Cannon ball found near GW Highschool.

[MOtreasurehunter]

Hi, i just recently moved back to Missouri, but when i was living in CO and gowing to George Washington High School there in Denver, i was walking home from school toward the Safeway just north of the school and was walking through a field behind my house that looks to have never been used, i was walking along and saw what i thought was a almost perfectly round rock 3/4 of the way in the ground, i thought i would pick it up and bring it home to my mom saince she is a rock hound, when i succesfully got what i thought was a rock out of the ground after breaking a ruller, and 2 pencles, i found it was a steel or iron ball about 4-5 pounds and it was partly curoded on the side that was out of the ground and it had rust spots all over it, well i kept it and i was told by my brother that it had to be a bering from a train or somthing, but i had other ideas as to what it might be, looking on the internet i found out it was a Howitzer Cannon ball used during the Civil War and now im obsessed with finding relics, it was a pretty good first find for someone who wasnt even relic hunting, but my question is this, why did i find a civil war era cannon ball in a unused field behind my house in Denver Colorado?i always thought the civil war took place in the southern and mid western states....


Evvan

 

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[nuggetshooter323]

That was a great find. But consider this, cannons were in use during the civil war era, all over the place. But it does not mean some civil war battle took place in denver. Maybe that place was a storage area for the Army at one time. Maybe as the Army was moving some equipment, a cannon ball dropped and rolled away. At that time it might not have been worth the effort to chase it as it rolled away. There are some sites that I know about in the Denver metro area that you can find civil war era relics, and I think a cannon ball would be an awesome find.

 

[coloradocav]

Great story. Possibly had something to do with the Indian wars here in Colorado, I have found exploded cannonballs and Hotchkiss shells in eastern Colorado, they were fired at the Dog soldiers. Of all the Artillery my team and I have found and observed from various Colorado sites, none are solid shots. Don't think solid shots were much use against indians. Back in WW1-WW2 there were military cadets in the high schools, I have a 1920's cadet button from East high school. This could possibly have somthing to do with your ball. Nice job.

 

[Montana Jim]

It's a shot put.

Maybe.

 

[TheNewCatfish]

Here in Big Spring, Texas 32 two pound cannon balls measuring 2 and 1/8th" diameter were found at Moss Creek, along with a Spanish sword and a Conquistador's helmet. I know of three other local people who have found more cannon balls on Big WildHorse Creek and have them in their relic collection. I took some photos of these.

From what i've read about the Conquistadors (Cabeza de Vaca's Report to the King of Spain translated by Phillip Doyle), the Spanish were very much aware the Indian longbow had them outgunned. According to de Vaca's account, they could knock a man off a horse at "two hundred paces and at half that distance can easily aim a bow to deliberately miss armor". In one account, he relates how a soldier was shot through the throat by an arrow as an Indian "ran back and forth infront a firing musket line, untouched by any bullets". The only weapon the Conquistadors reckoned was effective, was the crossbow. So it's no surprise lots of discarded cannon balls have been discovered. Of couse this was before canister rounds were invented, and cannons were turned in huge shotguns.

So if you're lookin for cannon balls.. We got some great neverbeenfired Conquistador cannon balls right here in Texas.