This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

BRIGHTON, Colo. — A Colorado man received a big surprise when he purchased some tree slabs from Missouri. It turns out, they featured a piece of history inside them.

Jason Labonte owns Just Rustic Custom Wood Working in Brighton. Over the weekend, he received three slabs of a ‘Witness Tree’ — which was around during the Civil War.

“[It] witnessed the ‘Battle of Independence’ in Missouri,” Labonte said. “And it was actually found with a cannon ball inside of it.”

Labonte didn’t get to keep the cannonball, but he did learn it belonged to the Confederate Army.

“There’s two to be known in existence of this type and he (the seller) has one of them,” Labonte said.

The tree is believed to be 250-280 years old.

Labonte plans to turn the tree slabs he purchased into custom tables. He said it will take a couple of months to complete.