FireArm Friday: Oldest Firearm Found in U.S. Unearthed in Arizona
The 500-Year-Old Cannon Tied to Coronado’s Expedition
Archaeologists in Arizona have made a groundbreaking discovery—a 500-year-old bronze cannon linked to Francisco Vázquez de Coronado’s expedition, marking it as the oldest known firearm in the continental United States.
The artifact, a sand-cast bronze “wall gun,” was uncovered at the ruins of San Geronimo III, a Spanish settlement in the Santa Cruz Valley.
The cannon, weighing 40 pounds and stretching 42 inches long, was likely privately owned (sorry, Joe, you were wrong on cannons, again) and used for offensive or defensive purposes during Coronado’s 16th-century journey in search of the mythical Seven Cities of Gold. While the cannon could deliver devastating blows with lead projectiles or buckshot, evidence suggests it was never fired, as researchers found no traces of…