Back again after a few little hiccups.

The trade in the West was a combination of water and land movement. Keelboats and steamboats moved a lot of goods as far as the rivers were navigable. After that, horses, mules and wagons were used to finish the journey.
At times, it was necessary for the mountain men to cross larger rivers, or float them for a stretch, after they had given up their larger boats.
Canoes were not at all common in the Mountains, or on the Plains, so they constructed bull boats.

From John Ball, 1832:
And after two or three days reached the main Lewis river. To cross its water, and such others as they
could not ford, the trappers had packed along what they call a bull boat, green buffalo hides with
the hair off, which they soak in water till limber, then stretch this hide over a temporary frame
made from such saplings as could he bent into shape, and then turn their rude boat up to the sun
to dry, and thus keep in shape long enough to cross two or three times, before so soaked as to be
unmanageable.

Charles Larpenteur:
So I immediately got some buffalo hides to
make a bull-boat, and in two days after my arrival was under way for some lower post, hoping to
be able to reach Fort Pierre.

From John Wyeth:
Whether it was Captain Sublet’s own invention,
or an invention of the Indians, we know not, but the contrivance we used is worth mentioning.
They called it a Bull-boat. They first cut a number of willows (which grow every where near the
banks of all the rivers we had travelled by from St. Louis), of about an inch and a half diameter
at the butt end, and fixed them in the ground at proper distances from each other, and as they
approached nearer one end they brought them nearer together, so as to form something like the
bow. The ends of the whole were brought and bound firmly together, like the ribs of a great basket;
and then they took other twigs of willow and wove them into those stuck in the ground so as
to make a sort of firm, huge basket of twelve or fourteen feet long. After this was completed, they
sewed together a number of buffalo-skins, and with them covered the whole; and after the different
parts had been trimmed off smooth, a slow fire was made under the Bull-boat, taking care to
dry the skins moderately; and as they gradually dried, and acquired a due degree of warmth, they
rubbed buffalo tallow all over the outside of it, so as to allow it to enter into all the seams of the
boat, now no longer a willowbasket. As the melted tallow ran down into every seam, hole, and
crevice, it cooled into a firm body capable of resisting the water, and bearing a considerable blow
without damaging it. Then the willow-ribbed, buffalo-skin, tallowed vehicle was carefully pulled
up from the ground, and behold a boat capable of transporting man, horse, and goods over a
pretty strong current. At the sight of it, we Yankees all burst out into a loud laugh, whether from
surprise, or pleasure, or both, I know not. It certainly was not from ridicule; for we all acknowledged
the contrivance would have done credit to old New-England.

From Nathaniel Wyeth:
13th. Remained at same camp made a Bull Boat day fine.
14th. Same camp day fine.
15th. Made a start in our Bull Boat found it to answer the purpose well large enough runs well
leaks a little made 3 miles N.E. stream rapid shoals at places 2 feet. Too much liquor to proceed
therefore stopped.

Bull Boating on the Platte River, by Alfred Jacob Miller

Thats pretty cool.

"Too much liquor to proceed" Been there, done that......jk

Those are some remarkable finds in your books K Snow. The best descriptions of building them I've seen. Thank you!

I do remember somewhere about a bull boat being lost in heavy current and overturned. I think one of the occupants drowned and the trade goods were lost to the bottom of the stream. If I recall correctly some years back after a prolonged drought some of the trade goods were discovered in the shoals just about where the journals had described the incident. Can't remember which party its was though.

D'you recognize any of that K?

BP - I've read of numerous accidents involving the bullboats, they were a bit sketchy in the calmest of waters.

That doesn't ring a bell, but I can take a look in the future.

A great read! Too much liquor to preceed. Too much water in the boat or too drunk? I think probably too much water in the boat.

thanks for sharing good read,

The ingenuity amazes me!