Question about cannons

[NOLA_Ken]

Ok, I have an idea where a couple of cannon were lost in a river during the civil war. there are supposed to be two of them, and a friend of mine is interested in trying to find them. They are supposed to be bronze, and should be well preserved in the silt. What I want to know is after all this time, if we pull them out, would they still be considered US Army property? Can we legally own them if we were able to salvage them?

[wwwtimmcp]

get in touch with your states archaeologist, he or she should be able to tell you. it might be they will let you keep one or 2 if there are a bunch but if they are extremely rare you might get compensated and they keep them. in my books it is just plain smart to be on the up and up. ours here in ohio has been really good to me.

[Mackaydon]

Just a suggestion:
Find them first and verfiy their composition and origin; then find a marine attorney to assist you. Remember that a cannon could be manufactured in one country, purchased for another country's ship then lost/taken aboard a third country's ship during conflict-- which vessel and cannons were subsequently lost at your location.
If you find them, leave them 'in situ' (cover them up, if possible, and keep quiet) then hire a lawyer. Protect YOUR legal rights first before exposing your find to others.
Don........

[NOLA_Ken]

As it stands right now, the water is still up too high and stirring up too much silt to do much other than research. We're going to make a trip to the site and get the lay of the land soon, and probably detect the bank area to find the skirmish site. There's supposed to be a lot of other things lost in the area so hopefully we can make some recoveries and nail the location down.

[Larsmed]

I would do all the reasearch yourself. DO NOT get any archeologists involved. Atleast if you want to keep any of your finds.

Larry

[NOLA_Ken]

I would do all the reasearch yourself. DO NOT get any archeologists involved. Atleast if you want to keep any of your finds.

Larry

That's our plan. From what I've read a lot of things went into the river that day to keep them out of Confederate hands. I'm really hoping that with it being a fresh water site, and with all the silt we should get some decent preservation. Hopefully we'll make it out that way soon, if the water goes down enough, and see what turns up.