Dear Wooden Canoe Heritage Association Historian Network,
I am hoping someone in the WCHA historian or builder community may be able to help me identify a small, apparently local canoe builder in the Minden/Gardnerville, Nevada area.
I own a 15-foot fiberglass canoe marked “River Runner 15.” I have been trying to determine who built it and approximately when it was manufactured. The canoe appears to be a hand-laid/molded fiberglass boat with wooden gunwales, two original seats, and enclosed fiberglass flotation compartments at the bow and stern.
What makes this particularly interesting is that I have some firsthand historical information about this particular design.
In the summer of 1969, when I was traveling through Minden/Gardnerville with my father, I repeatedly saw a green River Runner canoe for sale at Iron Fence Antiques on Main Street/US 395 in Gardnerville. I remember the canoe very clearly because I wanted my father to buy it. It was advertised for $125.
A friend subsequently purchased that exact green canoe, and I later paddled it on Lake Tahoe. It was essentially identical to my present canoe, including the distinctive markings at the bow and stern and the “River Runner 15” marking.
I also had another friend who owned a yellow River Runner, which we used on the Carson River in Brunswick Canyon. He told me that his canoe had been built in the Minden/Gardnerville area. It had the same distinctive markings as my present canoe.
Most importantly, all three canoes had a built-in “M/G” notation as part of the boat's markings. I do not know for certain what “M/G” stood for, although the information I was given associated the boats with Minden/Gardnerville.
I eventually bought my present red River Runner in the mid-2000s from Richard and Billie Greenhaugh, an older Carson City couple. They had owned and paddled the canoe and told me that it had been built in Minden/Gardnerville. The canoe still has the same original markings I remember from the green and yellow boats. I believe a trout decal currently on the bow was added by a previous owner.
There is also some contemporary documentary evidence that may be relevant. I found a Reno Evening Gazette classified advertisement dated April 17, 1975 that reads, in part, approximately:
I am therefore wondering whether anyone in the WCHA has encountered:
I have photographs of my canoe showing the hull, bow and stern markings, “River Runner 15” lettering, seats, wooden gunwales, and flotation compartments, and I would be very happy to provide them.
I would be particularly interested in any possible builder's name, business name, approximate production dates, or contemporary advertisements/catalogs that might help establish the history of these boats.
Thank you very much for any assistance or suggestions about where I might look next.
Best regards,
Bill Berge
Carson City, Nevadabigsmdog@sbcglobal.net
I am hoping someone in the WCHA historian or builder community may be able to help me identify a small, apparently local canoe builder in the Minden/Gardnerville, Nevada area.
I own a 15-foot fiberglass canoe marked “River Runner 15.” I have been trying to determine who built it and approximately when it was manufactured. The canoe appears to be a hand-laid/molded fiberglass boat with wooden gunwales, two original seats, and enclosed fiberglass flotation compartments at the bow and stern.
What makes this particularly interesting is that I have some firsthand historical information about this particular design.
In the summer of 1969, when I was traveling through Minden/Gardnerville with my father, I repeatedly saw a green River Runner canoe for sale at Iron Fence Antiques on Main Street/US 395 in Gardnerville. I remember the canoe very clearly because I wanted my father to buy it. It was advertised for $125.
A friend subsequently purchased that exact green canoe, and I later paddled it on Lake Tahoe. It was essentially identical to my present canoe, including the distinctive markings at the bow and stern and the “River Runner 15” marking.
I also had another friend who owned a yellow River Runner, which we used on the Carson River in Brunswick Canyon. He told me that his canoe had been built in the Minden/Gardnerville area. It had the same distinctive markings as my present canoe.
Most importantly, all three canoes had a built-in “M/G” notation as part of the boat's markings. I do not know for certain what “M/G” stood for, although the information I was given associated the boats with Minden/Gardnerville.
I eventually bought my present red River Runner in the mid-2000s from Richard and Billie Greenhaugh, an older Carson City couple. They had owned and paddled the canoe and told me that it had been built in Minden/Gardnerville. The canoe still has the same original markings I remember from the green and yellow boats. I believe a trout decal currently on the bow was added by a previous owner.
There is also some contemporary documentary evidence that may be relevant. I found a Reno Evening Gazette classified advertisement dated April 17, 1975 that reads, in part, approximately:
The newspaper OCR is imperfect, but “15,” “River Runner,” “fibreglass,” and the Gardnerville telephone number are clearly associated in the advertisement.
I am therefore wondering whether anyone in the WCHA has encountered:
- a River Runner 15 fiberglass canoe;
- a small fiberglass canoe builder in Minden/Gardnerville, Nevada, operating in the late 1960s or early 1970s;
- a builder or shop using the “M/G” marking;
- or references to locally built fiberglass canoes in the Carson Valley/Reno/Lake Tahoe region.
I have photographs of my canoe showing the hull, bow and stern markings, “River Runner 15” lettering, seats, wooden gunwales, and flotation compartments, and I would be very happy to provide them.
I would be particularly interested in any possible builder's name, business name, approximate production dates, or contemporary advertisements/catalogs that might help establish the history of these boats.
Thank you very much for any assistance or suggestions about where I might look next.
Best regards,
Bill Berge
Carson City, Nevadabigsmdog@sbcglobal.net
