The Voyageurs Highway

[qp]

This is a great book to read I found last winter on Ebay. Written by Grace Lee Nute. Published in June 1941 and back then the cost was only .75 cents.
I was re-reading parts of it this weekend and notice a photo in it of an old tent on Cypress Lake. So it got me thinking about what the old Voyageurs of the past used to sleep in. Those of you that aren't fimialier with Cypress Lake it is now known as Ottertrack Lake.
So I went in search of my quest on Google. Ending up finding this site.
www.northwestjournal.ca/VI4.htm
After reading it I found that the very old timers in the fur trade days slept under their birch bark canoes. I've stored gear under my canoe on trips but never had the thought of sleeping under it.
The Wedge Tent photo on this link is very similar to the one in my book. However in the book the tent appears to have wooden poles supporting it.
I'm curious as to the different types of tents used in the past. Especially in the late 1800's to mid 1900's.
Anyone got any other information of tents of the past? Have you every done a trip without a tent and slept under the canoe? Possibly been stranded and used it as a shelter for a night?
Back to the book a sec. It is a very interesting read covers the border lakes from Grand Portage to Rainy Lake. Offers a lot of historical info on people and portages of the fur trade era.
Any one else read it or got the book?
qp

[Bannock]

I have done a trip intentionally leaving my tent behind. However, I used a tarp as shelter. It worked out OK since it was not bug season, but I won't do it again.

Also, I have used my canoe as a shelter on day trips. I remember one time being caught in a doozy of a thunder storm under my canoe. I put one end of the canoe in a very low crotch of a tree. The front edge was less than 4' off the ground. I was actually quite comfortable, but I was sitting and not laying down.

I have been to many rendezvous re-enactments (very fun). Most try to be historically accurate. I have seen many versions of the wedge tent, various wall tents, leantos, and pyramid-type as well as teepees, and others. One that stuck in my mind was the Whelan tent. It was basically a one-man lean-to, but the one I saw set up was used in conjunction with a canoe on its side ... imagine a lean-to with the open side blocked by the canoe.

[intrepidcamper]

Last winter I did some research on tents used in the past, for a re-enactment (which unfortunatley did not come to fruition) to be done in May of 2005. It appeared the wedge tent, if any, was the most likely used long ago (1800's). For the reenactment I made two cotton canvas tents from fabric I aquired off of E-bay for a very reasonable price, about $4.00 per yard length. This first try was two pieces (each piece about 6' wide and 10 feet long) of golden brown color double-fill cotton canvas which I hemmed all around, by hand, with artifical sinew thread, and made hand sewn grommets using a twist of leather for the "ring" and covering it with a buttonhole type stitch all around. This worked great, but was 8 ounce canvas, so a little light weight and prone to soaking up some water. It was not waterproofed in any way, depending on the natural water resistance of the fabric to shed moisture. Double fill canvas has two threads on each pass of the weaving, so when it gets wet, the threads swell to shed water. As long as you do not touch the inside walls and break the surface tension keeping the water out, it will shed water well; and even if wet, will shed a downpour better than having nothing over your head. After finishing it, it occured to me if I hung it over poles they might break the interior surface tension and make it leak where the fabric crossed the poles. So I turned around and sold them on E-bay as a re-enactment prop to someone else. In the old days a mixture of parafin and kerosene was used, painted on when warm and left to dry, for a waterproofer. The web sources said this was a good way to make your tent very flamable and smells quite a bit. Other re-enactors suggested modern waterproofers, like Thompson's water seal or a product called Canvak which came with good reviews from users, to paint on instead. IC

[intrepidcamper]

I tried making another tent, this time of heavier 10 oz. double-fill canvas, connecting the two pieces down the middle and adding loops on the outside, so I could slide a pole into them and keep from draping the tent over poles. I also put loops on the sides half way down to pull out the sides and give me more room inside when the tent was pitched. I then hemmed and put grommets all the way around at 3-4 foot intervals, like I did with the first tents (described above). The heavier fabric was much better at shedding water and sat pitched in my yard for several days, in moderate rain and some snow/sleet conditions, and stayed dry inside. It also was a good wind break and stayed appreciably warmer inside than outside (this was in April, in northern MN). It was somewhat heavier than the first try, and amounts to about 13 pounds and a bundle the size of a seat cushion of an overstuffed easy chair.
As it was, I never actually took it camping. I did go in early May as planned, but alone, and left the really heavy tent at home. I slept in a bivy bag, a waterproof cover over my sleeping bags, and under a larger waterproof nylon tarp and stayed dry and warm enough to be comfortable.
I will probably sell the white canvas tent this spring, if anyone is interested, let me know. IC