Search for Secrets of A Sunken Cannon -21

Twas a beautiful today in great lakes states. I sat in my lawn chair my back to a large Eastern white pine tree and listened to the manistee breeze whisper thru the pine boughs. The sky was pure blue. Lots of sunshine, but cold, but it still felt good to feel the sun's warmth. It didn't break my heart to hear that folks in Washington DC got buried (24") and some places in West Virginia got 40" of snow in 24-36 hours. We can't be piggish and selfish in the frozen north country. It's time others shoveled the real beauty of El Nino weather history in 2010.

Only mother nature knows the destiny of snow in any geographical region. The world will be doomed the day man controls the weather. No doubt about it. The snowstorm sure wasn't coincidence, but its amazing how the weather changes history, too. It's fascinating how adverse weather shortens the lives of iron cannons to 20 years as opposed to brass, which remains prime for hundreds of years.

In SSSC - 20 you learned a little about Sam Houston's and Texas' twin sisters. The Twin Sister's history runs parallel with the mysteries of the Cannonsburg cannon. The dispositions of all three cannons and the mysterious disappearances were based upon the condition of the cannons although beit the twin sisters were buried because of age so they wouldn't be recycled at a Yankee foundry at the conclusion of the Civil War. The Cannonsburg cannon went missing after it killed Walter Tompsett in 1885. His wife and friends took its disappearance to their graves. Never did anyone squeal where it was buried. The disappearance was sealed in blood - a death pact. Fact is six Texans buried the Twin Sisters just as five men and one woman were responsible for the Cannonsburg cannons demise. Destiny or historical coincidence. The circumstances are uncanny. History was repeating itself.

The craft of cannon founding originates from about 1373 and it took nearly 500 years of trial and error gunfounding before the British had finally mastered their own cannon makings of iron in the 1700's. Up until that time the English purchased cannons from the Flander countries, because they had the best craftsmen. Throughout the history of gunfounding many cannons exploded prematurely the first firing, killing the master gun-founders and foundrymen. Shoddy mistakes in workmanship left various Old World kings and queens searching for qualified replacment gun founders from Italy, Austria and Germany. Brass cannons were expensive no matter who made them, but England didn't have a source for copper and tin., except for roofing. England had an abundance of iron and vessel riggings, but it had many dead gunfounders.

The Texas 'twin sisters' were America's first cannons followed by other sand mold cannons that were being sold to a few wealthy individuals to protect towns from renegade Indians. These cannons were sold by private foundries. It was a court-martial offense for any military personnel to sell small cannons from U.S. Army garrisons. Cannons purchased from private foundries didn't meet the strict military specifications of quality construction. Test firings of iron guns showed many prematurely exploded after repeat firings or before the 30th firing. The Cannonsburg cannon roared to life many times over nearly 40 years without incidence, but the accident didn't happen because of metal fatigue, but rather human negligence.

After the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836, the twin sisters were used to guard Mexican prisoners. Five years later the twins were used in Austin and fired the celebratory rounds when Sam Houston was sworn in as President of the Republic of Texas (1836-38, 1841-44) until statehood in 1845. Houston was then elected the state's first Senator. Afterwards the twin sister cannons were put in storage at the U.S. Army Depot in Louisiana and when Texas joined the Confederacy in 1861, the cannons were removed and sold separately to different foundries. The old iron cannons were in sad decay and could no longer be fired. They might explode, but they were moved from town to town as historical keepsakes and destined for recycling.

Both of the twin sister cannons were 65" long with a four-inch bore. They were standard 6-pound field cannons - the duplicates of a captured English cannon. Both weighed 800 pounds each minus carriage. Dry weight piece and carriage exceeded 1650 pounds. The piece mounted would be 10-11 feet long with a carriage width of 6 feet wide. This was the exact size cannon Bob believed he had dowsed beneath his coffer box. These were the smallest military cannons in the US Army prior to the Civil War. Nothing smaller so Bob Alcumbrack felt this was the correct size of the Cannonsburg cannon. Only the English had smaller cannons on Navy vessels sailing the high seas prior to 1647. Bob based the cannons size on reports that whenever the cannon exploded it made an awesome roar, therefore, it must be a 6-pound cannon.

Such a cannon would require 7-8 horses and 8 men in battlefield engagement to service this cannon. The Cannonsburg cannon was being serviced by seven men, but that is precisely the amount of manpower needed to fire field artillery pieces of any size. Each hundredth weight (CW) requires one military horse and one soldier and it requires lots of men to remove it from a carriage. Military memoires and notes describe the twin sisters as in decripit state and because of their aged condition should never be fired again. Wouldn't you have thought that such decorated cannons in Texas history would have never been allowed to deteriorate so badly. Surely someone should have protected or preserved them and not allowed they to rust and vanish without a trace. They did, five Texans and one black servant recently freed did indeed bury the cannons so "damn deep no Yankees would ever find them." They lost their minds, too.

For many years leading up into the 1980's Lynn Ashby and Texan historians had premonitions that the Twin Sisters were buried in the Harrisburg area and inside the boundaries of Houston, Texas. They had documentations that proved where its last stop was located -- that's Henry North Graves found the twins resting on a flat car shortly after all hostilities ended. He actually saw the Battle of San Jacinto plaques on the carriages with cannons sitting on a flat car of the Galveston, Houton and Henderson Railway Company in 1865 near Brady's Island. In 1987, this railway line hadn't moved an inch. The GH&H tracks cross Bray's Bayou near Mason Park in the Harrisburg area. Both cannons were sitting amongst other bad cannons tagged for destruction.

Henry North Graves, John Barett, Ira Pruitt, Jack Taylor, Sol Thomas and a freed black servant named Dan found and stole the cannons, burned the carriages and rolled the cannons down to the edge of Bray's Bayou and buried the cannons "so damn deep no Yankee will ever find them," said Graves. Had they not intervened in recovering the cannons they would have been scrapped, destroyed or recycled. That had been a common practice with the English for hundreds of years. Captured guns were amassed in huge piles and recycled into bigger hardware at the Tower of London or Woolrich. What nobody can figure out is exactly where and what side of Bray's Bayou the cannons are buried. Time changes scenery after 30 years - that's how long they had been buried until the men returned to dig them up. The site was barren -- stripped of all brush, the train station depot gone, too. Time passed had erased the visual historical landmarks that dark night when the cannons went missing. They couldn't have buried them deep without finding water since the elevation of Brady's island is 16 feet. Eight hundred pound cannons don't roll easily or very far.

Graves returned again in 1920, but his memory had faded. What is known is the fact that five men couldn't pick up an 800-pound cannon and throw it into Bray's Bayou. The men also couldn't have buried the cannons too deeply once water infiltrated the holes. They might have been buried further back from the water's edge, but digging in clay soil would have been too time consuming as sunrise was fast approaching. Many military depots were secret locations and were dismantled afte the Civil War and documentation was destroyed. These cannons couldn't just disappear, but they did and nobody has found them yet. Once water laden soil is encountered it becomes extremely difficult to bury anything. Saturated soil is a cannon or treasure hunters nightmare. Objects buried in heavy soil remain in shallow graves. If rolled into Bray's Bayou they sink deep into the ooze, then covered with silt or bank side slippage, but what the men didn't say was they were wet. To sink in mud they just needed to shake them to settle, but that is no small fete. This is what the Cannonsburg group encountered.

