One reads about the mountain men making bull boats but little about making paddles. How did they make a paddle? Seems like that would take a while. Did they cut a pole and pole across a river? Did they put their goods in the boat and swim the boat across the river?
And, were there various sized bull boats? There's the famous painting of Mandan women crossing the Missouri in a small round boat, maybe 6 feet across but Jedediah Smith speaks about "skin canoes" in California for trapping and a round tub would seem sort of hard to handle. How did they keep the boats from leaking? I've heard about really big bull boats for sending fur down river but would such a craft be strong enough to stay together?
Thanks,
Dave
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