The James River Batteau And Festival History
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On Thurday, the batteau must be on their way to Slate River at Arvonia. This location is alittle difficult to find by the road as it is on the site of the Solite plant. Watch for the signs, follow the Solite road to the river for this lovely setting by the river. This evening will begin the annual JRBF Horseshoe Pitching Contest. One team from each batteau will compete for the championship. Come for dinner, watch the boats come in, pick your favorite team and cheer them on. Afterwards there will be music by local bluegrass groups.

The town of Columbia will be the site of a special lunch for the public and batteau crews. The batteaux will be arriving periodically from 11am-2pm. The lunch will be sponsored by the Fluvanna County Band Boosters as a fund raising project for new band uniforms. Support the local band and come have lunch and talk with the crews. The batteaux will continue on to Cartersville, most going behind Elk Island for a watermelon break. This will be the first of two long twenty one mile days on the river, and is prime for some awesome waterfights between batteaux. This is also a great stretch for short sprint races between crews.

Cartersville will be the site of the last evening for the batteau crews. This historic restored village is worth visiting before coming down to the river. An 18th Century Fair is being planned for this location.

Saturday, the batteaux will begin their final leg of the eight day trip leaving around 9am for Maiden’s Adventure. The batteau festival will begin about 1pm at Maiden’s. Vendors and craftsmen, musicians and the favorite Crispy Critter’s will again have their display of guns, skins and will be demonstrating wild meat cooking with sampling available for a small donation. Homemade pies cooked in dutch ovens will also be available. The batteaux will arrive after 3pm and the crews will spend several hours pulling their boats from the water.

The James River Batteaux Festival participants give their free time to present to the public a program which encourages all to come to the river side at any of the locations to experience this living history, learn more about these early river communities and enjoy the natural beauty of the James River, its cultural history, and the heritage of its people. Much about what we see while navigating the James is not that much different from what the batteaumen of 200 years ago saw. Traversing falls, ledges, rocks and rapids of a devious river, sometimes combating diverse weather conditions while following a map taken from the James River Company survey of 1818.

While on the river batteauman and canoeists alike, find many opportunities to explore historical aqueducts and culverts constructed by the Kanawha Canal builders. Fishing, swimming, exploring river islands, helping each other over the tough spots and cheering each other as we navigate the fast water over the falls and through sluices is only part of the camaraderie of the week.

At the end of each day on the river, camps are set up, not unlike those of past centuries. Authentic camps use the batteau canopies and poles for lean-to’s and canvas tents for shelter. All have learned to cook over open fires, cornbread, fried chicken, biscuits and gravy. This menu and a cast iron skillet are the staples for the week. The only difference between yesteryear and today is that instead of predominately skilled batteaumen, we are men, women and children, now competing with history, researching the dress, customs, music, food, cooking techniques and living conditions while traveling the same early routes on the James River before the building of the Kanawha Canal.

Waking, after along, hard day on the river to the dawn, birds singing, mist rolling down the river, aromas from morning meals being prepared over open fires attach the senses. Breaking camp and preparing for that days adventure with new energies, working together with people you may only see once a year at this event and your only goal for the day being to navigate the next stretch of river successfully.

When the evening festival is over at sunset and guests have departed, the crews settle in around fires to listen to stories of past trips, a symphony of crickets, tree frogs and other night creatures. In the distance, someone is strumming a banjo, another playing the spoons, we hear the mystical sound of a recorder, the lyrics to old river songs being softly sung. Sleep under a canopy of stars with a light breeze come quickly to ease sore muscles and weary bodies.

A principle aim of this romantic recreation is to stimulate awareness and provide inspiration to all, to learn and experience this period of time, so long forgotten.