Legends still swirl around the vanishing act of the fate of the Twin Sisters. Their heritage still lives in the heart of Texans and Americans today just as the fate of the Cannonsburg cannon does too, but ways of finding them is changing. Instead of dowsing rods, range finders, electronic and computerized metal detectors, the best hunters seek out Ground Penetrating Radar or electromagnetic detection units. These aren't for the fate of wallet seekers. These units sell for up to a quarter of a million dollars. The Cannonsburg group first used the experimental versions in 1986. We helped lay the pioneer groundwork for today's GPR's. Bob at the time of his death wasn't aware of how advanced this technology had become. Then again the new electronic computerized versions of metal detectors seems to have taken some of the mystery out of digging up something by seeing it before you dig it.

Search for Secrets of A Sunken Cannon

By now those who've been reading this blog understand that I believe in the existence of angels and spirits and they can arrive in our dreams. Our destiny in life was written when we were born as proven by Mark Twain, but he wasn't very spiritual. His bible was often a dictionary. He was born in November 1835, when Halley's comet was blazing a path through the heaven's on dark nights. Davey Crockett missed the dark night skies in the wilderness where the night skies were afire with countless sparkling jewels. as crickets chirped loudly on warm nights. In fact, he left Washington that same year after losing his congressional election. Crockett told his constituents upon leaving: "You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas." He did go to Texas!

Crockett left Washington and went home to Kentucky, but he couldn't stay put. His destiny was calling - the Texans needed his fighting skill and he died with Jim Bowie at the Alamo in late winter 1836. He was a frontiersman and not a politician. Later in life Twain felt that since he was born when Halley's comet ruled the night sky his own dreams caused himself to believe he was "an unaccountable freak" and since he came into being with Halley's comet his dreams said he'd be leaving with the comet. His destiny was right: He died in April 1910 when Halley's comet was blazing across the night sky. I, too, remember sitting on my back deck and watched with amazement Halley's comet streaking across the dark sky in the last half of the 20th century. It's 500 mile long fiery gaseous torch was as beautiful then as seen by Crockett and Twain.

Bob Alcumbrack started his physical search for the missing Cannonsburg cannon in July 1986. He was sure he'd find it within five days, but as problems with the bilge pumps stopped work he knew deep down in his heart that lots of spectators were going to be disappointed. He was truly hoping that all the cable news networks covering his cannon would disappear and concentrate on the Texas expedition to find the fabled "Twin Sisters" of Texas. Michigan and Texas were on a collision course with destiny wondering which cannon hunting group would find one of five missing cannons. Five? The discovery of the three most famous cannons were the most important. The first three were hidden in secrecy and it was hoped that they would again take their cherished spot in history again. Who would be first to resurrect a lost cannon?

The Michigan media pitted us against Texas, but the news media stayed in Cannonsburg simply because Bob's big dig was the only digging operation. The Texas group hadn't located any digging sites, but were still offering big rewards of from $25,000-50,000 for information leading to the discovery of the Twin Sisters. The two most famous cannons of Texas were highly prized since these were the most soft after cannons in Texas or upon American soil. These military cannons were used in the Texas-Mexico War in 1836, which made Texas an Independent Republic that same year, which became America's 28th state in 1845.

The Twin Sisters of Texas and the Cannonsburg cannon of Michigan had all but vanished from historical prominence for 121 years and 101 years respectively and two groups of cannon hunters were doing their best to find all three. The two different groups never met, but we shared a kindred spirit trying to discover the secrets surrounding their disappearance. It was a north versus south expedition and all three had local, state and national ties. Yet, as individuals I from the north and one from the south met opposite weeks standing in Disney's flower gardens studying their old cannons.

To the chagrin of Bob Alcumbrack it was Grand Rapids Press reporter Marie Havenga who put Bob Alcumbrack's cannon expedition in newspapers worldwide. She made Bob a 'rock star', err, cannon star, but Bob wasn't fond of the hoopla attention. He didn't like so many eyes watching his every movement trying to read his lips. This started his paranoia of the press power.

Through the eyes of the Texas group you'll be able to see the short life conditions of cannons in America. You'll get a better understanding of why our Federal government was so incessant on getting local and state governments to get rid of post Civil War cannons. Since the days of the Civil War different cannon hunters, treasure hunters or amateur treasure hunting groups have sought to find historical cannons that went missing. 1982 to 1984 saw Lynn Ashby of Texas offering high rewards for information on the twin sisters, but alas not even the $50,000 reward gave little hope to finding the twin sisters. They weren't found for lack of trying, but mainly because the memories and recollections of older citizens had failed. Old age and senility took over too many minds -- minds that were as sharp as tacks in their youth. Like the old Bob never jotted down tidbits garnered, but instead trusted them to memory, which was faulty. Had he written down info or kept a log we wouldn't have done so much physical work with little rewards, but we learned somethings about how dowsing ought to work.

By 1985, the Texas group cancelled the reward. They were working against an important deadline. They no longer had enough time to find the cannon, dig it up and have time to clean and restore it for Texas' 150th Sesquicentennial celebrations in 1986. Bob commenced digging in 1986. The collision of destiny for both. Bob was sure he'd dig up his cannon in 1986 and have one year to clean and restore the cannon for Michigan's 150th Sesquicentennial celebrations in 1987. Michigan was the 26th state in the union. These were identical operations - destiny written in the stars.

What made Texas' twin sisters so famous was the fact that these two cannons were the first cannons made in America and were used by Sam Houston's freedom fighters to win Texas' independence after the fierce Battle of San Jacinto with Mexican Army General Santa Ana. Without these cannons they wouldn't have been able to defeat Antinio de Santa Ana's Mexican invasion forces. Sam Houston was commander of the Texas army and used these two twin sister small-bored dix-pound hollowware cannons. They were solid iron cannons. These two weapons ended the Spanish dominance in 1836, that's after the massacre at the Alamo in which Crockett and Bowie were killed between Feb. 23-Mar. 6, 1836. These were America's most beloved frontiersmen of the 19th century and their countrymen weren't going to let them die in vain and when word was received in the north, the cannon makers sent word immediately down to Sam Houston to expect arrival of two cannons within 10 days.

Messrs. Greenwood and Webb's foundry in Cincinnati, Ohio led the charge to manufacture the twin cannons. They said Cincinnati was proud to donate the first two experimental test cannons to Sam Houston's freedom fighters in honor and memory of Crockett's and Bowie's service to Texan's in pursuit of freedom outside the USA. Touble was, the twin cannons were crudely made by unskilled Americans with grit and determination to help others fighting for freedom. Too many today are complacent and practice nimbyism. If it's (Not In My Back Yard) why bother fighting for the freedoms of others. Our roots for freedom fighting originate with Crockett and Bowie and Americans before and after them. At the time the cannons were made American gun founders weren't exactly sure if they had even minimum knowledge or skill to forge them. The cannons sent were TEST cannons and passed proofing, but were very dangerous weapons to fire. They didn't even know how long it'd be before they were unusuable.

