Arizona researchers unearth oldest gun in US, dating back centuries

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Researchers in Arizona say they have unearthed the oldest gun ever found in the continental United States.

The bronze cannon, or wall gun, is associated with the first European expedition of the Southwest, and was found on the floor of a Spanish stone-and-adobe building in southern Arizona, near the Santa Cruz River, in 2020, according to a new study published in the International Journal of Historical Archaeology.

Using cutting edge carbon dating technology, authors of the study say the weapon for 480 years sat in ruin inside the building that was part of San Geronimo III, the first European settlement in the Southwest that was established in 1540.

Excavations began in late 2021 "with the goal of understanding the context of the gun and exposing additional evidence of the Spanish settlement," wrote the study's authors, Deni J. Seymour and William P. Mapoles.

The design of the gun is consistent with the mid-to-late 1400s and was practically obsolete by the time of the expedition, according to Seymour and Mapoles.

It appears the gun was never fired and was deserted when the indigenous Sobaipuri O'odham people launched a successful attack against San Geronimo lll, which researchers say led the Spanish to stay out of southern Arizona for 150 years.

"The gun is an important artifact, and is no doubt the earliest known surviving firearm in the United States and one of, if not the earliest found in a reliable context in the New World," the researchers wrote.

An unsuccessful Spanish expedition The conquistador Francisco Vásquez de Coronado was the governor of the New Galicia province of New Spain, which is present Mexico, when he left on a journey across the southwestern U.S. in search of riches and routes to Asia.

Coronado, who was 27 at the time, led 240 mounted soldiers, 60 foot soldiers and 800 Natives Americans and slaves across the southwest beginning in 1540, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society.

The journey was considered unsuccessful because they did not find gold or silver and native populations they encountered were too small to establish settlements in which the Spanish could exploit them for profit, the study says.

Around the time the exploration was called off, the Spanish town of San Geronimo lll was attacked by the Sobaipuri O'odham people. The town was destroyed and its inhabitants were either killed or fled to Mexico.

Researchers believe San Geronimo III is the site they discovered in 2020 near the Santa Cruz River in southern Arizona. At the site, researchers discovered an "unusually rich assemblage," with the bronze cannon and thousands of other artifacts including arrowheads, lead bullets and weapons parts that provided them with abundant evidence of the battle that pushed the Spanish out of the region for a century and a half.

"Europeans did not return to what became southern Arizona for another 150 years, making it the earliest and most consequential Native American uprising in the continental US," the authors of the study said. "This fact is surprising given that until this discovery the O'odham were thought to have played at most an insignificant role in the initial conquest episode."

Gun left behind after Natives attack Spanish village The wall gun was designed to be mounted on a wooden tripod along fortification walls, a design that took hold in the 1400s. It was versatile, highly portable and useful for offense as well as defense, researchers said.

The weapon was perfect for the expedition because it was "lightweight," and its "durable nature, and ease of use," according to the authors of the study, adding, "A pair of these could have been strapped onto a horse or mule, with one or more on each side for balance during transport."

The cast-iron weapon could handle heavy charges of buckshot or round lead balls. When shooting a single lead projectile, gun powder would have been poured into muzzle followed by the round ball and a wad of paper or grass to keep the ball from rolling out when the muzzle was lowered, researchers said.

It had no sights, leading experts to theorize that it fired buckshot, like those used in shotguns.

However, it appears this particular weapon was never fired. There was no black residue in the barrel, often a cause of corrosion.

The reason it was not loaded or fired, researchers posit, is because the Spanish didn't have time. The Sobaipuri O’odham people mounted their attack early in the morning and the Spanish were taken by surprise; many were killed in their beds. The gunners were either "killed, captured, or fled," according to Seymour and Mapoles. They noted that the gun was "too expensive to be left behind under normal circumstances."

Now, some 480 years later, the historic weapon was excavated along with a second cannon that will soon be examined.

"This is a unique site, which likely explains why one [cannon] was left here, along with a second one recently discovered since this writing, which will be analyzed in a future article," the researchers wrote.

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