Bull boat facts for kids
A bull boat is a small, round boat that was often used by American Indians and early explorers. It's special because it was made by stretching a buffalo hide over a wooden frame. People used these boats for traveling on rivers and for fishing.
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The History of Bull Boats
When traders from the Hudson's Bay Company first met the Mandan Indians in 1790, they saw these unique, tub-shaped boats. The Mandan people made them from willow poles covered with raw buffalo hides.
Later, explorers and fur traders on the Missouri River also noticed how light and useful these boats were. From about 1810 to 1830, American fur traders started building their own bull boats. These were much larger, sometimes eighteen to thirty feet long. They could carry up to two tons of fur down shallow rivers like the Platte River. To make these bigger boats, they had to join buffalo hides together with special waterproof seams. This was a technique the American Indians didn't usually use for their smaller, circular boats.
How Bull Boats Were Built
The main part of a bull boat was its frame, made from willow branches. These branches were bent into a large bowl shape, usually about four feet across the top and eighteen inches deep.
Then, a strong hide from a bull buffalo was stretched tightly over this frame. This is why they are called "bull boats"! The whole boat was very light, weighing only about 30 pounds. The hair was left on the buffalo hide. This helped the boat stay straight in the water and kept water from leaking in. The buffalo's tails were also kept on the hide. They were used to tie several bull boats together.
Once in the water, a bull boat could feel a bit wobbly, like a cork bobbing around. But it was very useful for short trips across rivers.
William Clark's Description
William Clark from the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition described how these boats were made:
Two sticks, about 1-1/4 inches thick, are tied together to form a round hoop. This hoop is the size you want the top of the canoe to be, or as big as the buffalo skin will cover. You make two of these hoops: one for the top edge and one for the bottom.
Then, more sticks of the same thickness are crossed at right angles. They are fastened with leather strips to each hoop and also where the sticks cross each other. After that, the fresh, untanned buffalo skin is pulled tightly over the frame. It's fastened with leather strips to the top hoop, making a perfect basin shape.
Pryor's two canoes were almost the same size. They were 7 feet 3 inches across and 16 inches deep. Each boat had 15 ribs, or cross sticks.
Boats Like the Bull Boat
- Further information: Coracle
Bull boats are very similar to other types of round or oval boats found around the world. For example, the Welsh coracle, the Irish/Scottish currach, and the Iraqi/Mesopotamian quffa all look a lot like bull boats.
This similarity once led some people to think that a Welsh party might have traveled to the New World a long time ago, in the 12th century. However, circular boats like these have been invented in many different places without people copying each other. They are similar because they are simple and effective solutions for river travel. They are easy to build using materials that have been available since the Stone Age, like wood and animal hide. They are also very strong and work well for carrying people and goods, or for fishing.
