LA CROSSE COUNTY HISTORICAL SKETCHES


was made of birch bark and red
cedar and the whole was fastened
together without a nail or bit of iron
of any sort by means of wattap
(roots of white spruce) and gum.
The frame was made of red cedar
ribs next to which were pieces of
cedar which were shaved as thin as
a blade of a knife and which were
run around the boat horizontally.
Outside of this was the birch bark,
sewed with the roots of the white
spruce  and   gummed    along  the
seams. Across the canoe were five
or six bars to keep it in shape. The
seats of the voyageurs were along-
side of but below the bars, and were
made of boards some four inches
wide. Despite its lightness the ca-
noe described was capable of carry-
ing as much     as  two   thousand
pounds. The great advantage of
this light type of canoe was the ease
with which it could be carried from
one river to another, or arouna
rapids and cascades over which it
could not float. Consequently, its
lading was made up into packages,
each of which could be carried by
one man. By this simple but in-
genius boat the fur trade was se-
cured, the great continent of North
America was penetrated to its center
through thousands of miles of 'wil-
derness, and    a  valuable staple
brought to the marts of commerce.
  Among the    nineteenth  century
developments of the birch-bark ca-
noe, the Racine St. Paul might be
described for the sake of an exam-
ple. This boat was a cross between
the birch-bark canoe of the Indians
and the "kyak" of the Eskimo, and
it was an excellent craft for cruis-
ing on the lakes and rivers, for its
build combined strength with light-
ress. Its long, tapering hull had
water-proof compartments at either
end, and it was capable of support-
ing the weight of a man even if the
midde was full of water; thus it was
practically a life-boat which it was
impossible to swamp.    This boat
could be fitted with a sail. Another
type of nineteenth century birch-
bark canoe used on the upper Mis-
sissippi river was the Bushton. Its
ribs were of red elm, sides of white
cedar, and keel and stern of oak.
It was sixteen feet long and thirty
inches wide, and it weighed eighty
pounds. Although it could be fitted
with a sail and used as a sailing


boat, hoisting a sail on so light a
craft on the Mississippi involved the
risk of losing control of the boat.
  Alongside the canoe and. prede-
cessor of the keel-boat on the upper
Mississippi was the bateau or Mack-
inaw boat, also    called Alleghany
skiff. This boat was also used ex-
tensively on the lakes. The Macki-
naw boat was of French-Canadian
origin and was used for heavy and
light cargoes. It was built to carry
more than the ordinary canoe or
piroque and to go on longer voyages
than the piroques. The bateau or
Mackinaw boat was long in propor-
tion to its breadth and was made
of rough plank. It was wider amid-
ships where the gunwales were
about parellel and low, and rose high
at bow and stern. The stern was
narrow and sharp, like the bow, and
the bottom was flat. The boat was
built so that it would carry a con-
siderable cargo, from three-quarters
of a ton to three tons, on a very
light draught. For heavy traffic on
the lakes and larger streams it was
fitted with oars, usually not more
than two   pairs, and  each     oar
manned. There are cases mentioned
where platforms were laid on them
to use in ferrying horses and cattle
across deep streams and there is
even an account of a journey from
Prairie du Chien to Galena in 1828
on a sort of steam catamaran made
by laying a platform    over   two
Mackinaw boats with a shed built
upon it.
  The variety of craft on the upper
Mississippi river before the era of
the steamboat about 1820 presents
an interesting spectacle. It included
bark canoes, piroques, Mackinaw
boats, flatboats, broadhorns, arks,
barge, pole boats, keel-boats, and
many other kinds of boats. The
flatboat played a very important
part in transporting goods down the
Mississippi river, and even travel-
ling families adopted it as a stand-
ard water vehicle, especially that
type of flatboat called a broadhorn,
which was steered by means of two
big sweeps that     projected  like
horns from each side of the boat.
The flatboat was a creation of the
Ohio river and was a very strong
boat with a flat bottom, perpendicu-
lar sides, and a roof usually over the
whole of the hull. It was never less
than twenty feet long by ten feet