The Voyage of the Paper Canoe: A 2,000-Mile Journey Down the Inland Waterways of the Eastern Seaboard

Nathaniel Bishop left Quebec in the summer of 1874 in an 18-foot canoe, accompanied by an assistant. His plan was to follow natural and manmade waterways all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, making as few portages as possible. 400 miles into the journey, he discovered a company in New York state that had been perfecting the construction of paper boats. Dismissing his assistant, Bishop purchased one of these incredibly light and sturdy paper crafts and paddled the next 2,000 miles on his own, emerging off the Florida coast in 1875. This is the story of his incredible journey.