Cannon And Carriage I Picked Up

[50cal.cliff]

Thanks for the reply's

What I know so far, it is cast iron material and I will be stripping the barrel of paint at a later date, in an effort to try and identify it.

The carriage is old, probably from the early 1900's based on the wood and screws used.

I will post more detailed pics of it soon.

I am not sure if the barrel has been vented, as the touch hole is covered in paint.

The bore appears to be the same dimension

Mule Brain, I am not expert on cannons, not at all but is that a cannon ball, staring back at you in this pic????? Or is just something you put there to get the pic??
I have heard too much about old rifles left loaded and well,............just had to ask!!!

 

[Mulebrain]

I will have to get a better look into the bore, and will post the findings.

The breech is nearly 10 inches

 

[Story]

I will have to get a better look into the bore, and will post the findings.

The breech is nearly 10 inches

...two weeks later, no word.

Rut-ro. :idunno:

 

[cynthialee]

I wouldn't worry, we would have heard about it in the news....

 

[Story]

I wouldn't worry, we would have heard about it in the news....

Lots of folks have their utility bills paid by online banking these days. There could be a desiccated headless corpse in front of tube somewhere, particularly if the garage door wasn't visible from the road. :shocked2:

PS: Never worried, merely curious.

 

[Story]

Note: A physician & gun collector in Smith County, TX owns a (Spanish made) 3-pounder that was recovered from Caddo Lake in 1954. - He believes that he has the "notorious Mrs. Potter's cannon" but this is not & cannot be proven, to my knowledge.
yours, satx

[Forgot why I wandered back to this thread in the first place]

Thanks, satx. Sounds like the Caddo Lake tube would be a safe bet.

I was wondering if anyone had any rumor or documented post-Civil War frontier use?

Tangential contribution - the guns from a St Louis Medical College, circa 1861 http://www.prairieghosts.com/mcdowell.html

 

[satx78247]

I believe that the tube recovered from Caddo Lake IS the cannon of Robert & Harriet Potter, as shortly after Robert was murdered "by a group of persons unknown", Harriet fled into the night. Sometime thereafter, the murderers were said to have looted the family home for anything of value.

It seems likely to me that the murderers would NOT have "dragged off" the cannon in their rush to escape detection/trial/hanging.
Instead, I think it likely that the cannon was "dumped" into the lake.

yours, satx

 

[Story]

I believe that the tube recovered from Caddo Lake IS the cannon of Robert & Harriet Potter, as shortly after Robert was murdered "by a group of persons unknown", Harriet fled into the night. Sometime thereafter, the murderers were said to have looted the family home for anything of value.

It seems likely to me that the murderers would NOT have "dragged off" the cannon in their rush to escape detection/trial/hanging.
Instead, I think it likely that the cannon was "dumped" into the lake.

You just pushed me down another rabbit hole of research.

Potter's first political career ended in 1831 when he resigned from Congress after he had castrated his wife's cousin and another man he believed had become too familiar with Isabel. The incident received sufficient celebrity that the term "Potterized" became euphony for such an act.

http://www.texasescapes.com/AllThingsHistorical/Robert-and-Harriet-Potter-304AM.htm

:shocked2: Well then.

Potter became involved in the Regulator-Moderator War, and on March 2, 1842, he was murdered by William P. Rose and a contingent of Regulators

. https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fam03

The roots of the conflict lay in the frauds and land swindling that had been rife in the Neutral Ground, the lawless area between the American and Mexican borders.

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/jcr01

 

[satx78247]

Fwiw, Harriet Potter (as far as I can find out) only said that it was a "goodly size group of masked men, who murdered my beloved husband".

yours, satx

 

[50cal.cliff]

I will have to get a better look into the bore, and will post the findings.

The breech is nearly 10 inches

Mule Brain, you OK I haven't seen a post from you since I asked what that was in the breech!!

 

[Zonie]

Looking at Mule Brain's Home here on the forum says he visited us on 8/30/2017.

Maybe he found something in the breech that left him speechless? :hmm:

 

[Story]

Looking at Mule Brain's Home here on the forum says he visited us on 8/30/2017.

Maybe he found something in the breech that left him speechless? :hmm:

That only means his account was active. Could have been a zombie.

"MuleBrain the headless cannonier" sounds like a Warren Zevon song.

 

[Mulebrain]

Hey all

Still alive :grin:

I was up in western il playing on the farm for a couple weeks.

The bore is clear, not loaded. I did get in the trunnion caps so I can get those mounted

I have been busy with other stuff at the present, and will get around to more discovery on the cannon soon

Mule

 

[Story]

Oh cool, you're alive.

 

[50cal.cliff]

Good to hear you still kickin! I got to looking at the pic and started hearing this little voice, like what the........... am I seeing.

Surely Mule brain had to have checked to make sure it was unloaded. :hmm:

Oh what the heck at the risk of seeming stupid I will ask! When I finally remembered one day I had asked and went back to see your reply and you was no where to be found. Where is Mule brain its been a while since he last posted!!

You will have to throw in a video when you get ready to fire it!!! Would love to see the ole gal bark again!! :hatsoff:

 

[Mulebrain]

I am alive and still kicking.

I have just been in touch with Steen Cannons. I am going to get a price for them to install a liner in this cannon. I would like to really shoot cannon ball out of it.

I am in South Carolina, and will be heading north so I can deliver it to their shop. I will let you folks know what I find out from them.

I think the price is going to be up there, but having this barrel safe to shoot would be better.

 

[robinghewitt]

Seems to me that a 2 7/8 inch bore in Mule Brain's cannon is a bit large for a "signal cannon"?

Maybe it was designed for firing when the School for the Deaf team scored a touchdown? :hmm:

Maybe it was for firing over the water to bring the bodies to the surface, like they did when Tom Sawyer went missing :idunno: :thumbsup:

 

[Rifleman1776]

That's a cannon fanciers dream. Great catch. Can't see an elevating wedge or screw. If that is the case, this is a signal cannon not meant for shot. Meaning sleeving not necessary. Also have to wonder if the carriage can withstand the recoil from shooting a ball. Just me thoughts, not criticizing. I would love to have it.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Didn't realize this was an old thread revised. Oh, well, I'm still full of opinions. :wink:

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Any chance it was a line, throwing cannon?

I would think that if it's a late 19th century, early 20th century "signal cannon" it would be set up for a lanyard/cap ignition, but this seems to be old school fuse, with no evidence of it being modified from lanyard/cap, so...,

I'm thinking it's a repro, and it was made in the 1960's or '70's and bought because its dimensions fit on the old carriage...or the carriage isn't as old as we think. It may have been at first a field piece, and bought second hand, ended up on the naval carriage, or it was a working Hollywood prop...lots of possibilities.

LD