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Canoes: A Natural History in North America

Mark Neuzil and Norman Sims 2016

This is the story of the canoe, that singular American artifact so little changed over time. Featured here are canoes old and new, from birch bark to dugout to carbon fiber; the people who made them; and the adventures they shared. With features of technology, industry, art, and survival, the canoe carries us deep into the natural and cultural history of North America.

Follow author Mark Neuzil on Twitter: @mrneuzil

ISBN(s)

9780816681174 (hardcover)

Subject

Citable Link

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Filtering by: Section Chapter 4: All-Wood Canoes

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A cedar-strip canoe made in Peterborough, Ontario, on exhibit at the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, New York, 2005.

Cedar-Strip Canoe

From Chapter 4: All-Wood Canoes

A cedar-strip canoe made in Peterborough, Ontario, on exhibit at the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, New York, 2005.

A color photograph of a dugout canoe.

Trapper's Dugout Canoe

From Chapter 4: All-Wood Canoes

A trapper’s dugout canoe constructed of basswood.

A color photograph of a beautiful cedar strip canoe built by the Lakefield Canoe Company of Peterborough ca. 1925–1930. The canoe uses three wide boards as planking on either side. It is pictured in the water, next to a wooden dock.

Lakefield Cedar-Strip Canoe

From Chapter 4: All-Wood Canoes

This beautiful cedar strip canoe was built by the Lakefield Canoe Company of Peterborough ca. 1925–1930. The canoe uses three wide boards as planking on either side.

John Stephenson, one of the early innovators of canoe design in Peterborough.

John Stephenson

From Chapter 4: All-Wood Canoes

John Stephenson, one of the early innovators of canoe design in Peterborough.

Employees of the William English Canoe Company pose with a giant war canoe built in the factory on Charlotte Street in Peterborough, Ontario.

Employees of the William English Canoe Company

From Chapter 4: All-Wood Canoes

Employees of the William English Canoe Company pose with a giant war canoe built in the factory on Charlotte Street in Peterborough, Ontario.

Rice Lake Canoe Company catalog from 1900.

Rice Lake Canoe Company Catalog

From Chapter 4: All-Wood Canoes

Rice Lake Canoe Company catalog from 1900.

A restored William English canoe, model 21, which was listed as 16-feet long, 31 inches beam, and 12 inches deep.

Restored William English Canoe

From Chapter 4: All-Wood Canoes

A restored William English canoe, model 21, which was listed as 16-feet long, 31 inches beam, and 12 inches deep.

A cedar strip all-wood canoe (right) at the Canadian Canoe Museum. A “double-cedar” canoe, with a layer of canvas between the planking, is at the left.

Cedar-Strip Canoe at the Canadian Canoe Museum

From Chapter 4: All-Wood Canoes

A cedar strip all-wood canoe (right) at the Canadian Canoe Museum. A “double-cedar” canoe, with a layer of canvas between the planking, is at the left.

This drawing shows the Ontario Canoe Company factory in Peterborough in the early 1880s.

Ontario Canoe Company Factory

From Chapter 4: All-Wood Canoes

This drawing shows the Ontario Canoe Company factory in Peterborough in the early 1880s.

A black-and-white photograph of the first Canadian Canoe Company factory. The factory stood on Water Street in Peterborough from 1892–1904 near the rail office where all the canoes made in town were shipped.

Canadian Canoe Company Factory

From Chapter 4: All-Wood Canoes

The first Canadian Canoe Company factory stood on Water Street in Peterborough from 1892–1904 near the rail office where all the canoes made in town were shipped.