Found a 8" 49 pound cannonball in muskegon lake

sturrat · Mar 21, 2013

I went water hunting the other day and stumbled upon an iron ball in about a foot and a half deep water. Carried the heavy thing to shore in my waders and dropped it on the beach. It sure looked like a cannonball at that point. I could not carry it up the hill at that point (its very steep) so I decided to come back another day with a sled to haul it with. To make a long story short it turned out to be a civil war era eight inch mortar. The black powder is gone as you can see in the pictures but it cleaned up well. Any info would be much appreciated! I used my hand and a full sized hammer for size reference.

TerryC · Mar 21, 2013

OUTstanding find! Tnx. TTC

sturrat · Mar 21, 2013

There are two more in the water at this spot also.

Toby1858 · Mar 21, 2013

I'm no expert, but that size of cannon ball seems pretty rare to find in tact. Excellent recovery. :icon_thumright:

CleenSweep · Mar 21, 2013

That's insane! I'd be outta my mind finding something like that....and you found THREE?!
Congrats! I don't care about the material value of what is almost definitely such a rare find, just think of being fired upon on the day that thing found its way into that stream...."The dawns early light...gave proof through the night......." Think about THAT! AWSOME........

sturrat · Mar 21, 2013

The weird thing is these we're found in a lake in northern Michigan. What the heck would they be doing in the sand here.

JmCraz8 · Mar 21, 2013

Could be war of 1812 era if found up there.

Critical Recovery · Mar 21, 2013

Odd.... if found to be legit, (which it looks to me) this is very historic. Please document EVERYTHING.

I live in Mid Michigan currently.

sturrat · Mar 21, 2013

I contacted the local museum to try to get some answers. The other two are still in the water at this point. I do not now if the are if the same mortar type but I was concerned it might still have black powder in it. The crustations easily fell off with a soft hit of a hammer. U can tell its been underwater fit well over a century.

releventchair · Mar 21, 2013

Got me stumped. 12 yrs as a youth in Muskegon and nothing like that! There were the forts farther north. And st. Joseph(s) south. Or some one could have used some for ballast to trim a craft long ago and dumped them when they added weight. :dontknow:

great find!.

TheNewCatfish · Mar 22, 2013

Possibly the ordinance was deliberately dumped in the water by some retreating force. It's doubtful they landed in that tight a formation (grouping), after being fired. Armies in Early America often left behind cannon ball ammunition in order to move more quickly. Indians had no capacity to forge iron, so there was no worry about leaving the ordinance behind. If the ball was found "unloaded with powder".. this also indicates it was defused before being abandoned. Check old maps and find out if there was a historical trail nearby that would have been used by a large force. About three years ago, i found a 2 lb. cannon ball (carronade), buried in a primitive rock fort used by the Spanish near the Comanche War Trail in Texas. Hope this helps with your detective work. Magnificent Find !

sturrat · Mar 22, 2013

They mortars are located in 1.5 feet of water in sand. This was actually land on 1877 plat maps. This was a docking area for several log mills and also had a rail road that ran next to it. They really look like the top of old pilings in the water until I pried this one up with my scoop.

sturrat · Mar 22, 2013

Looks like this is a non-threaded fuze with 1.35 in. opening, Columbiad smoothbore, 8 in. mortar from the info I found online.

relicmeister · Mar 22, 2013

Phenomenal. Whats the latest word on the other two?

sturrat · Mar 22, 2013

I think I will try to get them out of the water this weekend. Its a steep hill to carry them up (roughly 80 feet). I know exactly where they are so it shouldn't be a problem finding them again.