The cannons were sent via steamboat down the Ohio River to St. Louis. Vessels bypassed the Ohio rapids (faults) after 1830 using the Louisville & Portland Canal, which allowed down-bound vessels to New Orleans without changing boats or waiting for high water in the chute. In Disney's movie Davey Crockett on the Gully Whumper took the Ohio River chute. The trip was 1,840 miles to New Orleans from Pittsburg. Trip fare was $15.00 and took 8 days. Upbound took 16 days and cost $25.00 against the Mississippi and Ohio river currents. The name Twin Sisters' derives it name from a prominent physician's twin daughters traveling south on board the same vessel. The cannons did indeed arrive 10 days after Crockett and Bowie's death.

American made cannons were extremely dangerous. American foundry workers were copycats and made mold casts by cutting captured British cannons into two pieces and using sand molds to manufacture the hollowware iron cannons. These were America's newest weapons -- crude beginnings considering it took the British more than 400 years of trial and error before they had fully mastered the craft of cannon forging. During the first 300 years most of England's cannons were made in Scotland, Sweden, France and Italy. English gun founders hadn't mastered the craft until starting in the late 160o's forward. Trial and error is what cannon founders dealt with as each "piece" was cast in brass (bronze), iron or wrought iron. Even the masters couldn't make them always proof and many of the best craftsmen died because of bursting or prematurely discharging. Unfortunately whenever a cannon prematurely discharges and kills someone, they are the only ones who knew what went wrong making trial and error the only way to make corrections.

Search for Secrets of A Sunken Cannon - 19

It's groundhogs day! In Michigan the rodent didn't see his shadow so it'll be early spring, but no matter what the prognistification the calendar it's seven weeks to Spring. That furry garden munching pest lives the life of a king in PA. CNBC's Squawk Box this morning made me laugh. Bill Murray driving the old red pickup truck with the groundhog steering told the rodent not to drive angry as the opening bell kicked off the days stock markets. In the stock market you have acquaintances, not friends. Needless to say, when hunting for treasure you need people you can trust so isn't it any wonder that Bob Alcumbrack chose to pick his cannon crew hunters carefully. Trust is what treasure hunters must have amongst each other to keep each other safe.

Bob Alcumbrack was neither poor nor rich. He bartered his time and labor digging the first big dig for equipment, such as a backhoe, compressors for air injection used to dislodge hard sediments and bilge pumps for dewatering the coffer box. Scuba gear was volunteered with divers, but despite all his failures of equipment at his big dig site he never gave up and was willing to find out what was wrong and take corrective measures. That's in dowsing, electronics and mechanical failures. Before he even started the expediton he understood that life isn't fair. He picked his circle of friends wisely.

Many of Bob's crew were lifelong friends who believed in his expertise to use the dowsing rods effectively. His childhood friend Allen Janose stood atop the coffer box and used the long air injectors to disturb bottom sediments so the box would settle into the hole or use the air to dislodge sediment from roots encountered that prevented the box from settling. Bob and Allen used hip gyrations like Elvis to rock the box. Bob used Allen's welding skills to construct the steel box. The box had bracing like roll bars inside a race car. Allen and Bob made sure that whoever was inside the box would be safe from collapsing sand. Harold and Matt McCarthy of Grattan Centre used their brawn to break roots so the sidewalls of the coffer box would sink. They also dislodged big stones and decaying woody debris. These two solved logistics and engineering problems.

Bob's brothers Chuck and Charlie manned the bilge pumps and sluiceways. No sediment ever got into the side stream on their watch. Bruce Bjorneth and Guy Lewis were dredgers at the bottom of the box. Lewis scooped up tons of water-laden sand and stones and used their scuba diving skills when the coffer box was flooded with Lake Superior like cold water. My goal was to research where Bob didn't go while he was digging. I provided my engineering and photography skills to document his progress; successes or failures and to figure out how to make sure another dig doesn't duplicate the first bad dig. Seven men were going to dig up Bob's wildest dream on July 4-5, 1986 just as seven men caused the cannon to go missing on July 5, 1885 when Walter Tompsett died.

What Bob knew was that nothing affects the moral of his crew worse than nagging wives of the men. He apologized several times to the wives for keeping their husbands attention more to him than them. The wives knew what the husbands were doing was extremely dangerous. "Why them?" They couldn't understand the drive to make Bob's dream a reality while sacrificing their time with them and the children. They saw how tired the men were when the sun went down and they saw the filth, smelled the body stench of sweat and saw the hordes of mosquito bites. When the sun set behind the hills the drone of mosquito wings almost drowned out conversation. It was almost unbearable when the lights came on deep in the woods. Blistering heat by day, coldness at night in early July.

So who was this Robert Alcumbrack? He was the most caring man who would stop what he was doing and help out strangers. He was short, muscular and had dark hair. He stopped dreaming at age 55 and age 57 he was digging for the cannon. He had the energy of someone in his 20's and it was a chore to keep up with his stamina. Bob lived in La-E-Ma-Land, no really, this was a Mobile Home Park just west of Cannonsburg. It was owned by Bob stepfather and Ellen (Bob's mom) Augustine. Bob's trailer, an older model, was the tird trailer north of the post office. It was a treasure trove of antiquated antiques, both inside and outside. Furniture inside was way past its primal beauty, but he was comfortable. The sight of it would make you squint, laugh or cry, but it was his castle. A structured woman would burn everything.

Bob was a divorced and lived like a hermit. Inside the mobile home it was wall-to-wall dust and filth and talk about musty. The smell wrinkled my nose and I sought out a box of Mr. Wipple's tissues. You could say that Bob's trailer was similar in character to Daisies and Onslow's two story British row-home in England's BBC show "Keeping Up Appearances" starring Patricia Rutledge and Richard Winslow on PBS. The walls inside the trailer were dirty, filmy windows and floors and a kitchen where anyone might be afraid to drink from a coffee douton. It wasn't the best place to eat so Bob at frequently at his favorite watering hole, the Honey Creek Inn or he visited Maggie and Harold McCarthy's home in Grattan Centre.

What else would you expect from a single, divorced man that lived life with hermit mentality. It wasn't fit for a wife unless she came from the squaller of the Blue Ridge mountains of Tennessee, but at least the trailer wasn't a drafty shack with an outside honey house dangling perilously over a cliff. Quaint isn't how you'd explain his trailer, but it'd be a step up from mountain living arrangements. The spiders and mice kept designing women at bay. Bob's living was similar to the hillbilly status of The Darlings or Ernest T. Bass on the Andy Griffity Show. To Bob it was his 'Home Sweet Home'. At least Bob's trailer wasn't as bad as my wife's hillbilly cousins in Grand Junction, Colorado, who didn't know that scratch pads were for writing down telephone numbers, but instead numbers and messages covered the walls. The outside of the house was immaculately clean, but the inside "Oh, My!"

