Coronado’s Cannon Declared Oldest Gunpowder Weapon Found in The United States

IFL Science

The oldest firearm ever discovered in the continental US has been found at the site of a massacre that occurred in Arizona in 1541. Brought to America by the Spanish conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, the bronze cannon was supposed to protect the residents of the first European settlement in the American Southwest, most of whom were slaughtered before the weapon even had a chance to be loaded.

“Not only is it the first gun ever recovered from the Coronado expedition, but consultation with experts throughout the continent and in Europe reveal that it is also the oldest firearm ever found inside the continental USA,” write the authors of a new study. Though they can’t say for certain, the researchers go on to suggest that the weapon may be the oldest gun anywhere in the Americas. More