When Margaret McDowell called the Lake Waccamaw State Park office May 24, she knew what she had found two days earlier in the lake and she knew that park staff should be informed. 

The family has a history in such things. Her husband Danny McDowell and his brother made a similar find 28 years ago; a 20-foot dugout canoe that is now displayed in the Lake Waccamaw Depot Museum.

Margaret McDowell and her daughter, Ashley, had found a remnant piece of a second canoe. Both were fashioned hundreds of years ago by hewing out the burned interior of a log, evidenced by charring that’s still visible.

The 13-foot, four-inch canoe section was found near the mouth of Big Creek as the McDowells were on a fishing and clamming trip. According to McDowell, she enjoys clamming while at the coast and while the closest thing she can find in Lake Waccamaw might be a Waccamaw fatmucket or an Asiatic clam, she enjoys going through the motions.

She quickly realized the significance of the discovery but actually found it hard to believe until her husband, with his history of discovery, confirmed that indeed it did look like the one he had found many years before adjacent to the park shoreline near the dam.

Even though the relic was found in knee-deep water, McDowell feared something could happen to it including its possibly being struck by a passing boat. The McDowell family decided to move the canoe to a private pier, owned by a family member along Lakeshore Drive.

Ranger Jonathan Short and I met with Mrs. McDowell a couple of days later, photographed the canoe and confirmed it appeared to be a dugout canoe with its concave shape, charring throughout and well-defined, tapered bow.

The ancient vessel had shifted under the pier and several small pieces had broken off. During the visit and previously by telephone, I stressed to McDowell that the canoe should not have been tampered with or moved, and that several state and federal laws protect such relics.

Sandbags were used to better secure the canoe until a short-term plan could be determined.

We contacted Gene Peacock, east district interpretation and education specialist, for advice due to his archaeological background and recent experience with preserved canoes used as exhibits at Pettigrew State Park. Gene contacted Nathan Henry, a curator with the N.C. Office of Archaeology’s Underwater Branch to arrange a site visit.

Henry and Chris Southerly of the underwater branch and volunteer Matt Thompson went to the site May 28 to help park staff assess and relocate the canoe until a time that it might be raised for preservation and long-term display like the first “McDowell canoe.”

Danny McDowell told Henry that he and his brother had towed the earlier find – a 20-foot section – to a takeout point and that his brother rode in the ancient vessel during the tow. Not many folks in our time can claim such a feat.

After taking measurements and photos, Henry secured a small broken portion about nine inches long to take back to the branch lab at Fort Fisher for carbon 14 dating.

The McDowells watched as the canoe was carefully hand-loaded aboard the park’s work barge for transport to a deeper destination where another dugout had been sunk nearly 10 years ago, after its discovery by a group of teenagers.

At this undisclosed location, the “McDowell Canoe 2” was gently guided down to the muddy bottom and anchored with a sandbag. GPS coordinates were updated, and a metal pole was placed alongside the relic to act as an additional locator.