The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #1397   Message #1130933
Posted By: Willie-O
07-Mar-04 - 12:15 PM
Thread Name: Origins: The Gum Tree Canoe (Steele/Winnemore)
Subject: RE: Lyrics: Gum Tree Canoe?
No, they don't at all. You have to make the canoe yourself.

I'm currently carving a dugout canoe from an eastern white cedar log, which is going OK. I don't know anything about the properties of the sweetgum tree, which doesn't grow this far north. Many dugouts were made out of basswood, poplar and white pine, though, because they grew to a good size and are easy to carve.

Must have been some reason they used the gum tree for canoe-making though. I personally wouldn't try it with a log with such poor resistance to rot and insects as any of the poplar family. Specially in a southern climate.