Fear of War, People of Peace

Fear of War, People of Peace. . , When Maryland's first settlers arrived in 1634 they expected to encounter trouble, both from local American Indians and from rival English colonists across the Potomac River in Virginia., To assure a place of safety they built a fort at St. Mary's City armed with cannons sent by Lord Baltimore on the Ark. Archaeologists have not yet pinpointed the location of the fort, but this iron cannon may have been used there. It was discovered under the water of the St. Mary's River in 1824., Although there were periodic conflicts with Virginians, there is no evidence to suggest that the fort was used as a place of refuge or defense.,

"…we have seated ourvelues, within one half mile of the riuer, with a pallizado of one hundred and twenty yarde square with fouer flankes, we have mounted one peece of ordinance…a fortification (we think) sufficient to defend against any such weake enemies we have reason to expect here." , Leonard Clavert, May 30, 1634

, [Captions:] , This iron cannon was found in the St. Mary's River in 1824 and was put on display in St. Mary's City in 1934 as part of the Tercentennial celebration., Seventeenth-century cannonball from St. Mary's City shown with an illustration of a cannon called a demiculvern. We know Lord Baltimore sent demiculverns with the original expedition when they departed England in 1633.