Mackinaw boat

Fur traders in a mackinaw boat or keel-boat on Slave River

The Mackinaw boat is a loose, non-standardized term for a light, open sailboat or rowboat used in the interior of North America during the fur trading era. Within this term two different Mackinaw boats evolved: one for use on the upper Great Lakes, and the other for use on the upper Missouri River and its principal tributaries.