The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1912-05-03

dam N. Y, author of "Old Fort
Johnson" was received the following
brief account of the Mohawk boats :
Very early in the history of the
Valley the Mohawk river
was the only means for transporting
produce and supplies, except the pack
on the trail Canoes were first used,
and then bateaux, which were moth
ing else but scows propelled by poles
and paddles and, in long stretches of
still water, by sail.
Next. the Schenectady Durham,
which is described as fiat bottom,
straight sides, with easy lines at bow
and stern, to help fiotation in strik-
ing a rapid. She was deeked fore
and aft and along her gunwales,
which were cleated to give foothold
to the boatmen. A mast was stepped
near the bow with square sails.
Here we have Schenectady" and
Durham" combined in the title,
which leads to the thought that the
boat may have been Schenectady
modification of the original Durham
Mr.. Reid further says, Pearson is
authority for the statement that the
Durham boat was first used on Long
Island Sound The name occurs
early as a 'Dorem' or 'Deurem.' The
Dorey or Derry, common along the
coast. is thought to be similarly de
rived" History of Schenectady
In closing, Mr. Reid gives the
Haupt statement, given in the History
of Bucks County, to which reference
has already been made herein.
The foregoing descriptions of the
Mohawk boats do not conform to
what we know of the Delaware boat
bearing the same name. and, as re-
spects the boats on Long Island
Sound, boat of the model of the
Delaware Durham would not be at all
suitable for that water, as was shown
by Mr. Lugar's experience in his trip
to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and, If
boat of this model had been in use
in that vicinity, it would be difficult
to account for its novelty to the men
of the Navy Yard on that occasion.
We have something little more
definite in a paper kindly furnished
by Mr.. Arthur T. Smith, Secretary of
the Herkimer County Historical So
ciety, containing an address before
that Society, in 1897, by Mr. Rufus A
Order, on The Early Navigation of
the Mohawk River"
From this interesting paper only
those parts can here be taken which
pertain to our present subject
Mr. Order quotes from a journal
kept by a Mr.. Christian schultz.
while travelling on the Mohawk in
1907, as follows
Il have noticed three different
boats being used in navigating the
river. Those called Schenectady
boats are generally preferred and will
carry about ten tons burden, when
the river is high, but when it is low,
as at this time, they take three or
four
They generally advance against
the stream at the rate of Is to %
miles a day These boats are built
very much after the model of our
Long Island round bottom skiffs, but
larger. being from forty to fifty feet
in length; are steered by large
swing oar of the same length. They
have likewise a movable mast in the
middle. When the wind serves they
set square and topsail which at a
distance gives them the appearance
of square rugged vessel coming be-
fore the wind
Our galley, which, | am just now
informed, is called the Mohawk Regu-
lator. has gone at the rate of six
miles an hour against the stream, and
during this time, believe me, nothing
can be more charming than sailing
on the Mohawk
1t is not often that a fair wind will
serve for more than three or four
miles together, as the irregular
course of the river renders its aid very
precarious; their chief dependence,
therefore. is upon their pike poles
These are Is to % feet in length. hav-
ing sharp pointed iron, with
socket, weighing 10 to IL pounds,
affixed to the lower ends; the upper
end has a large knob. called but
ton, mounted upon it, so that the pole
man may press his whole weight upon
ii without endangering his person.
Within the boat, on each side. is
fixed plank, running fore and aft,
with a number of cross cleats nailed
upon it, for the purpose of giving the
POLICEMAN sure footing in hard polling.
The men, after setting their poles
against rock, bank, or bottom of
the river, inclining their heads very
low, place the upper end of the but
ton against the front of their right or
left shoulder, according to the side
on which they are polling. then, fall
ing down on their hands and toes,
creep the whole length of the gang
boards, and send the boat forward
with considerable speed"
After this particular description of
N1..a al. l. ~
of operation, the writer proceeds 81
have met with another kind of boat
on this river, which is called the
Dorem or Durham. The only differ
ence is that it is built sharp at both
ends and generally much larger and
stouter' After some mention of the
Flats" on the river, he goes on to
say, The boat described above was
first made at Durham, in Bucks
County, Pennsylvania. Durham is on
the Delaware river.
These boats We're made to carry
flour to Philadelphia and return with
merchandise, by navigating the Della
ware. think they would carry fifty
barrels of flour That river is deeper
and larger and less difficult to navi-
gate than the Mohawk"
1t Is elsewhere stated, in the paper
quoted from, that the boats last re-
ferred to We're introduced on the Mo-
hawk about 1899. the year of the
of the first corporation for
that river. which period
was number of years later than the
earliest known use of the Durham
boat on the Delaware
The Durham boat figures also on
the Susquehanna, as appears in the
Historical Sketches of Plymouth" by
Hendrick b. Wright, which mentions
that in 1875. during the Pennamite
war, one of the belligerent parties
seized Mr.. Benjamin Harvey, with his
boat, for use in a movement upon the
force. Going back to IVA,
in giving a particular account of Mr.
the author says AT that
time, and for many subsequent years,
all articles of merchandise were
on the river in Durham
boats These boats were forty feet