Frémont Cannon

THE FRÉMONT CANNON

Most Nevadans know “The Fremont Cannon” as the “trophy” awarded to the victor of the annual UNR-UNLV football matchup. That 464-pound trophy travels to the winning team’s campus with the cannon carriage color painted the school’s color – blue for UNR and red for UNLV. It is, however, a replica. This cannon is (probably) John C. Frémont’s Original Fremont Cannon.

Lieutenant John C. Frémont led a U.S. Army, Topographical Engineers exploring expedition to map and document an emigrant route between Missouri and Oregon County. Upon completing his mission in November 1843, he famously disobeyed his return orders by traveling south and entering Alta California, Mexico, armed with a cannon! By January 1844, the then starving explorers desperately searched for a Sierra pass to reach Sutter’s Fort (Sacramento). On January 29, 1844, Charles Preuss, the expedition’s cartographer, abandoned the cannon in the West Walker River Canyon. Frémont intended to retrieve it but never did. We trace our Frémont cannon back to 19th century Virginia City and possible discovery in “Walker River country” by journalist William Wright, a.k.a. Dan DeQuille.

So, what’s up with Frémont and his “lost” cannon? There are several stories, and the following is one of them: Frémont’s father-in- law, Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, was a staunch proponent for establishing an American seaport on the Pacific Coast. Frémont may have been secretly ordered to map potential invasion routes into Alta California and to leave a cannon with Americans living there. Brevet Captain Frémont returned to California in 1845, again, ignoring his written orders. On that expedition, he was authorized to bring another cannon but left before it was available. In June 1846, he led the California Battalion at the outbreak of the Mexican-American War that ended with the “Conquest of California,” without his cannon.

US MODEL OF 1835 12-POUNDER MOUNTAIN HOWITZER

This cannon is the third of an initial 12 mountain howitzers ordered by the Army in 1835. Large scale production of these US Mountain Howitzers began in 1841. Although compact, they fired exploding shells up to 1000 yards through their 4.62-inch diameter bore. These small-sized, transportable cannon were ideally suited for duty in the rugged Far West, including Nevada’s Fort Churchill and Fort Ruby.

The Nevada State Museum’s U.S. Model of 1835 12-pounder (pdr.) Mountain Howitzer tube (“barrel”) was cast and machined in 1836 by Cyrus Alger & Co., Boston. It was undoubtedly one of the original three ordered by the St. Louis Arsenal in 1837. This bronze tube weighs 223 pounds. The barrel bulge in front of the breech was the result of dangerous overpressure; the barrel should be straight walled.

The U.S. 12-pdr. Mountain Howitzer fired three types of projectiles “fixed” to wooden sabots and powder charges. The projectiles included an exploding spherical shell; an exploding spherical case filled with musket balls; and a canister filled with musket balls. The sabot provided a gas seal and attachment point for fixed ammunition. The powder bag contained one-half pound of black powder. The propelling powder charge was detonated by a paper priming tube inserted through the vent hole atop the cannon’s breach and into the powder bag. This tube was filled with finely ground, compacted powder and ignited by a “portfire” or “slow match.”