DCHP-1 Online

parchment canoe Obs.

• a temporary boat consisting of a frame covered with parchment (def. 2), often used by Indians who, at the end of their trip, removed the skins and sold them to traders.

  See also: bull boat  parchment (def. 2)  

  • 1754  (1907)  The Indian Men made temporary Canoes of Willows, covered with parchment Moose skins.
  • 1801  (1933)  I gave Fallardeau (the free man) two Parchment Skins to make a Canoe with to drive down the Red River.
  • 1858  (1860)  These great prairie-rivers are generally crossed and often descended in "bull-boats" or "parchment canoes" by the Indians, for great distances.