An interesting story about the town of Escatawba, Mississippi, considering raising its town cannon from the depths of the Escatawba River in the July 25th Gulflive.com.
It was from Joanne Anderson's Sampling Our History column "Civil War cannon believed to be at the bottom of river."
A piece of Moss Point's history, a civil war cannon, is believed to be at the bottom of the Escatawba River at the city's downtown.
Dr. Chris Williams is leading an effort to recover it. The cannon's role in the Civil War has long been forgotten, but its post-war career is known. The cannon was a six-pounder, capable of firing a six-pound shell almost a mile.
After the war, it was fired to celebrate special occasions. However, it was notoriously temperamental and on more than one instance, people were injured. The April 6, 1894 Pascagoula Democrat Star wrote that two teenagers were injured when the gun fired prematurely. William Walters suffered a broken arm and Lacele Vice lost an eye.
The angered townsfolk then proceeded to throw the cannon into the Dog River, now called the Escatawba River. It was pushed in off a wharf on Front Street.
The river was 30 feet deep at the time and it probably sank another 8 to 10 feet into the silt.
They figure they will need to use a magnetometer survey to locate it which will cost $8,000, but the approximate area of its site is known. Then, they will need equipment to raise it and, of course, conserve it.
I could just see Yosmite Sam throwing his hat down and kicking that cannon.
Raising Cannon Down in Mississippi. Dadburn Cannon!! --Old B-Runner
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