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Booshway
posted
"I loaded a Petty-Auger with several Goods and merchandizes to the Amount of five thousand nine hundred and forty one Livres and fifteen in Peltry."
Joseph St. Marie to
Winthrop Sargent, 22 July 1790

"A New York Carpenter must be employed in Chusing them, as they go by different Names in different Colonies. I could wish that they were sent up in a Pettiauger fitted with as Many Oars as possible, and under the Care of an Officer and a Party of Good Oarsmen."
General Philip Schuler to
George Washington, 11 May 1776

"The men employed to build the Pettyaugers continued their work..."
Journal of Lewis and Clark,
March 1, 1805

So, what the heck is a petty-auger?

I have a profound interest in all things nautical, and have done research on early colonial watercraft, but pettiauger is a term that I recently came upon, and didn't know.

Apparently there are several ways of spelling it. Petty-Augur/periauger/pettiauger/pettiaugre and even more. I have also seen the name pirogue used in the same context and interchangeably.

Pirogue is known to me as a small, flat-bottomed canoe mainly made and used by the Cajun people of the Gulf coast for paddling through the southern swamps. I have also seen pettiaugers defined as a dugout canoe.

However, these pettiaugers/pirogues that I have read about were generally much larger watercraft than the small canoes.

Apparently a pettiauger is, or was, a rather large, double-ended, flat-bottomed boat, usually rowed by six or more, sometimes fitted with a small sail, and in times of war they could also be fitted with a swivel-gun or two and maybe a very small cannon mounted in the bow. They were generally used to transport cargo and people along the inland waterways and coastal bays and inlets.

So there you have it. A new term for me, and I think probably for most of you also, but one that was apparently quite common during our early American history.


Know what you believe in. Fight for your beliefs. Never compromise away your rights.
 
Posts: 1296 | Location: Cherokee Land, Tenasi | Registered: 06 January 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
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The "Museum of the fur trade quarterly" volume 48, number 3 fall 2012 contains a very informative article on pirogues by John Fisher. In that article he states that private Joseph Whitehouse's (of Corps of Discovery) editor/copyist used the term "pettyauger" in place of pirogue. His next sentence states "At that time along the East Coast pettyauger actually could refer to a pirogue or similarly shaped plank boats." The footnote for that statement referred to a John R. Rees manuscript "The Use and Conveniences of Different Kinds of Watercraft: Continental Army River Vessels,1775-1782. www.continentalline.org/articl...e=0001&article000101.
 
Posts: 507 | Registered: 14 August 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
Picture of Notchy Bob
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I think this type of watercraft was probably most used for cruising coastal waters. The spelling I have seen most frequently is "petiagua." There is a beautiful sketch of one of these as well as a nice description in Von Reck's Voyage: Lost Views of Georgia in 1736, which used to be accessible online in its entirety, although I seem to have lost my link. I do have the printed book, though. Von Reck, writing in German, called this boat a Petiäger.

Here's the quote from the book cited above (page 70): "This type of boat was used along the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean islands. Francis Moore, and agent for the Trustees who came on the same voyage with von Reck, described them: 'These petiaguas are long, flat-bottomed boats, carrying from 20 to 35 Tons. They have a kind of Forecastle and a Cabin, but the rest open, and no Deck. They have two Masts, which they can strike, and Sails like Schooners. They row generally with two oars only.'"

Both the Frontier Folk and Historical Trekking forums have sections on traditional boats, if you want to venture over to either of those places. Some of the contributors are pretty knowledgeable.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob


"Should have kept the old ways just as much as I could, and the tradition that guarded us. Should have rode horses. Kept dogs."

from The Antelope Wife
 
Posts: 333 | Location: Florida | Registered: 24 May 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
Picture of Notchy Bob
posted Hide Post
Found the link!

Petiagua

I wish I knew how to post pictures directly, but I don't.

Notchy Bob


"Should have kept the old ways just as much as I could, and the tradition that guarded us. Should have rode horses. Kept dogs."

from The Antelope Wife
 
Posts: 333 | Location: Florida | Registered: 24 May 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
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Interesting. That whole series of sketches is interesting.
Apparently a pettiauger is a much larger craft than I had been envisioning. I was thinking more along the lines of a huge dugout canoe.

One of my ancestors operated a "shallop" on the Delaware River around 1700. I believe that he transported cargo and passengers between Philadelphia, PA, to various up river towns such as Burlington and Trenton in NJ.

An even earlier ancestor came over from England a few years after the Pilgrims and was a shipwright in Plymouth Colony, building shallops and other small coastal watercraft.
As a side note; There is a record of him being called as a witness for the defense of one of the women accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials. He said that to his knowledge she was a good woman and had never engaged in witchcraft.


Know what you believe in. Fight for your beliefs. Never compromise away your rights.
 
Posts: 1296 | Location: Cherokee Land, Tenasi | Registered: 06 January 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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