The two walls facing the channel into Pensacola Bay posed the greatest challenge. Longer than the other fort walls, the channel fronts had more brick and were designed to mount 106 cannons. This would have been half of the Fort's total armament. The solution to balancing this great weight was reversed arches buried into the ground and designed to hold the walls up, much as arches would hold a ceiling up. Although never actually attacked, the guns which have never left American hands, were fired on Confederate positions on the mainland in 1861. This would be the only act of aggression taken by the Fort. As technology advanced, old guns were replaced by bigger and better guns. 1868 saw the arrival of the 15-inch Rodman cannon. Weighing almost 25 tons, this gun fired a 15-inch ball weighing between 315 and 434 pounds to a range of 3 to 4 miles. It replaced six smaller cannons mounted in 1860. This gun would in turn be replaced in the 1890's by a still more powerful series of guns mounted in concrete fortifications. Old gun emplacements, too massive to modify, were abandoned for even larger, thicker fortifications. In 1898 the first of the disappearing guns were added to the arsenal. When the disappearing gun fired, the recoil from the firing lowered it behind the steel-reinforced wall. From here it could be reloaded without exposure to enemy fire. Lead counterweights returned the weapon to the firing position above the wall. Artillery batteries popped up here and there around the end of the Island. By its end, several firing batteries housed 12 in. disappearing rifles capable of firing a shell many miles out to sea. All but one of the giant disappearing guns were sold. This remaining artifact is a real treasure. By the time WW-II arrived the newly created 6-inch shield gun was emplaced along the coastal side of the Fort. Like a turret, 4-inch thick cast steel wrapped around the 6-inch rifle to protect the crew from machine-gun and light cannon fire. Each gun and shield weighed 80 tons. Visibility from inside the shield was difficult but was aided by radar. Then it was over. The atomic bomb and guided missiles made coastal artillery ineffective and it quickly became cost prohibitive. The Army sold the guns for scrap and simply walked away. The massive concrete structures now stand as silent sentries to a time gone by. Nature quickly re-claimed the beaches and sand dunes immersing the old batteries in a kind of eerie science fiction world, looking more like the set for the next disaster aftermath movie. The military gave the Fort to the State of Florida for a park, who in turn gave it to the National Park Service as part of the newly formed Gulf Island National Seashore. The Park Service spent a half-million dollars stabilizing and securing the Fort and outer batteries so that the public could wander freely without undue danger of injury. Fort Pickens is somewhat unique in National historical sites in that it is not overly inundated with rules, regulations or restrictions. Although there is a guided tour conducted by the ever so knowledgeable Rangers, we were at our leisure to touch, feel, and even Braille just about everything within reach. Sorry, no climbing on the guns, but other than that, boy did I have fun!

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