In Search Of ....

After Cannon #209 was lost, no immediate effort was made to recover it because World War II created severe shortages of manpower, equipment, and money, and several searches after the war were unsuccessful. In 1984, local historian and park volunteer Mr. Eddie Roberts began trying to determine the cannon's location by using maps and area surveys. In 1991, under Roberts' direction, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dug several sites at the base of the bluff but failed to find it. Roberts discovered the cannon's exact location in 1998 by using a magnetometer, an instrument for comparing the intensity and direction of magnetic fields. Cannon #209 was buried at a depth of 42 feet, 20 feet deeper and about 8 feet south of where the 1991 search had ended. After approval was obtained from Kentucky State Parks and the Kentucky State Archaeological Office, and with assistance and donations from local excavation and towing businesses, the cannon was successfully dug up and transported to the park. Volunteer efforts from the community made the project possible, and #209 returned to stand over the Mississippi River.

Kentucky · United States