The Susquehanna Waterway

The Susquehanna Waterway by John Buxton, Oil, 12 x 18

Oil
12 x 18

This is the "First of State" Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission (PFBC) Conserve 2000 stamp print program. Funds raised as part of this program are used for aquatic resource protection, habitat restoration and enhancement, species protection and restoration, pollution assessment and abatement projects, and recreational access improvements. I was commissioned by the PFBC to initiate this program.

Here you find the Susquehanna River in the early 1700's, much the way it looks now. Wide, shallow and studded with islands, the river was a highway for the region's early settlers. The river enabled the largely agricultural homesteads to transport their excess produce to market. Dugouts (sometimes 2 lashed together) and lightweight bark canoes were commonly used for transport. Later large plank boats, called arcs, were used to carry even more goods downstream, where they would be disassembled and their planking sold upon reaching their destination.

Reproductions of this painting were produced.

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