Fort Lewis College alumni want to put the boom back in football games.

The boom would come from a refurbished replica of a Civil War-era Parrott Rifle cannon that, for decades, announced the start and finish of Skyhawks’ football games as well as home-team touchdowns and extra points.

Known on campus simply as The Cannon, the original replica sounded hundreds of times from the early 1970s to 2010, when a fracture that could have caused the barrel to explode led to warehousing the old-time instrument of war.

The silence was deafening.

Now, Fort Lewis College Alumni is launching a campaign to raise $6,500 for a new barrel. The carriage, still in excellent condition, will not be swapped out.

“Instead of going to a few big donors, we’re looking for many small donors to replace the barrel,” said David Kerns, director of the alumni association. “We want to give a lot of alumni the chance to re-engage.”

Kerns said he plans to tap alumni, former FLC football players and current students in the campaign, which he expects to kick off at the end of the month.

The Parrott Rifle cannon, so called for its rifled barrel, was developed by Capt. Robert Parker Parrott, a West Point graduate. He left the service to become superintendent of the West Point Foundry and, in 1860, created the Parrott Rifle.

Everett “Scoop” Waddell, manager of the campus Central Stores in the 1970s, donated The Cannon to the college when he could find no use for it, the 75mm cannon, which launched a pointed 2-pound projectile, was a gift from a friend who collected vintage arms.

Besides sounding off at football games, The Cannon was an integral part of FLC homecoming parades on Main Avenue in Durango, starting in 1995.

“We’d fire it at intersections during the parades,” said Brad Hitti, who was a “cannoneer” as an FLC student and later as director of the Student Union. “We had to fire it at intersections because otherwise the reverberations would break windows in buildings.”

Truth be told, Hitti said, a window was shattered once. Reverberations also would trigger alarms on cars parked near the football stadium during games, he said.

Hitti, who took over firing The Cannon in the late 1980s, explained the routine.

After making sure the barrel is clear, a plastic bag containing 1½ to 2 ounces of black powder is inserted in the muzzle and pushed to the rear of the barrel with a shovel handle.

Newsprint is then wadded and pushed snugly against the bag of black powder. Through a tiny opening in the top rear of the barrel, a brass rod is inserted to perforate the bag of black powder, a fuse is inserted and flash powder poured to fill space.

Hitti uses his cigar to light the fuse which, according to length, will touch off the black powder in 3 to 5 seconds.

Kerns said specifications for the replacement barrel will be sent to Steen Cannons, an Ashland, Ky., company that makes replica field pieces and parts for historical parks, historical re-enactment groups and collectors.

Owner Marshall Steen said by telephone that the company makes 50 to 60 types of cannons – carriages, barrels or complete weapons.

“All replicas are full size,” Steen said. “Our products are authentic to the smallest detail.”

Kerns expects The Cannon, with its new barrel, will fire again for the first time in four years at the football team’s first scrimmage Aug. 31.

daler@durangoherald.com