Term: batteau (Fr.)
Definition: "boat," but usually meaning a flat-bottomed boat used to transport goods on inland rivers. "Type of boat used on river drives. It was a French boat used first in fur trading, built to stand heavy work. It was especially hard to tip over. A flat-bottomed boat tapering toward the ends."
[Source: McDermott, John Francis. A Glossary of Mississippi Valley French, 1673-1850 (St. Louis: 1941); Sorden, L.G. and Isabel J. Ebert. Logger's Words of Yesteryears. (Madison, 1956)]
