Harris Ranch Barbed Wire

Three varieties of barb wire observed at Harris Ranch as identified via the Barbed Wire Identification Encyclopedia. by Harold L Hagemeier, (Fifth Edition).

Gliddens Round Single Strand - Patent #RE 6913

Curtis Half Twist Half Round Barb - Patent #470,747. Less confident as it is hard to tell if the barbs have been twisted 1/2 turn, or rather I am not sure of what that would look like.

Not too sure on this one as only have the single barb to go by,  but proably a Curtis variation.

California State Library.

Whew. These last few months have been a whirlwind!

From March to May, I was in California doing research and field work. The first part was spent in Sacramento, California at the State Library and the State Archive. At the California State Library, I spent a good amount of time in the California History Room. Overall the experience was very good. The library has several differant card catologue systems, on physical cards. There are always treasures to be found on the old card systems. In addition to the standard photo copier they have microfilm and book scanners that allow you to either email the page or save it to a flash drive. This system saved a lot of time and money. If you have research to do I highly suggest the California State Library.

Busy, Busy, Busy

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of preparation: of working on Harris Ranch, both compiling the site record together and creating maps for the documents at well. So far the entire document, without reference is over 8 thousand words. I am really hoping that it will not all languish in an appendix in my final thesis.

Today also marks the last day of eight straight days of teaching, although not all of it academic. The experience has given me new perspective into the future life I wish to live. A time to be reflective if you like, something highly encouraged from the start of my doctoral work.

The best part strangely was teaching a small group of Masters Students my theoretical approach. One person in the group was strongly against my ideas, and was not afraid to observe in his opinion were the short fallings. I disagreed with most of what he said, but I could at least understand from where his own theoretical background was founded. My dad used to say, usually after he had again beaten me soundly, "You learn nothing when you win at chess, but always something when you lose."

For this one moment it was nice to have a bit of opposition to my ideas. Not that one would like that all the time, but when you are preparing for the next big conference or paper, a think tank was invigorating.

A link to Stockton - The Stockton Fire Brick Factory

Several different kinds of branded firebricks are scattered around Harris Ranch. They include:

 An unknown "N..." branded brick.

 

 

A "DIABLO" branded brick.



 



Two different versions of "CARNEGIE" branded brick.

Both the "DIABLO" and "CARNEGIE" bricks were produced by the Stockton Fire Brick Company and each has a very interesting company biography.

"CARNEGIE" was originally manufactured by the Carnegie Brick & Pottery Factory of Carnegie, California (now a ghost town) who were in operation from 1902 to 1911. According to the linked website the many of the former employees of Carnegie Brick & Pottery went on to work for the Stockton Fire Brick Company.

"DIABLO" was originally produced by the Stockton Fire Brick Company. The company was sold to Gladding, McBean and Co (Jim Graves) in 1942. Gladdings, McBean and Co continued production of the brand for an unknown time. Through various mergers and transitions the company is still in operations today under the name of Gladdings, McBean.

Tractor: Buried Intentionally or Buried Accidentally

Buried intentionally or buried accidentally? There is a sizable granitic boulder (as can be seen in the images) that rests atop the tractor. Throughout the site there is evidence of erosion control measures, so there could have been a flash flood. It is also not unheard of people in agriculture setting opting to bury large vehicles as a form of disposal.

 

The tractor was found only because a new stream channel has formed next to it. The stream channel is about a meter and half deep. 

Visible in the above image is the back wheel. 

Close up view:

The wheel rim has 6 lugs. 

 

The steering column is visible. I guess the metal sheeting is either part of the body or part of the back wheel well. 

This very narrow area is the only part of the undercarriage that is visible. There was not enouph of the back tire to get a accurate size. Interestingly the tire is a white wall. 

A lone head light. 

Chevy Vehicle Overview Images

Sadly this out of focus image of the front end is the best view of the car. As you can see it is very overgrown with sagebrush.

 

Taken a couple of steps to the right, this is the vehicle in its entirety. 

Back panel for the cab.

The back end is a giant sagebrush plant, but you can see the wooden components as well as the tail light in this image.

Harris Ranch 1930 Chevy car parts - Update

Several people asked for more specific photographs of the engine and parts. Any help identifying what the parts are, and when they were manufactured would be of the very appreciated. Please note the car is set up for an American driver.

Engine number reads "88501 // A 8 0 // Chevy Emblem 1". Thanks to Filling Station I was able to identify the engine as built in 1929 or 1930. 

 When you add in the information from the water outlet, able to determine the Chevy is from 1930.

  Passenger side of the engine. Also shows the colour striping.

What ever finally killed the engine it was an internal problem. - Still don't know what caused this damage. Thanks to an unknown commentor there does appear to be a intentional knife cut in the extreme left. Perhaps in hopes of preventing the damage?

Distributor reads: “ANDERSON / Ind// Delco – Remy // Model / 633G// Serial / 480814// AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT”

- Update: Thanks to the power of Google, the cap dates to 1931. 

Starter? Plate reads: 

 “ANDERSON / Ind// Delco – Remy // Model / 7141// Serial / 498795// AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT”

Update - Still working on a way to date the fuel pump. The model number reads "855261".

 Not part of the engine but another unknown. Someone suggested the window mechanism?
Update - Thanks again to an unknown commenter they identified it as a window regulator.  

Thanks to all who have offered help!