Douglas Cannon - 1970s To Present

1970s To Present

The pattern of repeated thefts and brief appearances on campus, as well as the receipt of letters and postcards from the cannon, continued from the 1970s until the present time (2007). The letters from the cannon would sometimes include photographs of the cannon in remote locations, including Montreal, London, and Paris. It's unclear that the cannon was actually taken to those places, though the shipping case bearing the cannon in 1994 did have Venezuelan customs seals on it. There's suspicion of university complicity in these later appearances and disappearances of the cannon; certainly the November 2007 appearance indicates that the cannon is under university control.

The appearances often coincide with significant campus events, such as the 1973 reunion of the class of 1918, the final class to have won the classic cannon scraps. A member of the class wrote an open letter to the cannon in the Argus asking that it return for the reunion, and upon appearing it was seranaded by the alumni. It was stolen again in 1974, from the physics workshop where new mounts were being fitted.

It was mounted on the pedestal during the Spring of 1975, and stolen again from its mountings. The mountings were partially sawn through over a period of several nights using a bare hack-saw blade. It was briefly taken to Mystical Seven house (by the burglar) for safe-keeping.

It appeared during the half-time parade of the college's homecoming football game soon after, but then went unseen for some time. In 1981, during the college's 150th anniversary celebrations, it was hidden in a large cake cut open by the college president's wife. It was stolen again in 1982, by burglars who broke a window and a lock in order to take possession.

It was returned during 1988's graduation exercises by people in masks. In 1989, it was reportedly mounted to a theft-proof base presented by an alum who was a retired CIA official, and stolen again 29 days later.

It appeared at 1994's reunion, and was displayed under guard in 1995 for the inauguration of a new university president. In 1998, an art class created an obelisk with a cannon on top and a letter asking for the cannon's return attached. Soon after, four masked men delivered the cannon to a member of the art class. The student claimed that despite the masks, she recognized three of the men, claiming they were the president and vice-president of the university and the acting dean of student affairs.

The art class took possession of the cannon, transporting it with the aid of a baby carriage. It was taken to a mall for a photograph with Santa Claus. Deciding to return the cannon to the student body as a whole, the cannon, inside a shipping crate placed in turn inside a plaster package wrapped with a ribbon tied in a bow, appeared on campus, and was immediately absconded with by students. In 2000, photos were received depicting the cannon in St Louis, Kansas, and at Las Vegas slot machines. It appeared on campus again during 2001, travelled to Appalachia, and settled briefly in Providence RI. It once made an early evening appearance at Yawgoog Scout Reservation.

The cannon reappeared briefly on campus on the eve of the commencement of the class of 2003. In the early hours of the morning, the cannon was stolen from the Eclectic Society and disappeared soon after.

Four years later in 2007, the cannon made yet another triumphant return to campus. At midnight, hours before President Douglas Bennet's final commencement, the cannon stormed the President's House. A joyous ceremony followed with tears and the spontaneous chanting of the Fight Song.

Later, in 2007, it was on display, under guard, for half an hour during an inauguration reception for the current President Michael Roth.

It has since disappeared and its whereabouts remain unknown.