Ark. man digging in garden unearths cannonball

[April 23, 2009]  FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) -- Officials say a Fort Smith man digging in his garden unearthed a Civil War-era cannonball that's possibly still explosive.

The unidentified man was tending to his garden Tuesday at his home when he found the rusted, 4-inch-diameter iron ball.

Bill Black, the park superintendent of the Fort Smith National Historic Site, said the cannonball appears to be a live round that's about 145 years old.

Fort Smith Fire Department officials plan to shoot at the cannonball with a shaped charge, which will either detonate the round, break it open or put a hole in it. Black said he hopes to keep the remnants at the Fort Smith National Historic Site.

There were a number of Civil War engagements in and around Fort Smith, including the Battle of Massard Prairie.

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Information from: Southwest Times Record, http://www.swtimes.com/

[Associated Press]

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