Bob was unpretentious and did anything for neighbors and friends when in need. His sweet grin and soft gift for gab made everyone he came in contact with comfortable. He was shy and quiet and knew when to talk or just listen. He never forced himself on others, but treated all newcomers and spectators with respect. He valued the opinions of others when solving problems beyond his control. When Bob talked you could sense his physical energy. It was a strange cascading force that lifted our spirits and changed our moods. We were entering a new phase in our lives as the mysterious secret cannon hunters of Cannonsburg. After many hours of digging and slinging mud we nicknamed Bob as "President Manual Labor," because Bob dug more than one big hole between 1986-88. He wasn't fond of his dream distinction of being associated with manual work.

Being a treasure hunter is hard, demanding work. In our eyes the work was play and Bob's dream kept us energized. In the presence of strangers we studied the body language of outside listeners and knew when to stop talking in the Honey Creek Inn when the din went silent. The chatter increased when Bob and crew chomped down the Black Russian ham sandwiches and washed them down with soda. Alcoholic beverages were banned. We didn't need any slipped tongues. Too many inhibitions are lost just as it was for Fred Thomas on July 5, 1885. Late night fleas (media) chased us after leaving the Honey Creek Inn. They did their best to interrupt our late night paranormal investigations, but we shared our insect bites as they romped in the poison ivy. That put the kink in their night wanderings. Most treasure hunters don't want peeping toms showing and telling the whole world about our exploits in cannon hunting.

Our first Astro-Archaeological survey using high speed infrared Kodak filming in total darkness failed due to the indirect or wandering strobe lights of the paparazzi. Our second and third missions were successful, but it generated more mind-boggling scientific questions we couldn't answer and never knew they existed in the Cannonsburg area. The film was to record electromagnetic currents and see if Tompsett's ghost hung around Cannonsburg on dark nights. He died an extremely painful death. We had to make sure we weren't dealing with ghosts in areas that gave us nightly chills. Kodak scientists said we had "a 69% chance of filming ghosts. We were open-minded. We sought answers to problems when we needed the advice from others, but only on a need to know basis.

Whether digging up cannons or treasure they all require stamina, grit and determination. Without core values of trust all treasure hunters face failure before the nitty-gritty work starts. "Love what you do and you'll never work a day in your life."

Search for Secrets of A Sunken Cannon - 18

Nothing much happened today except I found out that Voltaire (1694-1778) wasn't fond of historian's. He refers to historians like me as "gossips that tease the dead." I'm quite sure I'm not as bad as that, but I do my best to entertain the living with stories from the past about treasure hunting. Voltaire, one of France's greatest author's is said to have had the memory and temper of an abused elephant. He was always feuding for decades with literary critic Elie Fre'ron. He got so mad he had a painting made that showed devils lashing Fre'ron and he hung the painting in his dining room. It must have put him in a more cheerful mood. It's good that we never met, but if your just beginning to read this blog you'd better know that my English language is the same as Mark Twain's. That's sometimes poor but at least I, like Twain, excell in good storytelling. Writing style is the same. The italics here are my daily thoughts to help my readers escape the barage of bad economy news we get each day. Below is the story.

When talking about treasure hunters it's always important to keep the tongue silent when strangers crowd the scene. Slip of any tongues in the public realm is the fastest way to endanger the lives of those searching for treasure. Most treasure hunters are loners. Silence pays better dividends -- not always, but sometimes the rewards are greater without the intervention of outsiders. Media and photojournalists are attention and concentration busters.

Mel Fisher, too, had secrets he wouldn't share with the public. What no treasure hunting group needs is for strangers to infect the minds of good treasure hunting crews. No group can afford to harm or endanger the prize and surely it is an uphill battle to preserve treasure or preserve and restore lost historical artifacts. After striking paydirt or treasure it becomes an art to keep what you've found from government regulators and courts. Treasure hunters must defend their rights to receive adequate payment for finding lost treasures and not succumb unwillingly to the piratical nature of governments and other entities that want to strip you of the treasure found. they weren't looking for. You must fight to keep what you find. Finding treasure in the sea leads to lots of paperwork, attorneys, etc. no matter where the shipwreck treasure is found.

Bob Alcumbrack's expedition was meant to return the lost Cannonsburg cannon for community pride. This blog is going to challenge the unexplained historical mysteries surrounding the cannon's disappearance. You might think I've got rocks in my head, too, but the things you'll read aren't paleface fairy tales of the extremes encountered when searching for treasures or cannons. Bob's perfectly planned expedition to rescue the cannon for prosperity lead to an array of unforeseen problems. Most were overcome and some left us scratching our heads with no difinitive conclusion.

In 1986 we learned that CNN cable TV newshounds were filming operations in Texas and Michigan. We had hoped the media attention we were receiving would tire of our activity and leave us alone, but when they hung around Bob's big dig site like flies on summer roadkill it rattled Bob's concentration. We kept our mouths shut just like the good ole' boys were doing in 1885 and in Texas.

Fisher kept his tongue in check, too, but his reputation for treasure salvaging for greed or profits wasn't true to his character on dry land. Treasure hunting changes your persona on the high seas. Some would say he had the bad, the ugly and good characteristics depending on different locations and what he was researching or investigating. When Bob began his expedition he wasn't the best, but within a few days he was destined to be one of the better treasure hunters of his time. "Search for Secrets of A Sunken Cannon" was about finding as much documentation as possible to discover the cannon's hiding place before he actually started digging, but that's not how it started. Preservation of the cannon mean't not just finding the piece, but documenting what kind of cannon and what type of carriage it sat upon before dredging it up from its burial location. Bob always felt the cannon was reburied erroneously, because the cannon belonged to the people living in the Cannonsburg area and it shouldn't have disappeared upon the death of Walter Tompsett by his wife and cannon firing friends.

Walter Tompsett wasn't even born when the cannon was given to Cannon Township's founding fathers in 1847. For 37 years (1848-1885) the awesome firepower of the Cannonsburg cannon roared until the day of the cannon accident. That's during the townships celebratory picnic on July 4, 1885. The cannon prematurely discharged during reloading, the ramrod bursting from the chamber striking Walter Tompsett's knee. Joint bones and soft tissue were splattered across the grass, the blood gushing from what was left of his leg. It wasn't a good scene as Rena Tompsett raced down the hill as Walter lay wreathing on the ground in terrible pain, the knee gone, but the leg below the knee hung on by only the skin. He would bleed to death over the next 12 or so before physicians and surgeons would arrive to amputate his severely damaged leg.

For 12 excruciating hours Walter Tompsett's screams could be heard by the remaining six men who were firing the cannon. One of Tompsett's friends took to drinking hard cider. Bob thought he was too drunk to go bury the cannon a second time. How could it be that Tompsett was shot? Why was he standing in front of the cannon? Tompsett didn't nest the powder charge, but my reasoning wondered if his drunken friend was in shock or burned by the flash. Could it have been his friend that rammed down the powder charge, but halted and turned away when the explosion occurred? Could it be Tompsett was preparing to remove the ramrod nested by Fred Thomas and load shot and that's why he was in front of the muzzle chamber when it exploded? Why wasn't the cannon swabbed of glowing embers? Was it negligence or was the worm rod and swab cleaner absent? Bob didn't have any answers to these perplexing problems. His mind view of events was incomplete so how could he form a concensus on what size cannon he had to emblazon in his mind when dowsing for the cannon? Many questions without answers.

