Asymmetric 20 ft canoe Gallupe?

[Francis Cyr]

I am looking at an older 20 foot, asymmetrical rib and plank canoe, and I wonder if it may have been built off a Gallupe mold. If I'm correct, the Gallupe Aroostook Chief had half ribs. This one It doesn’t have half ribs. Does anyone know of any other manufacturers that built asymmetric canoes?



Fran Cyr, Caribou, Maine.

 

[Benson Gray]

There isn't much information available about Asa Gallupe or his "Aroostook Chief" canoes. The list at http://wcha.org/catalogs/maine-list.htm indicates that he was making them from about 1938 - 1952. He was included in the 1942 edition of the Maine Register as shown below. The build record at the link below shows that he also occasionally bought canoes from Old Town. If you are using the term "asymmetric canoes" to describe one with a transom then many other builders made canoes like this. Let me know if this doesn't answer your question.

Benson

Old Town Sponson Serial Number Search

The serial number is 105900. The length of the canoe is 20'. Can you give me more information about this canoe. Thank you.

forums.wcha.org

 

[Rollin Thurlow]

Yes, the standard Gallupe did have the half ribs. Over the years there were half dozen people that worked for Asa Gallupe building the canoes. Asa didn't do any of the building. The original company built canoes from the early 1930s to 1945. It would not be unreasonable that some of the boats were built without the half ribs. The boats were designed to be used with a side mounted motor. Asa's Son Gary said" the way to tell if the boat was a Gallupe was if it was a good paddler, then it wasn't a Gallupe!". the fwd part of the boat had some good flare and was wider and deeper than the more straight sided stern.
Other builders that build Gallupes after the original company closed was Asa's son, Thomas, he sold the form to Lud Burtchell and latter Bill MIller ended up with the form. Bill built the boat with a transom saying" Only Mainers's would use a side mounted motor!" A.E.Fewelling, from Aroostook built a boat very similar to the Gallupe. Jackson of Veazie built a asymmetric hull but I don't know if it was similar to the Gallup or not.
Here's some picture of a restored Gallupe with the half ribs.

 

[Francis Cyr]

Thank you Benson and Rollin, This helps a great deal. Here are a few pics of it. The ribs are very wide and don't match very well as seen in the first photol The owner doesn't think it's a Flewelling. There is a Flewelling in Washburn at a Museum and I'll be comparing the two when it opens up this summer.

 

[Rollin Thurlow]

I just received some pictures and information on Gallupe canoes from Asa Gallups grandson, Bill Aldrich.
The older picture is of Asa Gallupe poling the canoe. The river may be the Allagash river which is the river the boat was designed to be use on. From the rapids and the size of the river it looks like it could be Chase Rapids which is the most famous rapids on the river.
His wife Margaret is in the bow. In the picture, Bill thinks Margaret is pregnant with his mother.
The trademark of the "Indian Chief" logo is easy to spot. It looks like Asa is slowing the canoe down by "snubbing" with the pole: Snubbing-Putting the pole into the river bottom in fwd part of the canoe and just touch the river bottom enough to slow the canoe just a bit. You keep snubbing in rapid secession to slow down even more, without pushing the poler out of the water like if you tried to stop all in once with one giant stab in the bottom of the river.
Who needs lifejackets when you have an experienced river man poling your canoe!
The other picture is what Bill believes is the same canoe which Bill has in California.

 

[MGC]

I don't think any WCHA member has run that river as often as Rollin "Allagash" Thurlow. I'm assuming that you have memorized the location of every rock from there to Fort Kent.
I'm trying to picture if the river is that narrow on the first drop? It does turn a bit of a corner there but this picture makes the river look like there are a lot of big rocks up on the shore.
Whatever the case, that is a classic and fabulous picture.
If anyone ever wondered what a Maine working canoe is and how they were used, bingo. This is not some pretty little long decked toy outfitted with rugs, umbrellas and pillows.
Poling down a set of rapids with your pregnant wife in the bow. No pressure there!
And down the river a ways, there are a couple places to carry..... I don't see any wheels on board and I'm guessing that she is not going to help to carry. Guess what? That big old canoe is going up on Asa's shoulders. For his sake, I hope the pullout is Round Pond.

 

[Francis Cyr]

I just received some pictures and information on Gallupe canoes from Asa Gallups grandson, Bill Aldrich.
The older picture is of Asa Gallupe poling the canoe. The river may be the Allagash river which is the river the boat was designed to be use on. From the rapids and the size of the river it looks like it could be Chase Rapids which is the most famous rapids on the river.
His wife Margaret is in the bow. In the picture, Bill thinks Margaret is pregnant with his mother.
The trademark of the "Indian Chief" logo is easy to spot. It looks like Asa is slowing the canoe down by "snubbing" with the pole: Snubbing-Putting the pole into the river bottom in fwd part of the canoe and just touch the river bottom enough to slow the canoe just a bit. You keep snubbing in rapid secession to slow down even more, without pushing the poler out of the water like if you tried to stop all in once with one giant stab in the bottom of the river.
Who needs lifejackets when you have an experienced river man poling your canoe!
The other picture is what Bill believes is the same canoe which Bill has in California.

 

[Francis Cyr]

Rollin, Those pictures are amazing So nice of Mr. Aldrich to share them with you. If I ever find a Gallupe I would definitely have someone paint the "Chief"

 

[openboater]

Gallupe ??
Previous owner did't know the make but this sure looks like the other canoes in this thread

 

[openboater]

More pics

very asymmetric and lots of bow flair.

 

[Francis Cyr]

Open boater, I've got a couple of photos of a Flewelling that I took last year. Notice the shape of the front deck. Could you post a pic of the front deck? The Cedar Craft by Flewelling is located in Washburn, ME at the historical society. They were built in a suburb of Washburn called Crouseville.

 

[openboater]

Francis, here are deck pics.

 

[Francis Cyr]

I'm pretty sure it a Flewelling. You are so fortunate to own it. I'll be getting photos of the Flewelling in Washbun next week. Stay tuned.

 

[Francis Cyr]

This is Flewelling Canoe number 1 located in Washburn, Maine. LOA was approximately 20" 6" Tip of Deck to Deck was 20 feet. We counted 64 long ribs.

 

[Francis Cyr]

Up dated 8/8/2023. This is the last canoe built off the Flewelling Mold. It was built by "Doc" Albert who had purchased the mold when he retired and he planned to start building Flewellings. He built one canoe and soon after the mold burned up in a fire. It is not the first Flewelling, as I stated earlier. LOA was approximately 20" 6" Tip of Deck to Deck was 20 feet. We counted 64 long ribs. According an owner of on of the last 5 Flewelling Canoes, in the mid 70's, He was approached by Whitfield Corey, who built canoes for Alphonso Flewelling. He said he was building 5 more canoes and that was it. He and 4 other gentlemen ordered/bought them. Later the mold was sold to Doc Albert.

 

[MGC]

Francis, bravo for taking the time to create a record of these canoes. So many builders work gets lost in the shuffle. The ones with a local story who build a few decent boats tend to get lost while we focus on the big boys. Where Rollin (and Jerry) are located is right about in the middle of some of the best canoe country around. He's been able to work on a lot of unique boats and more importantly, he's made a real effort to learn as much as possible about their stories. I remember being a bit surprised when I found out that he knew the story about my Guy Cyr canoe, but come to find out, it was built on one of Jerrys forms. It's a small world.

 

[Francis Cyr]

Thanks. Stay tuned for more on the Flewelling.