Tales from the deep

Dates inconclusive on dugout's age

BOISE — It could be a 100 years old, or it could be as old as 380 years old.

While recent tests were inconclusive on determining a more specific age, it hasn't dampened the enthusiasm surrounding the dugout canoe found early this year by a trio of Sandpoint divers.

"The fact that this canoe could date from the time of fur traders in northern Idaho is exciting," said Mary Anne Davis, associate state archaeologist.

Davis said project partners knew going into the testing that if the canoe was made sometime in the last 300 years, the chance to secure an accurate date was jeopardized.

"Radiocarbon dating is not very accurate for fairly recent deposits or objects" said Davis.

Sandpoint divers Mark Jones, Sid Redfield, and Gary Weisz discovered the canoe while on a New Year's Day dive at an undisclosed location on Lake Pend Oreille.

The 7-foot long structure, which is cracked on one end andlooks like it has two scooped-out doors, rests on a slope in a glacial wash covered with sand, old trees, silt and rocks.

Research into canoe use in the Lake Pend Oreille area could further define the story of the canoe. Bonner County Historical Museum curatorAnn Ferguson has been gathering information on dugout canoes and their use in the area.

Among the information located by Ferguson are ethnographic documents that record dugout canoe use by both the Kalispel and Kootenai tribes. While sturgeon-nosed white pine bark canoes were the primary means of transportation used by the tribes, dugout canoes were invaluable for winter travel when bark canoes would have been damaged by ice, Ferguson said.

Fractured rock found laying in the canoe indicates that it may have been submerged by the time that graders constructed the Northern Pacific Railroad's mainline around Lake Pend Oreille in 1882.

"This canoe could have been made by Native Americans, fur traders, or early Euro-American settlers," Ferguson said. "Its history may never be completely known to us, but it definitely plays an important part in the story of early transportation in northern Idaho" said Ferguson.

The canoe was thoroughly documented by Matthew Russell and Dave Conlin, members of the National Park Service Submerged Resources Center from Santa Fe, N.M.

The underwater archaeologists worked with the local divers to make precision drawings, photographs with a still camera and make a clear videotape of the dugout canoe. During the last of the seven dives in the 41-degree water, the archaeologists also took two small wood samples for identifying tree species and to obtain a radiocarbon date of the log.

The wood was recently identified as pine radio carbon testing determined the wood is between 100 and 300 years old, Davis said.

The find's location is being kept secret to protect it. The project is under jurisdiction of the Idaho Department of Lands. All artifacts found underwater are the property of the state of Idaho and protected by the Idaho statutes.

Jim Brady, Idaho Department of Lands, is pleased to be a partner in this project.

"The department is excited to participate in preservation of Idaho's history, especially where it involves public trust lands which we manage," he said.

Funding for the project came from the Idaho Heritage Trust, the Bonner County Historical Society, and local individuals interested in learning more about local history.

"The project to document the canoe was a model of how federal and state governments can work closely with private institutions and individuals to help preserve an object of potential historical significance for the public good," Russell said. "This history belongs to all of us, and it's appropriate that we work together to save it for future generations."