Upon death his friends hitched up the 'ancient' cannon and hauled it through town, up Joyce Street, then over the hill and the five men returned in forty-five to an hour later and it was lost for 101 years, the site unknown except for the five and Rena Tompsett and James Thomas. Where they buried the cannon is what infected Bob's dreams night after night for more than 50 years? Where did they hide the cannon so fast? Did the men rebury the cannon or dismember and destroy it? Did they hide, then recycle the cannon at the local blacksmith shop outside of Cannonsburg? The amount of questions Bob couldn't answer, but this historian put the puzzle together within two years. Bob's dreams were turning into nightmares about the cannon's demise. He was being haunted by all these unknowns and it was getting harder to shake off the bad vibes he was getting from spectators. He tried inserting himself in the dream hoping by doing so he could envision what might have happened to the cannon. I would be his ace atop his hole to fill in the blanks.

Bob began digging on a whim of how his mind saw sequences in his dreams. One thing you must always remember when being a treasure hunter is you must be a positive thinker. You can't dwell on naysayer fodder. You must think outside the box of rationality. Never give in to thoughts of impossibility. Everything in life can't be the best, but the trick is to start somewhere and see where it leads you. Dwell on the negatives of life too much and it'll rob you of success. Negative thoughts challenge the minds ability to reason out problems. Brain cells die sooner than expected. What if you don't succeed thinking robs you of the ability to think objectively. If you use dowser rods to locate treasures the mantra in your head must be precise -- no hangups or faulty pictures of what you are looking to accomplish.

As Bill Gates, the founder and CEO of MicroSoft once said, "Life isn't fair, so get used to it!" Just don't fall on your sword about it. Keep positive thoughts in your mind and you might just strike the mother lode of treasures. It's late and I need some sleep to recharge a few million brain cells for tomorrow night's session. As Red Green says on PBS broadcasts "Keep your stick on the ice and I'm pullin' for ya," because we're all in this together." Goodnight!

Search for Secrets of A Sunken Cannon - 17

Bob Alcumbrack's big dig site was underway, but it took only days of digging for him to realize that he wasn't going to be able to find the cannon as planned. He surely didn't plan on the competition from another cannon hunting group near Cannonsburg, Michigan. Still he had a goal, a lofty goal at best that would make him the envy of the Texas group. Finding gold wasn't the prize he sought.

A cannon is the ultimate treasure trophy on American soil. It is a rare to find buried ancient cannons in the United States. Finding the Cannonsburg cannon with the engraving plates would be a miracle. Without engraving plates on carriages all cannons are rendered worthless. Bob didn't have any clue to whether or not the cannon itself was engraved since no pictures or photos of the cannon were ever found. The picture he formed in his mind of the cannon's size was the admission of old residents that it let out an "awesome blast," but what cannon explosion doesn't and since the smallest cannon in the US military was a 6-pound cannon that is the picture he saw in his mind when using his two brass dowsing rods.

When I learned of Bob's cannon dimensions I immediately thought he had rocks in his heads when I learned where Walter Tompsett was struck with the ramrod. My heart said it had to be smaller. Surely the men firing the cannon wouldn't bury the wheels in soil so deep the ramrod would strike the 27 year old farm laborers knee. If the cannon were smaller it'd probably be engraved with royal warrants. Since the cannon had been in use for nearly forty years (1847-1885) it couldn't have been made of iron, because these cannons rust and were dangerous to fire within twenty-five years. Cannons that were dredged up onto American soil before two World wars were recycled, the royal warrants lost. Without royal warrants or engraved plaques the cannons lose authenticity and are used in landscaped areas of parks and marinas. Reproduction cannons made of iron rust away in historical sites like on Mackinaw Island in Michigan. Many ancient cannons still lie in the ruins of wrecks worldwide.

Billions of dollars of unclaimed treasures rest with them. Some wrecks rest in the shallows or are buried in shifting sands on beaches, some occasionally unearthed by hurricanes and storms. Those in shallow waters are beaten consistently by underwater currents so strong it literally dashes them to ruin. The depth of wrecks keeps them within reach and today's scientific advancements in underwater robotics puts all within reach, but that's only if you have the investment capital to have the best underwater technology. Modern technology makes it easier for trusted men to be tempted by greed, power and fame. When Odyssey Marine found the HMS Victory off the English coast in 2008 using advanced electromagnetic towed sonar they showed no sunken vessel is safe when treasure hunters have the best equipment -- some times far better than government research vessels. But just because Odyssey found the vessel didn't mean what they found was safe from other explorers. Sure they mapped it with GPS coordinates, but they couldn't hover over the wreck because their position over the wreck could be given away because of AIS.

In accordance with the International Maritime Organization's regulations (IMO) and the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAIS) regulations AIS is supposed to be fitted aboard international voyaging ships with a gross tonnage of more than 300 tons and all passenger ships regardless of size. That means that 40,000 ships worldwide carry AIS class A equipment. Treasure hunters with heavy vessels expose themselves to the watchful eyes of anyone.

AIS is primarily used as a navigation tool so ships can avoid collision at sea, in rivers or the Great Lakes. AIS purpose is to allow authorities to track and monitor vessel movements with Loran-C and GPS transceivers. AIS can be turned off if security is threatened by terrorist or pirate activity in any given area. Ships outside of AIS radio range are tracked with Long Range Identification and Tracking Systems ((LRITS). No more can bigger ships of 300 tons or more escaped the watchful eye of AIS, with the exception of military vessels. This prevents ships with large underwater ROV's like the Odyssey groups vessel from hovering over sunken wrecks too long. Position too long and GPS coordinates by other treasure seekers can find where bigger treasure or research vessels are anchored. Bigger is no longer better and the size of a treasure hunting vessel can be monitored by others very easily.

The use of AIS expanded in November 2009 when the STS-129 space shuttle mission attached a Norwegian-built "NORAIS" VHF antenna to the Columbus module on the International Space Station (ISS). NORAIS's purpose is an advanced test and technology demonstration for space-based ship monitoring. It's a leap towards satellite-based AIS monitoring systems. As you can see, the days of using big ships to find treasure in ocean depths is over. Small vessels operating in giant seas whether salt or fresh is a dangerous pursuit or hobby, but since the days of the earliest explorers the site of treasure tempts men of greed, power and fame.

