Nestled here at the corner of the Frontier Gateway Museum land, is a large piece of mobile artillery. Originally manufactured in France, the 155 mm 1917 field gun was a World War 1 era, French-designed to meet an urgent need at the time for modern heavy artillery. It became the standard field gun for the French Army and the United States Army during the first half of the 20th century in towed and self-propelled mountings.

Later, in 1918 the cannon was put into production by the United States with slight modifications as the Model 1918. It was used widely for mobile artillery pieces, and later adopted for seacoast defense after the war. It was greatly improved between the two world wars, mainly to increase its mobility. It was used throughout the 1920’s and 30’s to train thousands of reserve and national guard coast artillerymen, and after Pearl Harbor was attacked in late 1941, it was rushed in large numbers to guard unfortified positions along both coasts. In 1945, these field guns were decommissioned for more sophisticated artillery.

The field gun before you was restored by the National Guard in 1988, and later dedicated by the Montana National Guard to commemorate Montana’s 100th year, and the museum’s 25th year.

You may notice there are two inscriptions in French on the cannon, which translate to: 1. “A cannon well maintained is worth two of them,” and 2. “Be good to your brakes.” One might imagine well-cared for brakes would be needed when operating the mobile cannon and bringing its’ heavy load to a stop.

Several years ago, This 22,000 pound cannon was lifted over the trees by a giant crane and placed on a flatbed trailer. It was taken to a shop for sandblasting and painting and then returned to the museum good-as-new.