Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-08-27
Canoeing in the United States.


When John Margregor, of the Iunel
Temple. published his entertaining ac.
count OF ihe Rob Roy's thousandmile
voyage Oh the lakes and rivers Of Eu
rope, he established canoeing as Il
summer pastime. The idea was moi
new; it "as olle, than authentic his
tory; but lie gave it AN overhauling
and brushing up that brought it ont in
a form that was wonderfully attractive.
The Rob Roy was SO diminutive that
her captain WAS able to transport her
Oh horseback, bu. what she accomp-
h,hed made her quite as famous as any
snip OF her Majesty's navy. The Eng
ilsh canoe fleet was soon numbered by
hundreds. The crank Rob Roy was
superseded, as sailing canoe, by the
Nautilus, ana many voyages, under an
endless variety vi conditions. have
since been accomplished. Canoe clubs
were organized, and in an ncrelibly
brief time canoeing became in Great
Britain national paatime.
The introduction of canoeing in the
United States may be said to have taken
place III 1870, when the New York
Canoe Club was founded by William
IL. Alden. The Indian birch and dug
out, it is true, belong to the canoe
group, but they are. at best, rude craft
unit for general cruising, and had
long before gone into disuse, and come
to be valued only as relics of an un-
civilized condition. Americans have
enthusiastically adopted the pastime,
and it Is only - question OF time when
canoes will 6e as frequently seen on
our bays, lakes, and rivers as sail and
row boats. Besides our long coast
line, we have an immense system Of in
land waters, a great part of which is as
yet unexplored, and can not for years
oe explored by any other craft than the
light and easily portrayed canoe. There
lis no one of the States in which long
cruises may not be made.
1t has been stated upon author ity,
that summer cruises may be made upon
the waters Of Wisconsin alone for thirt y
years without retracting or exhaustin g
the territory. In the northern porto n
OF the State there are almost number.
less unexplored lakes, some of large
size, that are connected by rivers and
smaller streams. A canoe may, for in
stance, be launched upon Pewaukee
Lake, q beautiful sheet of water about
twenty miles west of Milwaukee, and
then follow winding course through
delightful country, through lake to
rivnlet, and from rivulet to lake, the
lakes varying in length from three to
eight miles, and in width from ono to
four miles. Leaving the lakes, the ca
noe may follow Rock River. and pass
ing many beautiful towns and villages,
strike the Mississippi at Book Island,
Illinois. Many OF the Western (nota,
bly, Minnesota and Michigap), Eastern
and Middle States offer equally attrac.
tive fields for summer cruising. Can
ada is as yet almost unmapped. Twenty
five miles to the northward of Quebec
the exploring canoeist is beyond the
bounds of civilization, and at the en-
trance to region of picturesque lakes,
that, with their connecting streams,
form chain almost unbroken, save by
rapids and falls, to either the Hudson
Buy country or the Saguenay, and the
little known territory still to the north
ward,
Long cruises have been made by
Americans. The kleine Fritz CA. H
Siegfrled) las followed the course OF
the Mississippi fro Ii the extreme nsad
waters to Rock Island, Illinois; the
Maria Theresa IN. II. Bishop has
bruised by inland waters from Lansing
burg, New York, to the mouth of the
Suwannee River; the Bubble (Charlet
L. Chase) in 1873 cruised from New
York to Quebec By connecting water
ways, thence by portage, through the
valley OF the. Chaudiere, to the head
waters of and down the Connecticut
River, to and through Long Island
Sound, to New York. Mr.. G. Fl. Farm
ham has recently completed Canadiar
voyage embracing the Saguenay, it,
tributaries, and other water, courses
In 1879 Mr.. Frank Zihler made cruise
of about l 200 miles, from Racine, Wis
consin. to New Orleans. Many less
extended cruises have been made, and
clubs have been organized. in the
larger cities,-C. Z. CHASE, in Harper,
Magazine for August.