By Ran Coleman
One summer, probably in the early to mid 1970s, when Dad was at the lake without family, he and Bob Preston were diving with tanks northeast of Church Island. One of them spotted what became in Dad's mind over the next year an Indian ceremonial burial canoe, complete with rocks placed in the canoe, apparently by the Indians, to ensure that the canoe and its contents were sent to the bottom of the lake.
Bob and Dad were not able to continue the search after the initial sighting, because they were short on air. The following summer, however, they devised a plan, with the help from Norton Cabell to search for the canoe. Using our big boat in an underwater “sled” (a ¾” board, about 3 feet long and 1 ½ feet wide, with handles through the ends to which they're attached to the end of the ski rope).
Dad and Bob and I took turns “sledding” the bottom of the lake in a grid pattern (we think Norton helped with the navigation of the boat), two at a time, in the area where they had spotted the canoe.
After some time, Bob and I finally spotted the sunken vessel, which, it turned out, was not a burial canoe at all. It happened to be an old sailboat with a bowspirit, of which vintage we couldn't guess. So, although there was no canoe, the story of the search has been retold many times.
The Search for the Indian Burial Canoe
Editors Note: An Indian dugout canoe was found at Squam in 1939. It is at the Holderness Historical Society. Here is a Union Leader Story on the canoe.