you think it is. I'll try to reach it, search it, and figure it out. You can see, I mean, there's no footprints about around it. The nearest road to here is literally like three, four, five miles that way. I mean, maybe this is a lodge or something, an old hunting lodge or an old homestead. Pretty fancy one though. A lot of labor went into this one.