Douglas Cannon - Travels

Travels

In March, 1957, the modern tradition of stealing the cannon began. It was removed the night of March 12, hidden in Middletown, taken to New York and Iowa, and returned by masked figures in June 1958 during a reunion luncheon. It was remounted to its base over the summer.

A bit over a year later, in November 1959, it was stolen again. In March 1961, students in possession of the cannon presented it to Nikolai Bourov, head of the Soviet Union's delegation to the United Nations, claiming that they represented the student senate and that it was a gift to the students of the USSR, in order to symbolize "peace, brotherhood, and friendship". In April, the Dean of students, Mark Barlow, drove to New York, explained the situation to the diplomats, and recovered the cannon.

Students believing the cannon to be hidden in Barlow's basement broke in so many times during the next 20-odd months that Barlow later told the school paper "we had to leave flashlights around so that they wouldn't use matches and start a fire,". In 1963, the cannon was remounted.

In May 1965, the cannon was stolen again, appearing in 1966 on campus and in 1967 at the office of the managing editor of Life Magazine in New York, and was returned to the university in time for that year's graduation. During its absence, letters supposedly authored by the cannon were received by the Argus.

In 1969, the cannon was again stolen from its pedestal and brought to the White House in Washington, DC. It was presented at the gates as a present to president Richard M. Nixon protesting the Vietnam War. Members of Connecticut's congressional delegation managed to arrange for the cannon's return to Wesleyan. Remounted in December 1970, it was soon stolen again.