Rusty case found at Arizona park is pried open, revealing rare bit of homestead life

The idea of finding a rusty box buried in the Arizona desert is the stuff of dreams for archaeologists, but such a discovery at Petrified Forest National Park didn’t lead to anything remotely like treasure.

National Park Service officials say the “small metal case” was found on the grounds of homestead that dates to 1900 and was occupied by the Howell family.

Nothing of the farm remains, so historians are rightfully curious about the Howells and other pioneers who began moving to the surrounding badlands in the 1880s.

“The case was rusted shut and we were uncertain of its contents,” park officials wrote March 8 on Facebook.

So they left it in the hands of experts at the park’s Rainbow Forest Museum, with a challenge to get the case open without destroying it.

Details of how they accomplished that and how long it took were not released, but the end result was clearly unexpected.

Inside the case were “some very dried up cosmetics,” the park revealed in a March 8 Facebook post.

A photo shows the makeup impressively survived the decades but is now a much crunchier version of its original form.

“A lovely blush pink,” one commenter noted on Facebook.

Park officials didn’t say what would become of the artifact, but it’s considered important in telling the story of a 221,390-acre park that wasn’t formally established until 1962.

“This cosmetics case likely belonged to one of the women of the Howell ranch or the Olson family who bought the property in the 1930s,” park officials said.

“The Olsons operated a curio shop near the site until 1963, with the ranch house torn down in the 1980s. Such personal items help tell the story of the generations of women who have called the Petrified Forest landscape home.”

This story was originally published March 9, 2022 at 4:11 PM with the headline "Rusty case found at Arizona park is pried open, revealing rare bit of homestead life."