A Warship’s Cannonball Uncovered on Spring Street
Street graders digging in the heart of Seattle unearthed a 35-pound reminder of the 1856 Indian War.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The street graders working on Spring street unearthed a cannon ball, weighing 35 pounds, yesterday, and sent it down to Councilman Gosper. The old settlers gathered around to see the old, rusty relic, and it called to mind many incidents in the long ago, almost forgotten. This ball was undoubtedly fired from a gun on board the war ship Decatur, on the occasion of the Indian attack upon the handful of settlers in the fort at Seattle. This attack took place on the 24th day of January, 1856, 27 years ago, and a firing was kept up all day from the war ship. Every few months some relic of this engagement is found in and about the city.
“The old settlers gathered around to see the old, rusty relic, and it called to mind many incidents in the long ago, almost forgotten.”
This discovery highlights how quickly the memory of the 1856 Battle of Seattle—a foundational event in the city’s colonial history—was becoming a 'relic' even in 1883. Today, downtown construction in Seattle frequently unearths historical layers, though rarely ones tied to such a violent and debated chapter of the city's origins.
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