How Did They Excavate the Canoe?
Jenna Bradley and Robert Cornett.Photo courtesy of The Shreveport Times
In June 2017, Jenna Bradley and Robert Cornett stumbled across the buried dugout canoe while boating on the Red River. The pair soon got in contact with Louisiana's state archaeologist, Chip McGimsey, along with Jeffrey Girard and Jameel Damlouji of the Louisiana Archaeological Society, who all confirmed it as a dugout canoe, resembling another one found in 1983.
Rivers like the Red are state property up to the normal water level, and above that, the property on the river bank belongs to the landowner. Given that this canoe was on the bank and mostly above the normal water level, ownership belonged to the landowners.
A team of volunteers loading the canoe onto a flatbed trailer. Photo courtesy of The Shreveport Times
The joint owners of the land, Kavanaugh Family Properties, LLC and McNeely Family Partnership, then generously donated the canoe to the state.
Moving the waterlogged and heavy canoe posed a challenge. With the threat of an approaching storm, local volunteer and history enthusiast Paul Dickson and building contractor Michael Crager enlisted the help of 7-8 people. They constructed a platform and surrounded the canoe with a protective framework and padding. Using a bulldozer, the crew removed a section of the bank, strapped the canoe to the platform, and pulled it onto a trailer. From there, it was off to the Conservation lab at Texas A&M for preservation.