Dashing Through the Snow!
Are you ready for some winter fun? Who can forget the iconic image of Santa Claus flying through the air in his sleigh, pulled by his trusty team of reindeer.
Native American tribes in the Northeast, such as the Iroquois, used sleighs and sleds for transportation during the winter months. These sleighs were often made from wooden frames with animal skins stretched over them for protection from the cold. In the Great Lakes region, Native American tribes such as the Ojibwe and Potawatomi used a type of sled called a "toboggan" for transportation and hunting. Toboggans were made from a single piece of wood bent into a semicircle and were used to haul goods and people over the snow.
As time went on, sleds began to be made from more durable materials like reinforced wood and metal. And in the 18th and 19th centuries, sleds started to be used for recreational purposes as well as transportation. This led to the development of different types of sleds for different activities, such as racing sleds and toboggans for sliding down hills.
One of the most famous uses of a sled in U.S. history was during the Revolutionary War when Henry Knox was tasked with transporting cannons from the recently captured Fort Ticonderoga. Moving the heavy artillery over 300 miles of difficult winter terrain using ox-drawn sleds, he contributed to the British retreat from Dorchester Heights and their eventual evacuation.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was common for Presidents to use sleighs as a means of transportation during the winter months.
Interested in more winter sports history? Visit our Snow Sports in the National Archives page. Read the letter from Henry Knox to Gen. Washington describing the journey to Boston.
Image 1: RG 241: Utility Patent Drawings. William Erd. Sleigh Velocipede. May 16, 1871. NAID 161499702.
Image 2: GIPHY National Archives gif: https://giphy.com/gifs/usnationalarchives-archivesgif-sledding-truman-library-bgDhcCU40n2n27ucPn
Image 3: Web Environmental Photos: Scenes from around the United States - Sleigh Ride on the Elk Refuge
