Lee Rust, identified earlier in this series and a frequent commenter on Dispatches, has shared numerous photos of the interior of Seneca Chief he took in Fairport. Let’s follow him around the boat, beginning with (l to r) a Haudenosaunee white pine sapling, the sample collection cask, and the green Lake Erie water cask.

The tiller is made of timber from original Lockport ‘Flight of Five’ locks.

Let’s follow Cally into the interior.

As was the case 200 years ago, a number of products of the West—as defined by that era-– were included in the flotilla. These included a canoe.

Wood used in Seneca Chief included the following species: bald cypress, Douglas fir, white oak, eastern red cedar, white ash, and Emerican larch.

In 1825, beaver had the most valuable resource of the lands for several centuries already.

Tribute to the peoples of the “West” include this commemorative wampum belt and

these Seneca woodpecker moccasins.

Additional displays inside the cabin include historical information.

The crew sleeps here as well. Seeing this, I was reminded of a quote from Charles Dickens, who traveled on the Erie in the early years of its existence.

Dickens recorded his astonishment at details of the cabin: “Going below, I found suspended on either side of the cabin, three long tiers of hanging bookshelves, designed apparently for volumes of the small octavo side. Looking with great attention at these contrivance (wondering to find such literary preparations in such a place) I described on each shelf a sort of microscopic sheet and blanket; then I began to dimly comprehend that the passengers were the library, and that they were to be arranged edgewise on these shelves, till morning.“

Many thanks to Lee and Cally for sharing these images of their Seneca Chief visit.

Today the flotilla travels east from Lyons and stops in Clyde. Please send photos and text along if you spot them along that stretch of the Canal. Here’s the schedule. Dispatches would like to document as much of the voyage as possible.