1srelluc
Diamond Member
The oldest firearm ever discovered in the continental US has been found at the site of a massacre that occurred in Arizona in 1541. Brought to America by the Spanish conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, the bronze cannon was supposed to protect the residents of the first European settlement in the American Southwest, most of whom were slaughtered before the weapon even had a chance to be loaded.
“Not only is it the first gun ever recovered from the Coronado expedition, but consultation with experts throughout the continent and in Europe reveal that it is also the oldest firearm ever found inside the continental USA,” write the authors of a new study. Though they can’t say for certain, the researchers go on to suggest that the weapon may be the oldest gun anywhere in the Americas.
“It is also the first known surviving example of a weapon of war, an actual firearm used in the attempted early conquest of the American Southwest,” they add.
An Official Journal Of The NRA | A Conquistador’s Cannon Unearthed
Certainly the oldest firearm ever found in the continental United States, and possibly the oldest-known firearm produced in the New World, a rampart gun recently discovered in Arizona is one of six associated with Francisco Vázquez de Coronado’s famous search for the “Seven Cities of Gold.”
In before Spain claims it.
That is an awesome find. I'd love to see the actual Fremont Cannon found in my lifetime too, but I doubt that one is still out there in the Sierras.
