Sacramento Cannon.—At the battle of Sacramento, near Chihuahua, Mex., Feb. 28, 1847, one of the actions incident to Col. Alexander W. Doniphan's conquest of northern Mexico, ten pieces of artillery were captured by the American troops. Subsequently Col. Doniphan joined the army under Gen. Wool, who presented him with the guns captured at Sacramento. After the war the guns were taken to Missouri via the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and presented to the state. Some of the pieces were kept in the arsenal at Liberty, the home of Col. Doniphan, until the war between Kansas and Missouri over the slavery question began. Then some zealous Missourians pillaged the arsenal to secure arms and munitions of war for the subjugation of Kansas, and among other things brought off one or more pieces of artillery. The one known as "Old Sacramento" was captured by the free-state men from the Missourians and at the close of the border war it was buried on the farm of Maj. Thomas Bickerton near Lawrence, where it remained until Jan. 29, 1861, when it was dug up to be used in celebrating the admission of Kansas into the Union. After that the old cannon was always brought out on state occasions, was given a prominent place in all parades, and never failed to participate in its modest way in all big events.

"Old Sacramento" finally ended its usefulness in the following manner: Some citizens were drowned in the Kansas river and the cannon was taken down to the banks of that stream to test the theory that the concussion caused by the discharge of artillery would cause the body of a drowned person to rise to the surface. The gun was loaded heavier each time until the recoil wrecked the carriage. Then a charge of three pounds of powder was placed in the cannon and gunny sacks, wet grass, wet clay, etc., were hammered in on top of the powder with a sledgehammer. When the match was applied the gun exploded, the largest piece being blown through the wire mill, while smaller pieces were thrown clear across the river. The main part of the cannon is now in the museum at the University of Kansas.