Let us now praise canoes. Clean, quiet, affordable. Even New York State government hasn't found a way to tax or regulate them (although I'm sure somewhere in the dark heart of Albany someone is trying). In the water dappled world where I live they are a near perfect way to explore place. And this summer I've even used my Old Town Pack as a way to travel thru time. All it takes is a little imagination and a paddle. Let me explain.
Besides being on the water, another of my favorite pastimes is browsing used bookstores. I always have a stack of old finds waiting to be read and recently I got to An Introduction to Hudson Valley Prehistory by William Ritchie. It's a January 1958 bulletin of the New York State Museum and Science Service describing excavations at seven sites once occupied by Native Americans. The fact that two of these sites were adjacent to places I like to paddle caught my attention and lead to a couple of revelatory outings. Both sites are on private property and should not be trespassed but you can view them from the water like I did.
Gwenne and I like to float lazily along the shore of the Hudson admiring moss covered shale ledges, clay banks sprinkled with wildflowers and the occasional eagle perched overhead. On one trip this year we lingered under a knoll where a small stream trickled over rocks before flowing into the river. It's an enchanting spot, even more so when you know that the top of the little bluff is where, in 1951, archaeologists investigated the site of Native American activity. They recovered 620 artifacts from several test pits, concluding that a small seasonal camp had been located here over a long period of time (early Archaic to Middle Woodland). Apparently, even back then, waterfront with a view was highly prized.
Under the influence of warm sunshine, a gently rocking boat and advancing age my eyelids grew heavy and my thoughts traveled back thru millennia to a time when I might have been fishing for shad to feed my small family clan back at the camp. Has anything really changed? The need for food, shelter and a safe place to raise kids? Then I dreamt I heard the tribe calling from shore. Awakened from my reverie, I realized it was the landowners talking as they did some yard work. We chatted a bit about swimming here when we were kids, about the many years since our school days and about the archaeological dig. Then it was time to leave my prehistory sojourn behind and paddle back to a present of equipment that needed fixing and bills that needed paying.
Surprisingly, I got to repeat the experience a few weeks later. That speaks to the ubiquitousness of Native American settlements in the Hudson Valley. This time Tom, Holly and I paddled our way up a tributary of the river to a point where the stream looped around an elevated, wooded peninsula. The shoreline was attractive but otherwise unremarkable. At least until you know that this too had been the site of an encampment many thousands of years ago. Evidence comes from excavations done by the amateur archaeologist landowners back in the '50's.
Several factors made the spot appealing to early people. The ease of travel by water and the abundance of food sources was obvious. We saw flocks of waterfowl and signs of beaver and muskrat activity. That and I remember fishing for bullheads on this stream when I was a kid. Other factors that made it a good place to live were its dry sandy soil and a clearwater spring nearby.
The springs outlet?
This way to the Hudson
Once again the magic of amorphous time took hold as I slipped along the shore. The quiet, the undisturbed banks with towering hickory and white oak...it could have been anytime in the last 10,000 years. Looking down in the shallow water a small shard of rock caught my attention. Probably just a piece of broken shale but shaped such that...could it be? I scooped up the 'maybe' arrowhead as a memento of my time travel and have it on my desk as I write. A small reminder that there were people here before us and there will be people here when we're gone.
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