Birch Bark Canoes

My cousin took a vacation to Maine and on his trip he stopped at the Penobscot Marine Museum. He was kind enough to send me a few pictures and gave me permission to post them here. Since Maine is way far away, I will probably never get back there (was there when I was 5 or 6 years old). He also sent other pictures of his trip that I enjoyed. Guess I will have to ask him if I can share some of them with all of you. He went to one other place that was unique and it made me laugh.


This first picture is of an old Birch Bark canoe. Not really in too good of shape. I guess pieces of it could have been used as fire starters. . .

Now, the museum is building a new one. The next two pictures show the project in process:

Did you know that in America, the Birch Bark canoe originated in New England? But, did you know that early Europeans made them? Take a look here.

I mentioned toward the end of an older blog (http://dizzydick.blogspot.com/2010/07/along-river.html) about the two canoes that I had and how good ideas on how to re-canvas them didn’t turn out too well. On down the road I fiber-glassed them. They are both gone now, but for awhile the ribs of one appeared above the water of my swamp and looked ever so much like a dinosaur skeleton. I got a store bought plastic one now, I believe it is a Coleman.

Have you ever seen white birch trees, especially in the Fall, when all the leaves are turning color? It is a beautiful sight. Get some Maples mixed in with the birch and you get shades of yellow, orange, and red – black trunks mixed in with white trunks. Quite a view, kind of makes me homesick for the Appalachian Mountains in the autumn. . .