Then and Now: Watercraft
Then
The Lewis and Clark expedition traveled more than 8,000 miles from Pittsburgh to the Pacific Ocean. Watercraft included dugout canoes, pirogues, keelboats, and an ironboat that weighed almost a ton.
The IronBoat, at a ton, was considered portable and collapsible. The largest boat, the Keelboat
as sketched by Clark in his journal, was 55 feet long and 8 feet wide, with a 3- to 4-foot draft, 32-foot sailing mast, 22 oars, a cabin, a rudder and tiller for steering, and a total carrying capacity of 12 to 14 tons. Two pirogues, flat bottomed plank craft, had a carrying capacity of seven to nine tons.
In North Dakota, the Mandan taught the crew how to build and use bullboats by lashing willow branches together with sinew in the shape of a teacup and then covering them with buffalo hide. Bullboats could be small or large, depending on resources, and were used to shuttle people and supplies across the river and for short trips. They were either paddled or poled.
Six cottonwood dugout canoes, built by the men of the Corps, completed the Expeditions’ “fleet”.
According to Willie Johnson in his article Understanding the Boats of Lewis and Clark, “Covering 10 miles was a good day. On some days with a stiff headwind, only two miles were made. Sailing,
cordelling (walking along the shoreline and pulling a boat with ropes), paddling, and poling--in any combination--were used to move the
heavily laden craft up the river. Lewis noted in his journal that the men were so exhausted that they ate nine pounds of meat a day and still did not gain weight.”
For more details about how the Corp of Discovery used watercraft, read
Understanding the Boats of Lewis and Clark
by Willie Johnson at http://www.canoekayak.com/features/lc/
Now
Boating in today’s world is faster, more noisy, and, for the most part, a choice for recreation rather than transportation. Fiberglass has replaced wood, and large outboard engines are enhanced by GPS (global positioning systems), refrigeration, air conditioning, autopilots, Doppler radar, polymer paint, Dacron sails and thrusters.
Whether you’re in a canoe or the latest fishing electronics-driven fishing rig, raveling the Missouri River by boat still allows a full appreciation of both the beauty and the hazards faced by the Expedition. Even though modern boats make river travel easier, the Missouri River still requires a healthy respect.