The cannon was 42 inches long and weighed 40 pounds, making it ideal to carry across vast swaths of land as the expedition searched for the seven cities of gold© International Journal of Historical Archaeology
Posted on 11/27/2024 9:46:41 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Archaeologists have discovered America's first firearm that was used by explorers searching for the 'Seven Cities of Gold' nearly 500 years ago.
The bronze cannon, or wall gun, was part of the Coronado expedition led by Spanish conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, who traveled to the New World searching for a fabled city filled with treasures.
The 40-pound weapon was designed to fire round projectiles, or buckshot, which would attacked enemies like 'a swarm of hornets.'
The team conducted a radiocarbon analysis on the artifact, finding it was fashioned between 1500 and 1520 with metal that indicated it was cast in Mexico due to the lack of traditional Spanish ornate designs.
It's 'an important artifact,' the study said, 'and is, no doubt, the earliest known surviving firearm in the US and one of, if not the, earliest found in a reliable context in the New World.'
The cannon was uncovered at the site of San Geronimo III, a town set up by members of the Coronado expedition.
The settlement was attacked by the Sobaipuri O'odham people, marking 'the earliest, most consequential Native American uprising in the continental US.'
The battle forced the Spanish to abandon the town, leaving behind the cannon that was never fired.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
The cannon was 42 inches long and weighed 40 pounds, making it ideal to carry across vast swaths of land as the expedition searched for the seven cities of gold© International Journal of Historical Archaeology
Thanks for the link.
The rock band RUSH even had a song about it.
“Seven cities of gold
With stones that fired my imagination
Seven cities of gold
A splendid mirage in this desolation...”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZtMT_MsL7Q
I wouldn’t want to lug that damn thing around.
American Rifleman had an article months ago about this cannon.
Had a sot of recoil appendage to manage it.
No shoulder fired weapon, a mini-cannon intended to be braced against something
It was part of Operacion Rapido y Furiouso.
“...the cannon that was never fired.”
I find it hard to believe that it was never fired. I find it hard to believe that they would lug it around without even test firing it after it was made.
I'll bet.
“The settlement was attacked by the Sobaipuri O’odham people, marking ‘the earliest, most consequential Native American uprising in the continental US.’“
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Is it really an ‘uprising’ when you attack people invading your land? Sounds more like a counter attack.
weighed 40 pounds, making it ideal to carry across vast swaths of land
I had to laugh. Hopefully it was hauled by a mule. At any rate , someone , possibly the mule, was glad when the gun was left behind.
Who is going to be arrested and charged for leaving a firearm unattended and without a trigger lock?
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The ICC can issue a warrant...
lol
That's absolute BULLSPIT. What do they think the French and the British were doing for artillery 20 years earlier in the French & Indian war? In fact there were artillery batteries in the Colonial army comprised of privately-owned pieces abandoned after the French & Indian War (yet some would have us believe the 2nd Amendment doesn't cover cannon).
And the Spanish had cannon in the fortifications in St Augustine in the 17th Century.
So NO, colonial artillery in the Revolutionary War WERE NOT the first.
It was made lighter so the woman soldiers on the expedition would be able to carry it.
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