Historic Paddle Photo: Archive.org

A photo dated to 1902 showcasing some paddles and a very early style of canvas canoe in the New Brunswick area...

Lake Nasahie, New Brunswick, 1902 August 21

by Ervin S. Hubbard

Prescott and Seward floating canoe over Outlet of Lake Nasahie

https://archive.org/details/ms2381_c01_b01_i17

Historic Paddle Photo: Wisconsin Ojibwa Paddle

Here's a 1908 photo showcasing a woman and child posing with a birchbark canoe found in the online collection of The Langlade County Historical Society.

Woman and child with a birch bark canoe, 1908

Kingsbury, Arthur J., 1876-1956

Format: Glass negative

Description

An adult and child appear to be preparing to launch a birch bark canoe. 

Handwritten caption reads: "Copyright 1908 by A.J. Kingsbury, Antigo, Wis."

 Langlade County Historical Society

Source Link

The closeup of the paddle shows a very interesting grip shape, a sort of stubby pommel.

Paddle Closeup

It is similar in design to the "Chippewa Woman's Paddle" in the collection of the Smithsonian discussed in the 2017 post here.

Bureau of American Ethnology

BULLETIN 86 - Chippewa Customs

Plate 53

Image Source Link

Historic Paddle Photos: Nipigon Museum

 Historic Paddle Photos: Nipigon Museum

circa 1910 1978.1.1-Billy-Ross

Francis Hardy Nipigon Guides

Gapen-The-Nipigon-River

Muse Kenora 1897-Regattas

Muse Kenora circa 1910 1988.21.13-Bertha-Stone

Historic Paddle Photo: Gaspard Picard - Huron

Photo of Gaspard Picard, Grand Chief in Loretteville, Quebec - Huron/Wendat

Source Link

Another earlier photo features François-Xavier Picard, Great Chief of the Lorette Hurons from 1870 to 1883.

Historic Paddle Photo: 1872 Mi'kmaq paddles

A very old image posted on Facebook showcases two Mi'kmaq men next to their bark canoe. Difficult with the tones in the background but you can just make out the shape of the long paddle blades. The source identifies the men as John Barrington and John Stevens (aka Big John) in Newfoundland, Canada dated to 1872.

Source Link

Historic Paddle Photo: Anishinaabe Pole Style Grip

From the Flickr photostream of the Superior National Forest is an image dated to 1915 showcasing a family paddling in their bark canoe. The man in the stern demonstrates the indigenous paddling method using a pole-style grip paddle...

Basswood River near Wheel Barrow Portage, 1915

Source Link

Peabody Harvard Canoe

A glass plate photo of a birchbark canoe in the collection of the Peabody Museum (Harvard) showcases the hull displayed with two full-sized paddles featuring elongated grips:

Peabody Number: 2004.24.5433

Display Title: Birchbark Canoe

Passamaquoddy

Geography/Provenience: North America/Canada/New Brunswick

Materials: Negative, glass plate

Further research revealed additional colour photos of these paddles which have been loosely dated to between 1800 and 1870 and donated by G.A. Peabody to the collection ca. 1870-1872.

Peabody Number: 72-29-10/7128.2

Display Title: Paddle (1 of 2) belonging to canoe 72-29-10/7128

Inventory Description: Paddle, flat blade, flattened handle, cracked tip

Date: 1800-1872

Culture/Period:Passamaquoddy

Geography/Provenience:North America/United States/Maine/Washington County/Eastport

Dimensions: Overall: 169 x 13.9 x 2.8 cm (66 9/16 x 5 1/2 x 1 1/8 in.)

Provenance:Collector: G. A. Peabody (ca. 1870 - 1872)

Peabody Number: 72-29-10/7128.1

Display Title: Paddle (1 of 2) belonging to canoe 72-29-10/7128

Inventory Description: Paddle, flat blade, handle flattened and flared at tip, at base of handle when it meets the paddle there are three lines carved into both sides of the handle.

Date: 1800-1872

Culture/Period:Passamaquoddy

Geography/Provenience:North America/United States/Maine/Washington County/Eastport

Dimensions: Overall: 169 x 13.9 x 2.8 cm (66 9/16 x 5 1/2 x 1 1/8 in.)

