There is a real story behind this old cannon that Julia is sitting on. In 1921 a lightning storm ignited several oil storage tanks just north of town. As they burned, little if any equipment was available to fight the infernos.A few of the the men working in the field determined if holes were bored into the lower part of the storage tanks, the oil could be drained out and pumped away leaving no fuel for the fire.
These men, Ex- World War I Artillery veterans built this cannon in a shop and shot the tanks at the base. Six homemade cannonballs found their mark, two buried themselves under the tanks, and one ricocheted into the distance. The idea was successful and the fires were extinguished.
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