No different was Hernan Cortes called Ferdinand or Hernan' Cortez by American educators. This Spaniard was sent to Central America in 1519 by Diego de Velazquez to conquer the Aztec Empire in Honduras and to discover the Spanish gateway to the Pacific and eventually California. When Cortes' conquistadors made contact with Chief Montezuma, Cortes' impressed him with his adornment of feathers he convinced Montezuma that he was the god Quetzcoatl, meaning the "plumed serpent" god of wind, water and air. The chief was ignorant and became Cortes' servant. When Montezuma opened his treasury to Cortes' he saw the vaults filled with gold, silver and sparkling precious stones and jewelry and knew they'd fascinate Europeans, but Cortes' was so tempted by the fortunes in treasure before his eyes that his heart hardened by greed, this forced him to break his Spanish allegiance to Cuba and Spain. Cortes' mind kept repeating 'why should I do all the work returning the treasure to Spain and earn a little reward when I can have it all?' He sifted the treasure thru his fingers for he now had treasures beyond his wildest dream and now he had the power. He wasn't going to share it with Cuba or Spain's rulers. It was his treasure now!

Gov. Velasquez sent a Spanish force to capture Cortes' and return his renegade Conquistadors in chains to Cuba, but Cortes' treasure hardened fighters force the Spanish troops to retreat back to Cuba empty handed. Cortes and men were well motivated by greed not to return. Cortes' became the dominating ruler of the Aztec empire, but within two years Montezuma was reduced to disillusionment with the white man's god and rebelled. Montezuma was killed in battle in the Aztec capital or Tenochitlan in 1521.

Cortes' and his Conquistadors became privateers and pillaged the Aztec vaults and completely destroyed and annihilated the Aztec Empire in Honduras before 1526. Cortes' and followers had laid claim to countless billions in gold, silver, diamonds, emeralds and pearl treasures that he sent to Europe or that was lost at sea to storms, shipwrecks and pirates. Treasure left Central America at the rate of 20 million per year with an estimated $100 million after Montezuma's death. The first two years more than a billion in treasure left. It was greed that led to Cortes' downfall.

You might be wondering why this history lesson. Well, not many know the facts above as it relates to greed of treasure. Treasure leads treasure hunters to make unfortunate mistakes in judgment and create the destruction of whole civilizations. Ten years later (1536-38) another Spanish conquistador named Francisco Pizarro discovered the Inca's treasure trove in Peru, Bolivia and Chile. The Incas, too, were impressed with Pizarro and opend their treasury vaults and Pizarro's eyes betrayed his mind seeing the Incas mountain of sparkling treasures. Pizarro and his men became soldiers of fortune, tortured and killed many Indians for their most precious treasures. During this time another Spanish conquistador named Jimenez de Quesada and his men fought their way into Colombia's Andes mountains killing and torturing the Chibcha Indians for information that would lead them to the legendary "Golden One: The Lost El Dorado" mines. Legends say its golden treasures reside between the Amazon, the Orinoco River and the Atlantic Ocean, a place of fabulous wealth situated in the country or city ruled by the "gilded man."

Central and South American soil was being stained with innocent red blood from the Natives. White men and explorerss killed, stole and plundered the Indians rich culture and stripped their heritage for their own selfish gree, power and fame.

Sir Walter Raleigh, an Englisheman, who never set foot in Virginia (Raleigh, VA) launched an expediton in 1595 to South America and captured the Spanish town of St. Joseph, Trinadad, and explored the famed Orinoco River in search of the legendary gold. He must have found something that caught his eyes or the "City of Gold," because he mentions it in a poem he wrote while incarcerated by James I of England shortly after Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603. Raleigh at this time was imprisoned in the Tower of London for 13 years because he was involved in a plot to dethrone James I. To amuse himself Raleigh conducted scientific experiments and wrote poetry about his previous travels and wrote the History of the World as he knew it and never did place one foot on American soil. In 1617 he was released and sailed to Guiana, South America, broke his ties to England and searched for the fabled gold-rich region of El Dorado. He had to find the "Lost City of Gold" in southeast Venezuela and north Brazil. That was Sir Raleighs' dream - a goal never realized. It's still an unexplored region of South America today.

In the end Sir Walter Raleigh, along with his young son named Walter, and his band of treasure seeking hunters attacted a Spanish town on the Orinoco River, but young Walter was killed. Sir Walter returned to England, but was arrested and charged on the old warrant with "treason" and put to death by beheading. It took only 139 years (1650) to strip Central and South American Indians of their amassed treasures. Renegade explorers used the vast wealth for their own selfish desires and much was shipped worldwide to hungry jewelers and not royal coffers. Pirates on the open seas raided merchant vessels sailing to Europe. Customers were waiting impatiently for the sparkling stones, gold and silver bullion, but they didn't care how many Indians died trying to protect their own wealth of treasures.

The most trusted explorers were hardened by the glitter of treasure. That's exactly how Cortes', Pizzaro, Quesada and England's Sir Walter Raleigh got into trouble. Country's of origin they didn't serve. Only themselves for their own selfish pleasures. So why tell you these little stories about what greed does to trusted men. Well its to show you the hard lessons of what not to do when treasure hunting -- don't antagonize the countries of treasure origin simply because you've tried to stake claim to sunken treasure wrecks, whether salt or fresh water. Most countries view them as graveyards to be respected, the treasure not yours even though you found it. Be careful what you dream for. You just might find it, but be wary of outsiders. A secret I'm willing to share with you at this moment is that the Cannonsburg cannon originates within the time period of the treasure hunters listed above. Remember no picture or description of the cannon was ever found, but something was found after Bob's big dig concluded in 1986, but now is not the time to divulge the artifact found. This isn't the end. On the contrary, it is the beginning enticement for you to ponder what is next.

Search for Secrets of A Sunken Cannon - 16

Michele Oka Doner is a renowned artist and sculpturist who has devoted her life to the beauty and mysteries of art and nature, which parallels the mission of the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her new exhibition opened at FMG on January 20, 2010. The natural world has always held her spellbound and the love of nature has given rise to a repertoire of beautiful art that includes sculpture, functional objects, prints and installations in America, Europe and Japan. Nature has made her one of America's best artist. From the Atlantic Oceans shores to inland forests she has found a truly amazing rich palette of natural subjects.

Born and raised in Miami, Florida, she spent her youthful days frollicking on the warm, sandy beaches collecting what washed up from the ocean's floor. That started her lifelong interest in discovering and collecting nature's fragments. She poured her soul into her work which pushed her faster and farther. Her creativity and productivity shows her deep personal relationship with nature. She never quits pushing to create great works of art we can all appreciate. Oka Doner said, "I set out to explore the world around me."

Like Oka Doner to be the best in the world means you pour your physical, mental and spiritual soul and into the projects of life you desire. That's exactly what all treasure hunters and inventors must do. They must set out to explore areas of the world that may be frought with unexplained mysteries.

That's exactly what Bob Alcumbrack's philosphy had to be, too. He poured his heart and soul into finding the cannon. He dug day and night and explored his corner of the world. He was the ultimate treasure hunter - the cannon hunter. In fact we had to use scuba diving equipment in our search, too, something Bob thought he'd never have to use at his first big dig site. He was serious about his mission -- find that cannon and secrecy is a pre-requisite of treasure hunters.

