Just a couple of quick comments on this cannon. I am pretty sure it's not for sale. It is in the Ventura County Historical Society Museum. This cannon may have been originally brought to the Presidio of Santa Barbara by the frigate Aranzazú in 1795. It is on the garrison inventory for 1798, and it may also be the 4 pounder listed in the presidio bulwarte for 1818. Jim Martinez, a native of Ventura, argues that this is one of the cannons brought to Ventura from Santa Barbara in 1838 by General Castro in a skirmish initiated by him at the time. The cannon may have fired on the Mission there, and I think there still may be a cannon ball in the mission tower from it.
I came up with the caliber as being a 3 pounder from the bore measurement. Binkerhoff and Chamberlain show a bronze 3 pounder on page 133 of their book on spanish Military Weapons. It is 38 inches long and has a bore size of 2 3/4 inches.
If indeed this tube was delivered to Santa Barbara in 1795, it came from the Spanish Naval base in San Blas. They regularly stockpiled supplies and armament there for Spanish ships operating in the Western Pacific and Northwest Coast. As to Spanish not casting tubes in iron, I believe that is not really true. I have seen reference to iron foundries in the Philippines that did indeed cast iron tubes. When we talk about the Spanish Empire of the 18th Century, we need to keep in mind that this included territories which had vast mineral resources. Iron was certainly available, but copper, tin, and other such metals were abundant. It is not unusual, for example, to find Spanish canister shot made of copper ball.
Please comment on this tube. It could very well be English. The Spanish captured English shipping. I believe there is one such case where an English ship was taken as a prize in Nootka. The British packet "Argonaut", captain James Colnett, was captured in Nootka in 1789. There were others that were taken there as well. Provisions from these ships could have easily wound up in Santa Barbara by way of San Blas.