Provenance:Collector: G. A. Peabody (ca. 1870 - 1872)

A model version of this second paddle (Acc No. 2000.0038.000029F) was carved by Tappan Adney and now resides in the collection of the Mariner's Museum, though Adney dates the object to 1874. See link and images HERE. 

Historic Paddle Photos: Maliseet poling and and paddle pics

Nicholas Lolar Poling a Canoe on the Restigouche River, New Brunswick

NBM Collection (1987.17.674)

Running the Dawsonville Rapids, the Worst on the Restigouche River, New Brunswick

NBM Collection (1987.17.669)

Paddle Closeup

Historic Paddle Image - Wabanaki Bark Canoe - Hudson Museum

The University of Maine Hudson Museum photograph collection features a great shot of an overturned Wabanaki canoe and two paddles. An exact date is unavailable; the image is loosely dated to the early 20th Century but the individuals in the pose have been identified.

Sepia tone photographic print of (left to right) Sylvia, Stephen, and Francis Stanislaus standing behind a birchbark canoe.

Catalog Number: HM9303.1

Source Link

Historic Paddle Photo: Anishinaabe man making a paddle

Anishinaabe man making a paddle

Library and Archives of Canada

Item Number: 5319026

Date(s):1920

Place:Lac Seul (Ont.)

Photographer: Waugh, F. W. (Frederick Wilkerson), 1872-1924

Other accession no.: 1965-012 NPC

Source Link

Anishinaabe man making a paddle

Library and Archives of Canada

Item Number: 5319027

Date(s):1920

Place:Lac Seul (Ont.)

Photographer: Waugh, F. W. (Frederick Wilkerson), 1872-1924

Other accession no.: 1965-012 NPC

Source Link

Historic Photo: Wisconsin Ojibwa canoe and paddle

A historic canoe photo appeared in the rather eclectic exhibition H.H. Bennett, Lena Henke and Cars which ran at studio 1857, in Oslo, Norway back in 2012. It featured some framed photos taken by Henry Hamilton Bennett (1843 - 1908), famous for his captures of the unique topographical features of the Wisconsin Dells. 

Source Link

 The original is kept in the Wisconsin Historical Society and includes the following description and details:

"Two men standing on the beach at Sugar Bowl, one carrying a canoe and paddle, the other holding a basket."

Image ID:7564

Bennett, H. H. (Henry Hamilton), 1843-1908

Lower Dells, Town of Delton, Sauk County.

Source Link

The pose capturing a portage showcases a clear view of the unique stem-piece design typical of the Ojibwa of this region as well as a clear view of the paddle blade. 

The narrow blade ends abruptly at the lower shaft with two notched ends or "hard" shoulders. A similarly styled paddle (circa 1890) was featured earlier on the site. 

Ojibwa Indian Canoe Paddle A finely carved maple paddle with an early light green painted surface. It features a rolled-top handle with faceted details, and a stepped transition from blade to shaft.  Circa 1890 4.5" w, 67" h Original Link

Historic Paddle Photo: Standing paddler at Dore Lake

Rainy Lake - canoe at Dore Lake.

ID Number: 05416

Date: ca. 1934-1935

Location: Rainy Lake, Ontario, Canada

Collection: CN Images of Canada Collection

Source Link

Historic Paddle Photos: Guides using paddles to drink

"Thirsty" - the French-Canadian guide takes a drink from his paddle.

Date: 1941

Parent, Québec, Canada

ID Number: X-12656

Source Link

Indian guide drinking from paddle.

ID Number: X-42250

Date: 1956

Gogoma, Ontario, Canada

Source Link

Historic Paddle Photo - Charles G.D. Roberts 1905

A great photo dated to 1905 of  Canadian Poet Sir Charles G.D. Roberts (1860-1943) in the University of New Brunswick Archives & Special Collections

Charles G.D. Roberts holding a canoe paddle (1905)

Fonds: MG L 42 Roberts family photograph collection; Item: 7

University of New Brunswick Archives & Special Collections

Source Link

Historic Paddle Photo: Kahnawá:ke Mohawk decorated paddles

"A trio of Indians of the Caughnawaga tribe with decorated paddles bows and arrows"
Creator: John Boyd

Date: 1914

Reference Code: C 7-3, 11272

Archives of Ontario, I0003496

Source Link

Historic Paddle Photo - 1903 - Song of Hiawatha Performance

Found two historic photos dated to 1903 which feature some decorated paddles. Take note of the decorative checkerboard pattern on the large paddle on the right side...