The most serious treasure hunter to shine in the historical spotlight in the 1970's was Melvin A. Fisher. This chicken farmer from Indiana spent his winter's in Florida. The sun's warmth felt good, but he had to have something to do and his love for treasure hunting for fun and profit was better than slaughtering chickens for a living. Treasure hunting was more profitable and rewarding than battling the icy winds of Mother Nature's northern agricultural pursuits. Not everything was rewarding, the job of treasure hunting was a risky adventure, but worth the effort.

Fisher became president of Treasure Salvors, Inc. out of Key West, Florida in the 70's and he had a definite flare for discovering secret shipwrcks loaded with wealthy cargos. He couldn't have done it without wealthy friends and business associates. He needed a steady diet of venture capital to cover his debts and subsistence living. Treasure hunting isn't a cheap hobby, but Bob Alcumbrack found cannon hunting rewarding without the need for greed.

In 1971, the Fisher group used some investor capital to find one of the richest Spanish treasure wrecks, the 1622 escort fleet galleon, the Nuestra Senora de Atocha. Several years later Fisher's group discovered the Atocha's sister ship, the Santa Margarita, which produced a treasure trove worth millions. This was a paltry find next to the discovery of the 1744 HMS Victory wreck off England, by a Tampa, Florida, treasure hunting group known as Odyssey Marine Excavators, Inc. in 2008. The Victory find was worth billions. Gold in 1971 was worth $35.00 an ounce, then $945.00 an ounce in 2009 and $1142 an ounce approximately in 2010. The Alcumbrack group found flecks of real gold in the black sand deposits at his first big dig site, but it was so miniscule we opted not to mine the gold and kept searching for the cannon. The glacial streams of the Grand River contain gold and have been actively mined since the 1870's, but I shall not reveal the secret locations.

Fisher's group retreived thousands of gold and silver coins, silver bars in excess of 70 pounds, gold bullion, an emerald cross, gold chains, jewelry and a rich assortment of other collectibles. Both wrecks were estimated to be worth $20 million. Believe it or not, this was considered a paltry sum in comparison to the amount of treasure streaming out of Mexico's Aztec Empire between 1519-1526. Compared to the Odyssey group this was a minisule treasure find, too.

Fisher used underwater sonar and lost map coordinates to locate wrecks. The Odyssey group used 21st century towed electromagnetic sonar, satellite imagery and map coordinates to find many shipwrecks in 2008 worth many billions, but despite efforts to claim title to the wrecks they found themselves sucked into admiralty court proceedings. Country after country is claiming the salvage treasure belongs to them - not the treasure hunters.

Forty years of advancement technology have increased profits, but so far the treasure groups have expended much time fighting for salvage rights in courts. Sure increased computer enhanced technology means higher costs, but so too, discovery of the wrecks and where they rest makes it easier for pirates to locate with GPS and they plunder it before the salvors and military vessels return to guard it. That's why treasure hunting is a secret society. One loose anonymous tongue can cost treasure hunters billions of dollars.

Countless billions of treasure beyond Fisher's wildest dream still rest undiscovered beneath many feet of current shifting sand in the Gulf of Mexico's Marquesas Keys and westward from Key West, Florida. The fair market value of Fisher's treasure troves today would yeild $100 million. That's still a mere drop in the bucket to the vast Indian treasures stolen from the Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of South America in the early 1520's.

National archaeologists deemed Fisher's group as destructive salvors and deemed his salvage operations as piratical of national treasures. Archaeologists claimed that Fisher's group was tearing the wrecks apart to find the treasure trove and failed to map the sites before doing so.
Government officials alleged that Fisher's divers didn't care about the historical shipwrecks architecture and were only interested in the precious cargo. The treasure was needed to repay investors back with interest in profits and enlarge Fisher's own personal wealth. Fisher was harshly criticized in court. Fisher had filed claim to both vessels in admiralty court. The government argued the treasure found on the Outer Counter Shelf belonged to the Department of Interior. The government's piratical nature tried seizing control of the booty, but Fisher countersued, but lost and the treasure was put into custodianship of the admiralty court. According to the admiralty he could harvest the treasure, but as "finders keepers' he couldn't sell them. This is exactly what is happening with the Odyssey groups 2008 find of the shipwreck HMS Victory. England and Spain have counter claimed salvage rights.

Fisher's court battles made him a legend -- an American folk hero who had the gumption to fight big government. He was small potatos battling big government. He tried to be finders keepers, but the Federal government using information provided by national archaeologists claimed ownership of the national treasure. Piracy comes in many forms.

Years later Fisher once said he didn't know if discovery of the coral and barnacle encrusted treasure galleons were a blessing or curse. He was quite wealthy in 1978 and he felt his wealth may not have outweighed a personal family tragedy in 1975.

Mel's son Dirk, his daughter-in-law Angel and treasure diver Rick Gage drowned at the Atocha site when their tugboat sank. The unexplained mystery to date is whether they radioed for help or whether they sacrificed themselves so that only Mel knew the secret location of the Atocha that prevented other treasure hunters from finding the wreck. Treasure hunters don't tell secrets. They hide treasure wrecks at practically any cost. It has long been known that when different groups of treasure hunters meet they will fight to the death of each other for control of the rich booty. The same holds true to treasure hunters on dry land. Bob Alcumbrack's group was aware of another cannon hunting group in the Cannonsburg area in 1986 -- that's why we kept silent and made sure nobody could read our lips when we talked. Real treasure hunters today are as dangerous as their exploring predessors during the first 600 years of roaming the high seas. Somali pirates are just as ruthless and bad seizing crews and ships and holding them for millions in ransom.

Federal agents seized Fisher's two found vessels and claimed they were protected by Federal jurisdiction on the OCS. However, Fisher took his claim to both vessels to the U.S. Supreme Court and they ruled in his favor, but the Justices weren't impressed by his salvage techniques. Some claimed that Fisher and his salvage group were simply legal pirates and not interested in preserving history. Pots of gold and silver treasure was worth fighting for and Fisher gained fame and fortune finding shipwrecks in shallow water, which is why Michigan protects sunken shipwrecks and aircraft from diving outlaws who seek treasure for profits and not historical value.

Shipwrecks found in shallow water less than sixty-five feet in oceans or inland seas are being easily torn apart by fishing trawler nets and strong underwater currents. Decaying vessels are being strewn across large areas and covered with shifting sand and silt. Deep ocean wrecks are succumbing to fishing nets pulled by large cargo vessels. Another man named George R. Fischer, a research archaeologist for the National Park Service during Mel Fisher's day was an adamant supporter for saving wrecks from treasure hunters. He felt that treasure hunters need to obey the "archaeology code of ethics that said "Thou shalt not sell the goodies."

You could say that Mel Fisher and George Fischer met each other by collision fighting over treasure. Destiny brought them together, just as Bob Alcumbrack and I found our destiny. Anyone who hunts for treasure off the Florida coast are known as "Hunters of The Wild Frontier" similar to Davey Crockett's "King of The Wild Frontier" on dry land.

