WALHALLA — A second historic canoe has arrived at the Oconee Heritage Center, joining a canoe found in the Chattooga River in 2002 in a preservation process and eventual exhibits at the museum.

Three young boys, David and Brandon Kwietniewski and their friend, Andrew Sauls, discovered this canoe, found in the Keowee River, last month. The boys found the canoe while swimming in the river in early July. Their neighbors, Mike and Diana Stafford, having read about the Chattooga canoe a few years earlier, made sure that the canoe remained in the water, knowing that keeping the wood wet would help to preserve the artifact.

In a combined effort of the Pickens County Museum of Art and History, the Army Corps of Engineers, the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology (SCIAA) and the Oconee Heritage Center, it was determined last week that the canoe would be moved to the Oconee Heritage Center alongside the Chattooga canoe for preservation and exhibition.

The Heritage Center was recognized in 2006 by the Office of the SC State Archaeologist for their work in preserving the Chattooga canoe.

The Keowee canoe, like the Chattooga canoe, is owned by the State of South Carolina. State Archaeologist, Jon Leader, and Deputy State Archaeologist for Underwater and Associate Director for Maritime Research, Chris Amer, visited the river last week and determined that the canoe was a good candidate for a preservation process.

Within 24 hours of receiving the “go-ahead,” volunteers at the Oconee Heritage Center, many of whom helped four years ago with the Chattooga canoe, successfully relocated the Keowee canoe to a preservation tank in Walhalla.

Richard Gambrell along with Patsy and Barry Earnhardt prepared this second tank. It will house the canoe in water until polyethylene glycol can begin to preserve the wood. The same cradle built in 2004 by Kent Wigington was again used to transport this canoe, and Wigington personally came out to transport the wet artifact to its new resting place.

Buzz Williams, of the Chattooga Conservancy, also stepped up to assist with this canoe. Williams led the efforts in 2004 to relocate the Chattooga canoe to the Heritage Center.

The Keowee canoe measures approximately 21 feet, is over two feet wide and has an overall height of 16 inches. According to Amer, this canoe is only approximately half its original length.

At this time, very little is known about the history of the canoe including age and who may have constructed it. The immediate concern was for the safety of the canoe. With the current drought conditions, the surrounding waters were quickly receding from around the canoe.

Now that the canoe is safely housed at the museum, archaeologists will be able to take a closer look at the wood and hopefully be able to determine an approximate age and possible provenance of the artifact.

Soon, the Keowee canoe will begin the process of soaking in polyethylene glycol in order to preserve the wood and eventually dry out. As for the Chattooga canoe, it has been determined that it is ready to begin drying out after nearly four and a half years of soaking in its tank.

Both canoes are available for public viewing at the Oconee Heritage Center, 123 Browns Square, Walhalla, S.C. during regular hours: Tuesday, Thursday, Friday (noon – 5 p.m.) and Saturday (10 a.m. – 3 p.m.). (864) 710-1568