Actor in Hiawatha [1903]

Johnston, Frances Benjamin, 1864-1952, photographer

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

 Washington, D.C. 20540 USA 

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020637513

Source Link

Another shot showcases the grip styles of the large steering paddles being used to lash open the door of the cloth teepee.

Actors in Hiawatha [1903]

Johnston, Frances Benjamin, 1864-1952, photographer

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

 Washington, D.C. 20540 USA 

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020637514

Source Link

These photos were  taken from the annual "Hiawatha Pageant", a major tourist attraction in the Upper Great Lakes at the turn of the 20th century. Odawa and Ojibwa actors from Garden River First Nation (Gitigaan-ziibi Anishinaabe) as well as Waganakising Ottawa communities in Northern Michigan were recruited to take part in Louis Oliver Armstrong's theatrical production "Hiawatha, or, Nanabozho: An Ojibway Indian Play" inspired by Longfellow's epic poem "Song of Hiawatha."  Though the costumes are more reflective of Plains Indian culture stereotype for white audiences, the group included some tribal paddles more reflective of Great Lakes canoe culture.

Circa 1900 Penobscot Maple paddle and Historic Photograph

The January 2022 'New Finds' page at the CherryGallery.com features a large, circa 1900 Penobscot paddle:

Penobscot Canoe Paddle

Circa 1900

Maple

8” w, 74.5” h

Also featured is a photograph dated to the same era of some Maine Guides posing with their cedar canvas canoes:

The write-up explains:

This is a rare and fabulous large photo of four wood and canvas canoes pulled up along the gravel beach of a river. Four guides stand in the sterns holding long poles for traveling upstream, and each canoe has a man in the bow. The canoes are packed with gear indicating that the hired guides are taking their “sports” on a multi-day fishing trip.

Historic Paddle Photo: Guide Andrew Nicholas Penobscot / Maliseet Paddle

Here's a beautiful historic pic of native guide Andrew Nicholas (November 1, 1869 - July 10, 1935) in the act of carving a paddle with bushtools...

Source Link

A brief bio online mentions Nicholas was born at Chesuncook, ME and worked  primarily as a sporting guide. Through living in Penobscot territory his heritage was Maliseet from the the L'isle Verte region of Quebec.

Historic Paddle Photo: Maine Guide George Spears standing in bark canoe

Found some more historic photos on Archive.org taken by an amateur photographer, Ervin S. Hubbard sometime between 1893 - 1902. This scene captures two bark canoes and guide, George Spears standing with a paddle. Though undated accompanying text states it was taken on Tomah Stream in Maine

Tomah Stream, Maine, Undated

by Ervin S. Hubbard

Ervin S. Hubbard Glass Plate Negative Collection

Digitizing sponsor George Washington University Libraries

Source Link

Historic Paddle Photo: Maine Exhibit - Boston Food Fair 1898

A virtual exhibit of the American Museum of Fly Fishing showcases the guiding life of Cornelia " Fly Rod" Crosby (1854-1946). A fascinating biography along with vintage photos can be seen HERE

Source Link

Cornelia was instrumental in promoting the Maine backwoods to the American populace through a series of Sportsmen's themed exhibitions in New York and Boston in the late 19th, early 20th centuries. A particular feature was to construct a themed cabin scene complete with ornaments of northwoods life. These often featured some typical Northwoods style paddles. The photo below is from an exhibition in Boston. Two paddles are prominently displayed in this posed scene.

 Source Link

An additional, earlier photo showcasing Cornelia's first exhibit at the 1895 New York Sportsman's Show is featured in an article entitled "Glamour Girl of Maine Lakes" by Austin S. Hogan. It appeared in the Fall 1977 issue of The American Fly Fisher. Vol 4. No. 4. This issue is available online (.pdf format) courtesy of the AMFF here.