Mandan Bull Boats. Painting by Karl Bodmer c.a. 1832

A Bull Boat is a small boat, usually made by American Indians, made by covering a skeletal wooden frame with a buffalo hide. Image File history File links Mandan_Bull_Boats_and_Lodges-_George_Catlin. ... Image File history File links Mandan_Bull_Boats_and_Lodges-_George_Catlin. ... Karl Bodmer, (February 6, 1809-October 30, 1893), was a Swiss painter of the American West. ... A Hupa man, 1923 The term Indigenous peoples of the Americas encompasses the inhabitants of the Americas before its European discovery in the late 15th century, as well as many present-day ethnic groups who identify themselves with those historical peoples. ... Binomial name Bison bison Linnaeus, 1758 The American Bison (Bison bison), also called Buffalo, is a bovine mammal that is the largest terrestrial mammal in North America. ...

When traders of Hudson's Bay Company first visited the Mandan Indians in 1790 they found that tribe possessed of tublike boats with framework of willow poles, covered with raw buffalo hides. Later, frontiersmen who ascended the Missouri River noted this light, convenient craft. From 1810 to 1830, American fur traders on the tributaries of the Missouri regularly built boats eighteen to thirty feet long, using the methods of construction employed by the Indians in making their circular boats. These elongated bull boats were capable of transporting two tons of fur down the shallow waters of the Platte River.^[1] The Hudsons Bay Company (HBC. TSX: HBC) is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and is one of the oldest in the world. ... This article is about the Native American tribe. ... 1790 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Binomial name Bison bison Linnaeus, 1758 The American Bison (Bison bison), also called Buffalo, is a bovine mammal that is the largest terrestrial mammal in North America. ... The Missouri River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the United States. ... 1810 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix commemorates the July Revolution 1830 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... The fur trade was a huge part in the early economic development of North America. ... The Platte River, showing the North Platte and South Platte The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 310 mi. ...

The bull boat was more a device than a boat. The framework was made of willow branches bent in a huge bowl shape about four feet across the top and eighteen inches deep. A bull buffalo hide (thus the bull phrase) was then stretched around this framework making the entire boat weigh about 30 pounds. The hair was left on the hide because it prevented the craft from spinning plus it also aided in keeping the water out. The tails were also kept intact and used to tie numerous bull boats together. Once in the water, it was not very steady because it bobbed around like a cork, but it served its purpose for short trips. The closest analogy that can be used is that it would be like floating in a huge Tupperware bowl.

William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition described them thusly: William Clark (August 1, 1770 - September 1, 1838) was a Scottish-American explorer who accompanied Meriwether Lewis on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. ... Lewis and Clark The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806) was the first United States overland expedition to the Pacific coast and back, led by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark of the United States Army. ...

Two sticks of 1-1/4 inch diameter are tied together so as to form a round hoop of the size you wish the canoe to be, or as large as the skin will cover. Two of those hoops are made, one for the top or brim, and the other for the bottom. Then sticks of the same diameter are crossed at right angles and fastened with a thongs to each hoop, and also where each stick crosses the other. Then the skin, when green [fresh, that is, not tanned] is drawn tight over the frame and fastened with thongs to the brim, or outer hoop, so as to form a perfect basin.^[2]

Pryor's two canoes were nearly the same size, 7 feet 3 inches in diameter and 16 inches deep, with 15 ribs or cross sticks in each.

A bull boat is similar to a Welch coracle or an Irish currach. This similarity was used to support a theory that a Welch party colonized the New World in the 12th century. Coracle: Ku-Dru or Kowa of Tibet—Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago A coracle is a primitive type of boat. ... A Currach or Curach is a type of boat with a wooden frame, over which is stretched animal skins or hides. ... This article is about the legendary Welsh prince. ...

References

1. ^ Dictionary of American History, James Truslow Adams, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940
2. ^ http://www.lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=1002