﻿24 BULLETIN 12, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



crowded out. Thus a disastrous fire allows the birch to possess and 

 hold the ground for a time, but it is not strong enough to maintain 

 its position when competition becomes keen. This characteristic 

 must be taken account of when figuring on birch supplies in the 

 future. It has been estimated that enough is in sight to meet visible 

 demands for about 40 years, especially in the northeast, but predic- 

 tions beyond that period are not made, by careful students of the 

 tree's habits and history. Some of the best stands of paper birch 

 in the northeast are in areas denuded by great fires which visited the 

 region' from 1825 to 1837. It grows rapidly during its first years, 

 but more slowly afterwards, reaching maturity in from 50 to 85 

 years. 1 



CANOES. 



Paper birch is widely known- as canoe birch, because its bark was 

 once employed in making those light vessels. The original makers 

 were northern Indians, and there is no history or tradition when 

 they were not using vessels of that material to navigate the rivers 

 and lakes of northeastern United States and half of British America. 2 

 It would be difficult to estimate the value of the service of the bark 

 canoe in the discovery, exploration, development, and settlement of 

 the northern part of the continent. From the Arctic Circle to the 

 Great Lakes, for a century and a half, that light but exceedingly 

 strong and serviceable vessel threaded the lakes and rivers, bearing 

 trade and carrying civilization where no other boat could go. The 

 bark canoe was so light that the crew it carried on- water could carry 

 it over land from one river to another and from- lake to lake, even 

 where mountains lay between. The French explorers and mission- 

 aries made journeys of hundreds of miles in* these canoes, carrying 

 in many instances cargoes w T hich seem beyond the capacity of such 

 frail vessels. Long distances were traversed in what seems remark- 

 ably short time. It is recorded that the first fleet of bark canoes 

 carrying white men reached Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., in 1641, after 

 a journey of only 17 days from the Ottawa River. 3 



The bark of the paper birch seems to meet every requirement for 

 canoe making. It is light, tough, strong, pliable, and resists decay 

 in a remarkable manner. It is not taken from the trunk in single 



1 U. S. Forest Service Circular 163, pp. 10, 11, and 21. 



2 In Longefellow's poem " Hiawatha " may be found a description of the making of 

 the first birch-bark canoe. The account is mythical, but the description of the process of 

 making it is accurate. 



3 There is perhaps no single book that will give more first-hand information concerning 

 tin- actual use and Importance of the birch-bark canoe, when it was employed in the 

 serious business of life, than the journals of Sir Alexander Mackenzie in Voyage from 

 Montreal to the Pacific Ocean, published in London, 1801. The value of the forest 

 resources to the explorer and traveler is admirably shown in the diary of that remarkable 

 Scotch pioneer, who was perhaps the first man to cross the Rocky Mountains with a canoe, 

 Which he carried when it would not carry him. 



