Ship Model, Chesapeake Bay Log Canoe
date: label: date made
content: 1880
label: Date made
content: 1875
notes: label: Description
content: This model of a Chesapeake Bay log canoe was built in 1880 and displayed at the Great International Fisheries Exhibition in London in 1883. It shows a two-masted log canoe with a mustard-colored hull. Although this model may look more like a recreational sailboat than a traditional paddling canoe, its roots can be traced back to the dugouts built and used by American Indians. Native Americans along the bay used dugouts, made by hollowing out a single tree trunk, to spear fish, gather oysters, and travel from one village to another. Europeans adopted the log-canoe technology shortly after arriving in the region in the early 1600s. By the start of the 18th century, colonists had modified the standard, single-log dugout, by hewing and shaping several logs and fitting them together to enlarge the craft. They added masts and sails, providing the means to travel farther and giving the vessels their distinctive appearance.
label: Description
content: Despite the widespread use of frame-and-plank shipbuilding techniques around the Chesapeake, watermen continued building and using log canoes well into the 20th century. The canoes were ideal for oyster tonging in the many protected creeks and rivers that flow into the bay. This model includes a pair of hand tongs of the sort made by local blacksmiths for oystermen. A waterman would anchor his canoe over an oyster bed and lower the tongs into the water. With a scissoring motion, he would rake the tongs together until the iron basket was full and ready to be lifted onboard.
label: Description
content: In terms of construction, the log canoe is the forerunner to the bugeye, which is essentially an enlarged canoe built of seven or nine logs with a full deck added over the hold. While log canoes are no longer used in commercial fishing, they can still be seen in special sailboat races on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake.
place: label: displayed
content: United Kingdom: England, London
label: unique to
content: United States: Chesapeake Bay
topic: label: Subject
content: Fishing
label: related event
content: The Development of the Industrial United States
label: related event
content: Great International Fisheries Exhibition
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
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content: Cultures & Communities
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content: Work
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content: Natural Resources
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content: Transportation
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content: On the Water exhibit
label: Exhibition
content: On the Water
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: National Museum of American History. On the Water exhibition website
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of T. B. Ferguson
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TR.25003
label: catalog number
content: 025003
label: accession number
content: 4586
objectType: label: Object Name
content: boat
label: Object Name
content: model, ship
label: Other Terms
content: boat; Maritime; Fishing
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: textile (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 25 in x 31 1/2 in x 5 1/4 in; 63.5 cm x 80.01 cm x 13.335 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 23 in x 31 1/2 in x 5 1/4 in; 58.42 cm x 80.01 cm x 13.335 cm