Canoes: A Natural History in North America

Wood-and-canvas canoes built by the B. N. Morris Company of Veazie, Maine, among other builders, were made to order for paddlers overseas. This highly prized Morris canoe is owned by Tim Rowe in Great Britain, where several clubs collect the Canadian style canoes built in North America.

Ella and Bert Morris (far right) and his brother Charlie (far left) pose with their staff in front of the B. N. Morris storefront, ca. 1900.

The B. N. Morris canoe factory in Veazie, Maine.

This 17-foot B. N. Morris canoe was originally built ca. 1912 and has been carefully restored by Rollin Thurlow of the Northwoods Canoe Company in Atkinson, Maine.

Canvas being stretched over a 1905 Morris Veazie model canoe. Note the tacks at the gunwale that hold the canvas to the boat.

Between the years of 1917 and 1919, women changed seats with their male canoe partners on the covers of the Morris company catalogs.

Between the years of 1917 and 1919, women changed seats with their male canoe partners on the covers of the Morris company catalogs.

Tom Seavey with a 1905 Morris Veazie canoe that he restored.

The 1905 Morris Veazie halfway home in Tom Seavey’s shop.

Tom Seavey attaching the extended outwale to the canvassed Veazie canoe.