History of canoeing part one
A means of transportation in years long gone by, the canoe today to a great extent has lost its utilitarian function and is used largely as an instrument of recreation and racing, though it still on occasion is highly useful in such matters as exploration. The canoe in its various forms has been used for transportation from unrecorded times in many lands. The more primitive the region, the greater the need for a simple canoe. It played an enormous role in the settlement of North America. In the pioneer days, the settlers pushed westward in the red man's birch bark canoe over waterways, which literally served as highways.
In modern times the canoe has been developed into a medium for competitive sport and for recreation. It remains the craft in which much undeveloped land still is cruised for the sake of sport and in a spirit of exploration.
W. Van B. Claussen of Washington, D.C., formerly of New York, an outstanding authority on the subject, has written the following:
"Where and when the canoe 'evolved' is neither recorded in history, nor has any savant deduced the fact with any degree of certainty.
"Dugout canoes, crude in form and workmanship but nevertheless actual manmade artifacts, have been ascribed upon good evidence to the Stone Age. How many centuries earlier occurred the popularly conceived transition from a crude floating log, to two logs lashed together for greater stability, to a raft of logs for added carrying capacity, to a hollowed log-or dugout-for greater speed, yet satisfactory capacity, is anybody's guess.
"The interesting point is that so many truly primitive forms still persist in everyday use, in spite of the fact that the peoples using them are well acquainted with more modern and efficient craft, encountered in their ordinary pursuit of commerce. The principal factor in this persistence of earlier types is, of course, the greater ease with which these can be constructed of locally available materials, and with the use of simpler ools; and that, in spite of apparent crudeness, he designs of such craft usually are well suited o the local conditions.
