Object Record

Images

1 of 1977

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Metadata

Object Name

Canoe

Date

1881-1883

Artist

Rushton, John Henry, 1843-1906

Maker

Rushton, J.H.

Material

Wood

Used

Rainbow Lake

Description

American Traveling Canoe KEEGO. Built by: J.H. Rushton, Canton, between 1881 and 1883.
L: 14' 3.75" B: 26"

"You like the feather weight and the backwoods," Rushton wrote to his friend "Nessmuk" not long after this boat was built. "So do I...but as a matter of business and to make the builder known abroad the decked sailing canoes are the ones I have to look after."

This is one of the first of the decked sailing canoes with which J.H. Rushton made his reputation, his version of the famous Rob Roy canoes of John MacGregor. It could be sailed with a main and a mizzen, or one sail only, or it could be paddled. The American Traveling Canoe has no center-board; the 1.25"-deep keel provided the only lateral resistance.

The most famous boat of this model was the BETSY D, with which Lucien Wulsin explored the headwaters of the Mississippi in 1879. Wulsin later owned the Princess model canoe DIANA, also in AM collection. KEEGO is probably the oldest American-built decked sailing canoe extant.

Hull: lapstrake construction, 6 strakes per side. Cockpit is 5' 1" long. There is a peculiar nickel-plated brass fitting with an opening in it, rather like a small oarlock, either side of the boat, fastened to the deck on the edge, just aft of where the paddler would sit. Plans suggest a steering lock. Hull is pretty beaten up. Finish is almost totaly gone, and a series of saw kerfs in the deck suggest that someone once used it as a sawhorse.

Notes

The following pieces are in CSM7A5:
nameplate; one of two, one for each side of the bow. Rectangular brass plate with a scallop in each corner, engraved in block letters KEEGO. Each has 2 square tacks braised (?) to the back to insert nameplate in plank. 3 1/8" X 3/4" X 3/32"
d. a piece of the stem band. Iron (not original?), broken at one screw hole; three more holes spaced at 2 1/4". Band is 6 1/2" X 3/8".

Dimensions

W-26 L-168 inches

Collection

BBB130A

Catalog Number

1999.007.0001

Imagefile

079\1999.007.0001 COLOR.JPG

Species