Park’s cannon demonstration draws 100

Park Historian Ove Jensen stands with volunteers Fred Hybart, Ralph Banks, Greg Wilson, Jim Landers, Joe Thompson and Charles Winchester next to the cannon. | Austin Nelson photo

More than 100 people visited Horseshoe Bend National Military Park Saturday to see demonstrations of an 1,100-pound cannon firing, according to Park Historian Ove Jensen.

Even though the volunteers demonstrating the cannon’s power were only firing blanks, volunteer Ralph Banks, formerly of Dadeville, said the cannon itself – a cannon similar to one the U.S. Army would have used during the War of 1812 – is still a powerful weapon.