without having to examine the bottom or the bark 

 cover. 



The two pieces of bark sewn together were placed 

 on the building bed and the building frame placed on 

 it and weighted down, in the usual manner. The 

 stakes were then set in the holes in the bed and the 

 bark secured to them with the usual inside stakes, as 

 well as with the clothespin-like clamps used by the 

 Algonkin and other Indian canoe builders. The end 

 stakes were set in a peculiar manner: a short pair 

 were set with their heads sloping inboard, for use 

 later to support the sheering of the outwales, and a 

 long pair were set raking sharply outboard to help 

 support the bark required for the high ends. As the 

 bark cover was made up, pieces were worked into the 

 ends to allow the high ends to be made. The side 

 panels often seen on the eastern Indian bark canoe 

 were used, and the bark doubled at the gunwales. 

 The doubling pieces were put on about 6 inches wide 

 and trimmed off after the outwales were in place. 

 The pieces were widest amidships, and when trimmed 

 would extend about two inches or a little more below 

 the outwales, narrowing somewhat toward the ends. 

 Longitudinal battens to fair the bark along the sides 

 were placed as usual in canoe building. 



The main gunwales were originally made of white 

 cedar, but when this became scarce at the posts, 

 whipsawed spruce was used instead. The gunwales 

 were rectangular in cross section, with the outer 

 lower corner beveled off. The cross section of the 

 inner gunwale member was smaller, in proportion, 

 than the outwale, compared to a small eastern Indian 

 canoe. The gunwales were bent "on the flat" in 

 plan, and were sheered "edge bent." The tenons for 

 the thwart ends were cut slanting, so that when the 

 gunwales were made up they stood at a flare outward 

 toward the top edge. The gunwales had much taper 

 toward the ends as it was usual to work in some sheer 

 in these members. The canoes built at Christopher- 

 son's posts, unlike some other trade canoes, had a 

 good deal of sheer at the ends, as the main gunwales 

 rose nearly to the top of the stem. 



The manner of forming the gunwales varied some- 

 what. If the stakes around the building frame had 

 been set to stand vertically, it was necessary to as- 

 semble the gunwales with temporary crosspieces, or 

 false thwarts, each shorter by several inches than 

 would be the finished thwart in their place, or twice 

 the amount of flare desired. After the gunwale 

 assembly had been set above the building frame on the 

 usual posts to determine its height above the building 



bed, the bark cover would be lashed to each gunwale 

 member. This done, each crosspiece would be re- 

 moved in turn and replaced with its corresponding 

 thwart. By this means the gunwales would be spread 

 and, in the process, lowered in proportion to the change 

 in beam. This would usually make too much sheer. 

 Therefore, if the gunwales were to be spread as a result 

 of the side stakes standing vertically, they had to be 

 formed with some reverse sheer amidships. This was 

 done as usual, by first treating each member with hot 

 water and then weighting it on a long plank, or unused 

 building bed, over a block placed under it at mid- 

 length. The height of the block would determine the 

 amount the sheer was "humped" in the middle, 

 usually only an inch or so. The gunwale ends were 

 also treated with hot water and sometimes were split 

 horizontally to get the required sheer there; they 

 were then bent up and held, while drying and setting, 

 by a long cord that was stretched between them and 

 placed under tension by means of a strut, about 4 feet 

 long, placed under the cord at midlength and stepped 

 on the gunwale member being bent. However, if 

 the side stakes were set sloping outward, it was un- 

 necessary to hump the sheer amidships. 



The reason why many builders preferred to set the 

 stakes on the bed vertically was that it made easy the 

 goring and the sewing of the bark cover side panels; 

 if the bark available for the cover required little 

 sewing, the sloping stakes might be preferred. It 

 appears, however, that the usual procedure was to set 

 the stakes vertically and to spread the gunwales, 

 since good bark was usually available. A good deal 

 of judgment was required to estimate the amount of 

 hump or reverse to be worked into the gunwale 

 members; too much would leave a hump in the sheer 

 of the finished canoe and not enough would cause 

 too much dip amidships. Before being bent to sheer, 

 the gunwale members were worked smooth with a 

 plane or with scrapers made of glass or steel. The 

 building frame was taken apart and removed from 

 the canoe after most of the thwarts were in place. 



The ribs Christopherson called "timbers" and the 

 sheathing, "lathing." The ribs, commonly of cedar, 

 were usually }i to f^ inch thick, and were 2)^ to 3}4 

 inches wide in most canoes, with a long taper so 

 that near the ends the width was about half that at 

 the middle, and at the ends they tapered almost to a 

 point. Some large canoes had ribs 4 inches wide 

 at the centerline, amidships, but these appear to have 

 been unusual. The ribs were placed on the building 

 frame at their proposed position and the width of the 



