Lake Minnetonka Canoe is Much Older Than Previously Thought

LONG LAKE, MINNESOTA—Radiocarbon tests have shown that a canoe recovered from the silt of Lake Minnetonka in 1934 is 1,000 years old. Housed in a small museum run by volunteers, the canoe attracted the attention of nautical archaeologists Ann Merriman and Chris Olson, who gathered information on dugout canoes in Minnesota. It had been thought that the canoe dated to the 1750s. It is in good condition, but has been split by a crack and lost a few small pieces. “It is [the main attraction] now. We hope it will draw visitors,” Russ Ferrin, head of the Pioneer Museum, told The Star Tribune.