Traveling Without Roads
Historical Scenarios
Dugout Canoe
The year is 1730. A British soldier named James Coss is traveling
from Fort Dummer, near Plymouth, Vt., to Vergennes with the aid of twelve
Native American guides. The party is traveling by foot, but when they arrive at
Otter Creek, they decide it is easier to travel by water. They are carrying almost
nothing, so they must use the resources of the forest to build boats that will
travel quickly and easily down the narrow creek. What do James Coss and his
guides build?
SCENARIO
SOURCE
H. P. Smith, History of Addison County, pp. 20-21.
Bateau
During the French and Indian Wars, the British attempt to overtake
the important French forts on the southern part of the Lake. In 1758, the British
send 15,000 troops across Lake Champlain to engage with the French at Fort
Carillon—“the largest army ever assembled in North America.” Most of the
army crosses Lake Champlain in simple, flat-bottomed vessels powered by oars.
The British troops fill 900 of these vessels! What type of vessel is it?
SCENARIO
SOURCE
Amy Demarest, This Lake Alive!, p. 91.
Sailing Canal Boat
When the Champlain Canal opens in 1823, it connects the Champlain
Valley to markets along the Hudson River all the way to New York City. In order
to ship cargo south by way of the Lake and the new canal as quickly and
efficiently as possible, the merchant firm Mosley D. Hall in Vergennes, Vermont
establishes a new fleet of commercial vessels. These vessels can travel as easily
on the open waters of the Lake and as in the narrow canal. What type of vessel
did Mosley D. Hall build?
SCENARIO
SOURCE
Arthur B. Cohn, Lake Champlain’s Sailing Canal Boats, p. 39
Warship
In June 1814, the British Royal Navy, stationed on the Richelieu
River in Québec, begins rapid construction of huge frigate named the
Confiance. When it is completed at the end of the summer, the Confiance
measures 147 feet long and is equipped with 39 guns. More than 250 years
later, the remains of the Confiance are discovered by underwater archeologists
in the southern part of Lake Champlain. For what purpose was the Confiance
built?
SCENARIO
SOURCE
Kevin Crisman, The Eagle.
From the LAND to the LAKE © 2004 Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History
May be duplicated and/or adapted for classroom use.
Steamboat
In 1836, during a visit to North America, the famous English writer
Charles Dickens takes a comfortable overnight trip on Lake Champlain from
Burlington, Vt. to Whitehall, N. Y. The trip only takes a few hours! Dickens
describes the elegant new vessel on which he is passenger as “an exquisite
achievement of neatness, elegance and order. The decks are drawingrooms; the
cabins are boudoirs, choicely furnished and adorned with prints, pictures, and
musical instruments; every nook and corner of the vessel is a perfect curiosity
of graceful comfort and beautiful contrivance.” What type of vessel is it?
SCENARIO
SOURCE
Ralph Nading Hill, Lake Champlain: Key to Liberty. pp. 215-6.
From the LAND to the LAKE © 2004 Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History
May be duplicated and/or adapted for classroom use.