Fisher was never accused of any running sea battles with other treasure hunters on the high seas. However, some historical records state that when different groups meet over spoils of wrecks or archaeological sites fierce gun battles do erupt out of sight of law enforcement officials. Big time treasure hunting is dangerous to one's continued health. Being wary of other cannon hunters was our motto, too. Warring treasure hunters will claim each found the booty by suctioning off silt or displacing sand to expose coinage and precious stones. Displacing sediments often destroys the integrity of remnant remains where vessel or human remains can be found. Would you like someone disturbing the graveyard? Who really owns lost and found treasures?

The Alcumbrack group felt had word gotten out that we found real mining gold at Bob's first big dig site area streams we'd be encountering too many disturbed areas should the first dig site not pan out. We couldn't chance the competition digging for gold or cannon. The cannon was our primary goal -- not gold for profit. Greed is the beast that satisfies a treasure hunter's hunger for selling artifacts from sunken wrecks. On land the ultimate treasure trophy is a cannon with engraved brass plates. That's the authenticity of the piece. This is what Bob Alcumbrack had to find to authenticate the Cannonsburg cannon. That's all for today.

Search for Secrets of A Sunken Cannon - 15

'I don't quit' said President Obama during last nights State of The Union message on Jan.20, 2010, but he doesn't walk the talk. He blames Bush, the news media and descenting people for everything that's wrong during his first year in Office, but what did Obama ever do as Congressmen? I've never heard the fill in the blank answer. He hasn't learned the value of being a team player, because he never did anything as the team player. His mantra has been charismatic with 'change we can believe in.' He promised transparency between the dems and repubs and Americans, but he 'quit' on his campaign promises. You don't win brownie points with uneasy Americans by trying to cram health care down their throats to rationalize what they consider a bad plan. Saying 'I don't quit' is never a realistic goal if he 'hasn't started keeping his promises that got him elected' since 2008. He failed to follow his own mantra causing widespread descension and distrust of big government with skull duggery hands within the democratic party. Inflating numbers with fuzzy math and demo Congressmen meeting behind closed doors promising (buying) vote favors were glowing misjudgements of the public trust. Sniping at those who don't agree is not what America needs -- it already has too many terrorists trying to destroy us. They aren't combatants or criminals. Failing to call them terrorists emboldens the murderous thugs. Silent pandering to their whims shows weakness. Failure to call them what they are is arrogance. They are killers of innocents - terrorist radical Muslims who hate freedom borne Americans. He 'quit' on Americans before he 'started his speech' and didn't apologize to angry Americans for his first year shortcomings.

That's all I'll say. I said I wouldn't talk politics, but sometimes I must vent frustrated thoughts, like you, to a President and his party members that seemingly turned a deaf ear to people who don't agree, but ' I'll do better' would have been much better than 'I don't quit' to smoothe the ruffled feathers of angry People. Can we trust the President and Congress to work together for all the People instead of special interests or is it more of the status quo democratic politics with more hide n' seek games? Italics are my personal thoughts. Let's return to Search for Secrets of A Sunken Cannon.

When I think back about Robert Alcumbrack's quest to find the missing Cannonsburg cannon I can truthfully say that whatever Bob encountered he didn't 'quit' even when problems were insurmountable or stopped progress. Many strange twists of fate puzzled him. Mysteries surrounded him he couldn't explain. He always sought resolutions to problems outside his sphere of knowledge, but we couldn't keep our appointment with destiny if we quit as non-team players. We kept Bob going forward with his wildest dream. Got a dream? What's stopping you? Probably not enough extra income -- that was Bob's problem, too!

Mysteries of unknown sequences made him push harder, but all the while he had my help to unravel and educate the cannon crew about how not to become bad treasure hunters. When stumped with problems we had to search and educate ourselves the best we could knowing all too well we might get into something that was over our heads. For two years after the first big dig we practically drowned in mysteries we never knew existed, but Bob posted a letter to his crew that said, 'I won't quit' no matter how long it takes to understand and resolve unforeseen problems as the ultimate treasure hunter. He wouldn't quit on his wildest dream.

What was Bob's first big dig problem? I'll divulge a little secret and show you how Bob's destiny and mine were on a collision course to make our friendship solid. Our pre-destination to meet each other at a precise time in history was orchestrated by our Creator when we were born. There is a purpose to life and He will make sure we arrive at our destiny with others unless we do something foolish by accident and change our arrival destination with eternity. Have you ever felt you were at the right spot at the right time to meet that someone special in your life? Was it design or accidental? Or, was it the fault of two different atoms colliding with each other?

I believe God or higher spirits of belief can pre-destine people to interact in the lives of others at precise times to help them overcome problems they couldn't otherwise solve. I didn't have all the answers to help overcome Bob's expeditionary problems, but I and the 1986 recovery team did possess enough knowledge to solve his problems beyond his own comprehension and vice versa.

Bob and I met the second day of operations. I became the ninth member of his cannon recovery crew. It's ironic that nine men in 1885 were involved in the cannon's disappearance and nine men in 1986 were trying to resurrect the lost cannon after a 101-year absence? Now that's uncanny predestination!

Common interests and goals brought cannon and ultimate treasure hunters together. Interesting to note is that nearly 85% of all treasure hunters are searching for saleable artifacts. Depending on localities worldwide, the prospects of finding hidden treasures increases to 95% for self-serving bad treasure hunters. The last 5% can be divided into three groups, but most belong to historical organizations, institutions or museums. Of the 5% some 4% have good intentions to restore and donate their finds back to many fine institutions, but most fall short. The last one percent do it for pride of community spirit and the benefit of humanity. This was Bob's lofty goal. Do the right thing the first time, return and preserve our rich historical heritage.

This doesn't mean that everything that treasure hunters find is donated to a special institution. Some artifacts might be housed in personal collections or for lifelong case studies until a manuscript or book is published, but many are lost when the individuals creating them die. It becomes very important to "will" away an individuals prized historical artifacts lest they end up on auction blocks to the highest bidder, lost or discarded as unsaleable junk.

Among treasure hunting circles 'serious treasure hunters tend to be flamboyant and entrepreneurial by nature.' They either use their own capital or with investors fund to further their own goals. Some become public-trading entities selling shares to raise the necessary investment capital. They hire well paid professionals with the best equipment and extra money.

Bob didn't want investors or sponsors with capital. It was his turn to dig up the lost Cannonsburg cannon and realize his wildest dream. His team would share in the glory when the cannon was found. His team and researcher were highly trusted friends who could keep their mouths shut until the object of Bob's affection was found. We had become an ultimate secret society, too. That's a pre-requisite for treasure hunting.

Next time we'll start delving into treasure hunters versus preservationists. We'll be traveling around the world searching for treasure and cannons. Some names you'll remember and I might uncover secrets you never knew existed. History is only 'as dry as dust' if you are disinterested in the first place and don't have an open mind to see the sights from a different perspective. Only thru reading past historical passages can you appreciate the lengths treasure hunters must go to find treasures.

One final comment: Remember I'm a storyteller like Mark Twain and like him I sometimes slaughter the English language. Both his and my early years - we both suffered much illness and when we turned about 12 years old we ran wild with imagination and enjoyed hands-on life experiences. As always I welcome your comments to my written posts.