Saturday, January 17, 2009

Chasing La Salle's cannons.

  Rear sight or a fuse measure on the breech of the CSS Alabama cannon.  Marked; "5 Seconds.  10 Seconds" down the lower brass rod.

  Cannon from the CSS Alabama.  About eight feet long.

  Dugout canoe coming out of a nearly 10 year conservation soak.
 
  Cannon from the LaBelle being treated with wax.

  Musket stocks from a case of muskets left behind on the wreck of the LaBelle.


  We couldn't hunt so I headed down to College Station to talk to the TAMU Firearms Museum about photographing the next TSRA calendar out of their collection.  The museum curator was very helpful and accommodating.  The Good Doctor and I also talked our way into the TAMU Nautical Conservation lab for a tour.  I've followed the La Belle and the Mardi Gras Wreck while those projects were being worked so it was exciting to see some of the actual artifacts being conserved, but what I was really after was some of the LaSalle cannons dug up at the site of Ft St. Louis a few years back.
  The lab also had a cannon from the CSS Alabama and a Amerind dugout canoe that was just out of the conservation tank.  I didn't get any photos for the calendar but it was a fascinating tour.  La Salle's cannons from were long gone.
  Looks like we are a go for the TSRA shoot at the firearms museum.  

1 comment:

catfish said...

I was fortunate enough to attend a lecture by the lead archeologist on the LaSalle project some years back and was blown away with all the cool stuff they've found.

Very, very impressive find.