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What Not to Do with an Old Cannonball

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old cannonball

This old cannonball caused a bit of a stir. NPS photo.

On the morning of April 21, 2009, a local homeowner arrived at the visitor center at Fort Smith National Historic Site in Arkansas with the best of intentions but the worst of plans—he was carrying an old cannonball he'd dug up in his garden.

Ranger Jeremy Lynch, the park's historic weapons specialist, recognized the object as a six pound cased shot (fragmentation ball) with what appeared to be a rusted but still intact fuse.

Old unexploded ordnance of any age can be unstable and is potentially dangerous, so this was not a great way for the park staff to begin their day. The good news from a safety and incident management standpoint is there were no other visitors in the park buildings or on nearby grounds at the time.

Fort Smith police were called, park staff were evacuated and a perimeter was established to keep people at a safe distance until the situation was resolved. The city fire department bomb squad arrived shortly thereafter and confirmed that the cannon ball might be "live." The bomb squad removed the object from the park and will arrange to have it rendered safe.

According to a report from the park,

The shell was found on the east side of the city on a steep bluff that is now a residential area. The site is well outside the Civil War fortifications that surrounded the town in the 1860's, but there were a number of skirmishes near this area and the bluff would have made a good target for practice.

Since regular readers of the Traveler are a savvy bunch, I'll include the following reminder for the sake of anyone who just happened by this site on a whim: If you find what appears to be an unexploded bomb, cannonball or similar object of curiosity, just let it be, ask everyone to leave the area, and notify the proper authorities. This is a good time to apply the "better safe than sorry" rule.

The clincher in the story at Fort Smith confirms that not everyone is aware of the above advice. The homeowner told park employees that he had taken his five kids to school that morning with the old cannonball rolling around in his van.

Comments

Anonymous -

Excellent comments. It's easy to become complacent on matters of safety and security, especially in the kind of situation you described in Washington.


That is a good time to follow the better safe than sorry rule. There is no way that I'd be that curious!


yes i found a old cannonball in my back yard when digging up, more out there i'm sure, would they be worth something, and where do i bring it. thanks.


We're not experts on artifacts, so it's hard for us to say if they'd be worth anything. Based on the above story, the official advice would be to not take it anyplace, but leave it where you found it, and have someone with experience in such things come and look at it. Try your local phone book for the non-emergency number for your police or fire dept., give them a call and see if they can offer some advice. Better safe than sorry :-)


OK i live in Canada in a area where they were expecting the American to attack because of its strategic location as being the capital of Canada (at the time) Kingston. i live a good distance from the fort that still stands today and i found a 6 pound iron spherical shell. it has no fuse and dosent look dangerous. I think it was used for practice becaus it was found in a field. could someone give me any information on what it may be or what it may be worth. thank you


My husband way before we met found we believe too be an 8" cannonball with a fuse. I have recently been searching this item to actually determine if we are right and what we can do with it. It is just sitting in the garage and I am getting pretty worried being that we have 4 children and all the stories I have been reading. Any suggestions?


Trisha -

The official advice from most experts in such situations is to just leave it where it is, and give your local fire or police department a call and ask them to have someone take a look at it. Better safe than sorry!


I found what I think is a cannonball ,I was digging with a trackhoe on side of the Mississippi river seven ft deep in river sand,it weighs twenty point four pounds,can someone please tell me how to tell how old it is,it has no fuse and I think it is solid oh yea in New Orleans  is where I found it.


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