Fur-Trade Canoe Brigade, Christopherson's Hudson's Bay CIompany Post, 

 about 1885. Christopherson in white shirt and flat cap, sitting with hands 

 clasped. Five-fathom canoes, Ottawa River type. 



Lake Barriere and on Grand Victoria. These were 

 canoe-building posts, and Christopherson had super- 

 vised the construction of both the 5- and 4)^-fathom 

 trade canoes. His posts had built the nearly vertical- 

 ended nadowe chiman, the Iroquois, or Ottawa River, 

 type of Algonkin canoe. The actual building was 

 done by Indians, but the work was directed by the 

 Company men. 



In the building the eye and judgment of the builder 

 were the only guides, aided by the occasional use of a 

 measuring stick, and Christopherson made it abund- 

 antly clear that the Company had no rules or regula- 

 tions that he knew of, regarding the size, model, and 

 construction of the canoes, nor any standards for 

 decoration. The model and appearance of the canoes 

 were determined by the preferences of the builders 

 and the size by the needs of the posts. For example, 

 the 5-fathom canoe had been built at the Grand 

 Victoria post until it was decided there that a 4}^- 

 fathom canoe would serve. The decoration, if any, 

 was apparently according to "the custom of the post." 



The method of construction described by Chris- 

 topherson seems to be largely that of the Algonkin, 

 modified slightly by Ojibway practices. The canoes 

 were built on a plank building bed made of 2- or 

 2}^-inch thick spruce; its middle was higher than 

 the ends, as were the earthen beds used in the east, 

 and holes were bored in it to take the stakes. A 

 stake was placed near the end of each thwart and one 



between, along the sides of the canoe. The individual 

 builders had their preferences as to the method of 

 setting stakes; some set them vertically while others 

 bored the bed so that the stakes stood with their 

 heads pointed outward. A post might have two or 

 more building beds, one for each size, or model. 



Canoes were always built by means of a building 

 frame. This was made with four or five crosspieces 

 that determined the fullness or fineness of the bottom 

 of the canoe toward the ends. By altering the lengths 

 of the end crosspieces, the degree of fullness in the 

 lines of the finished canoe could be predetermined. 

 As a result the bed, which was usually about 18 inches 

 wider than the building frame, might have the shape 

 of its frame marked on it twice, with two sets of 

 holes for stakes. Otherwise, the alteration in the 

 building frame would require a special bed to be 

 used. In addition to the alteration in the ends of 

 the building frame, there could also be variations 

 in its width amidships. Christopherson's posts com- 

 monly built canoes intended for fast travel, so most 

 of them were narrower in beam at the gunwale and 

 across the bottom than were the fur-trade canoes 

 of the period, and the building frame was likewise 

 narrower. 



The length of the building frame used in these 

 canoes was the same as the bottom length, or a little 

 longer than the distance between the two headboards 

 of the finished canoe. Thus, in a 5-fathom canoe the 



146 



