History Afloat!

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History Afloat!

Unread postby bunghole » Thu Jun 22, 2006 7:59 pm

Here's something you don't see everyday! History in motion on the James River at Lynchburg, Virginia - The Batteau Festival 2006.

All photos copywrite Linnin Images 2006
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beaucoupbatteaux.jpg
Batteaux carried people and trade goods up and down the rivers of early America.
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batteau1.jpg
Batteaux are shallow draft river boats of Virginia design.
batteau1.jpg (204.97 KiB) Viewed 8699 times
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Unread postby bunghole » Thu Jun 22, 2006 8:04 pm

During the American Revolution some 50 batteaux were known to be at Fort Pitt and made their way down to the Falls of the Ohio and back on a somewhat regular basis.
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batteauonjames.jpg
batteauonjames.jpg (202.55 KiB) Viewed 8693 times
starsnstripes.jpg
A typical batteau.
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Unread postby bunghole » Thu Jun 22, 2006 8:11 pm

Just a few more! :wink: Can you imagine barrels of rye and corn whiskey being transported?
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onthejames.jpg
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dreamingcreek.jpg
dreamingcreek.jpg (240.68 KiB) Viewed 8686 times
bankedbatteaux.jpg
bankedbatteaux.jpg (258.74 KiB) Viewed 8686 times
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Unread postby Bourbon Joe » Thu Jun 22, 2006 8:15 pm

They almost liik like a Connestoga Wagon that floats.
Joe
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Unread postby bunghole » Thu Jun 22, 2006 8:21 pm

JoeBourbon wrote:They almost liik like a Connestoga Wagon that floats.
Joe


Joe, the batteau pre-dates the connestoga wagon, and I'll bet there was some influence on the connie's design as they did float to aid in river crossings.

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Unread postby gillmang » Fri Jun 23, 2006 10:23 am

That's interesting Linn, nice pictures. Bateau in French means boat.

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Unread postby bunghole » Fri Jun 23, 2006 11:13 pm

gillmang wrote:That's interesting Linn, nice pictures. Bateau in French means boat.

Gary


Thanks Gary! I'm glad you enjoyed the photos. A lot of resolution is lost when I have to shrink them down to one tenth of the original size for webpage application.

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Unread postby bunghole » Fri Jun 23, 2006 11:36 pm

A quick bit of historical background -

The batteau was invented by two Amherst County brothers - Anthony and Benjamin Rucker. Thomas Jefferson witnessed the launch of the Rucker's batteau on April 19, 1775 and later wrote about it.

The site where these photos were taken was originally where John Lynch established a ferry in the 1750's and came to be called Lynch's Ferry and later to become Lynchburg. Amherst County is on the northern bank of the James. This would have been very close to the originial launch site of Rucker's batteau.

Batteaux were made mostly from oak and were six to eight feet wide with a flat bottom, and 40 to 60 feet long. Pointed at both ends with a rudder at each made the batteau very maneuverable. The batteau was also quite strong and could shoot rapids and go over small falls with ease.

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Unread postby cowdery » Sat Jun 24, 2006 10:39 pm

Very cool. There is something very appealing about messing around with boats on rivers, something I grew up with and have always enjoyed.
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Unread postby bunghole » Sun Jun 25, 2006 4:16 pm

cowdery wrote:Very cool. There is something very appealing about messing around with boats on rivers, something I grew up with and have always enjoyed.


ima glad you enjoyed the photos, Chuck. Anytime I can envoke a fond memory or other positive response with my photography then my work has not been in vain.

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