Possibly the most famous landmark on the Tarleton campus is a World War I cannon located in front of the Education Building under an oak tree. The cannon was brought to Tarleton from Fort Sam Houston in 1922 to be used in ROTC training. The cadets exhibited their expertise on the field piece at Parents' Day and on other special occasions.
It is reported that around 1928, during the early days of the rivalry between Tarleton and North Texas Agricultural College (the "Grubs"), the cannon was stolen by NTAC students and dumped into the Bosque River. E. A. "Doc" Blanchard, who came to Tarleton in 1926 as a manual arts instructor, said the students hauled the cannon off the Tarleton campus around 5 a.m., headed out Texas Highway 377, veered off to the north as they approached the Bosque River bridge, and rolled the cannon into the river. Blanchard and Ed Emmett, Tarleton maintenance foreman, and a crew of men, pulled the cannon out of the river with a tractor and hauled it back to the campus. Several wheel spokes were broken during the ordeal, and Blanchard made new spokes by hand since the college had no wood-turning equipment at that time.
In the early 1930's, the cannon was placed at its present site. For many years, there was a weekly ceremony, called "Retreat Parade", for the ROTC in which the cannon played an important part. In this ceremony, the U.S. flag in front of the Administration Building (now the E.J. Howell Building) was lowered, "taps" was played and the cannon was fired. This ceremony continued for many years until the university was forced to silence the cannon. Legend has it that if a virgin walks in front of it, it will fire.
Thanks to the classes of 1991 & 1992 the cannon has been restored to its original condition. The spokes have been replaced and the entire cannon sandblasted and painted its original color.