Title

Dugout Canoe

Creation Date

1790 – 1850

Description

Wood dugout canoe mounted on a rolling display platform.  Found 1964-1968 in a newly eroded stream bed below a large spring on the west end of the George Hopkins farm in Bloomington along the Minnesota River. The canoe was sticking out horizontally from the river bank a few feet from the bluff in the Minnesota River Valley.  The Hopkins farm was located on the east side of Lyndale Ave. Tool markings can be seen on the interior of the canoe.  The canoe was taken to the Bloomington Historical Society where it was treated with applied layers of PEG while it sat in a bed of sand in the basement of the building.  It was on exhibit until 2007 when it was examined and determined the wood was spongy.  The canoe underwent Acryloid B72-4 conservation treatment and cleaned with funds raised by Oak Grove Intermediate School students and their teacher Laurie Dahlgren.   A full description can be found in the Minnesota Dugout Canoe Project Report (Ann Merriman, Christopher Olson and Maritime Heritage Minnesota) 2014.  Page 21: #6 Minnesota River Valley Dugout Canoe, Bloomington Historical Society 64-1, Bloomington, MN.  Maritime Heritage Minnesota contends in their report that this canoe was made and used by the Dakota people during the European Contact Period and briefly into post-Contact Period.