By Michael Sullivan
Somehow the two canoemen stretched what was left of their strength, did not give way until the day at last did. Dusk and fog together now, shore as well as canoe clasped into their cloud.
Ivan Doig, The Sea Runners, 1982
Earl and Floyd Willits made and signed their names to about 920 canoes over a period of 55 years. In 1921, they bought eleven lots on Day Island in Tacoma, built a workshop, and then spent more than half a century collaborating in the construction of just one model: a 17-foot cedar strip canoe, originally called the Artondale.
Like a fine musical instrument or a masterful timepiece, Willits canoes were the most carefully crafted vessels the two men could build, and they hand-built every one themselves. Earl hand cut, stamped, and inspected every piece of cedar, oak, and teak while Floyd drove in each copper fastener (over 7,000 per boat), assembled each canoe, and perfected the final brushed-on varnish finish. They never rushed and never completed more than a handful of canoes each month. Their business began when Floyd graduated from Stadium High School (then known as Tacoma High School) in 1913 and ended with his death in 1962.
The early 1900s saw the birth and rapid growth of outdoor recreation in the Pacific Northwest as railroads began to lure tourists and adventurers to newly created national and state parks. By the 1920s, highways and automobiles created more access to public land destinations, and the number of campgrounds, lakeside resorts, and summer camps proliferated. The Willits brothers imagined a product perfectly suited to the waters of the Northwest: a double-planked cedar canoe that was lightweight, durable, and simply beautiful in its design and materials.
The brothers came from a family of craftsmen and carpenters. Their hometown was a center for forest products like milled lumber, furniture, and boats. As observers and innovators, they recognized the unique qualities of Western red cedar, an indigenous material used by native canoe carvers.
Unlike the heavy rowboats and canoes with thick ribs made further east, Earl and Floyd recognized that western red cedar could be cut into very thin planks and then shaped onto a form in two thicknesses with a waterproof layer in between. When finished, each canoe weighed about 80 pounds and could easily be lifted, launched, or loaded onto a cartop by one or two people. The Willits brothers eventually added paddles, sailing rigs, seats, and other accessories to their catalog, and offered oak, teak, and mahogany trim to the canoes. But they never varied from the original red cedar design.
Growing a Business
In the following years, the popularity of the canoes continued to grow. In 1933, a Willits canoe was featured in a National Geographic Magazine story written by Jack and Sasha Calvin about their honeymoon paddle from Tacoma to Juneau. By 1936, the year the Boys in the Boat won the Olympic gold medal for rowing in an eight-man shell in Berlin, there was a fleet of Artondales in the University of Washington Canoehouse. The Willits brothers exchanged design ideas and tooling methods with George Pocock, who was also utilizing the unique qualities of red cedar to build the fastest eight-oared racing shells in the world at his workshop on campus.
In 1939, Louise and Bob Lynd, writers from Tacoma, retraced a section of Lewis and Clark’s journey on the Missouri River, then continued down the Mississippi to New Orleans in a Willits canoe given to them by Henry Foss, a child of Tacoma maritime entrepreneurs Thea and Andrew Foss. Their 3500-mile voyage was chronicled in more than 100 articles published almost daily by the Tacoma Times as part of the Washington State Jubilee. In the Depression years, you could buy a canoe from Earl and Floyd for $80. Earl kept the waiting list, and some people who the brothers felt didn’t deserve a boat just never moved up from the bottom.
Willits canoes remained the most admired vessels of their type into the 1950s, until war surplus aluminum began to be mass-produced into less expensive boats. By the 1960s, fiberglass became even easier and cheaper to shape into canoes. The era of the handmade wooden canoe came to an end just as the Willits brothers were reaching the conclusion of their working lives. The serial number 918 was stamped into the final canoe by Floyd Willits in early 1962, just months before his death. Earl would die five years later.
Remaining Vessels and Stories
No one knows how many Willits canoes there are left in the world. Dale Chihuly has a few, including one rigged with a mast and sails made by the brothers. The Foss Waterway Seaport has built a small collection of Willits canoes in various conditions and owns a unique motor launch built by the Willits boys. There are Willits canoes on display in a medical building in Gig Harbor, the City Council chambers in University Place, the clubhouse on Day Island, and several museums and maritime centers.
In 2021, the heirs of Earl and Floyd Willits decided to sell the factory workshop and adjoining house on Day Island. The workshop was still full of machines, tools, materials, fragments of handmade canoes, and the last canoe the brothers worked on together. The shop had remained largely as it was left by Earl when he passed away in 1967, and the family was determined not to have the brothers’ story lost.
With the help of volunteers and Willits experts like Pat Chapman, author of the definitive book on the brothers, the contents of the canoe factory were inventoried and cataloged. The objects and canoes were donated to the Foss Waterway Seaport in Tacoma.
The unexpected treasures found in the workshop were the complete records, letters, and diaries of the Willits brothers, along with an extraordinary collection of photographs and negatives taken by Earl over a 50-year span. Their heirs, Kendal and Cindy Willits, donated the documents and photographs to the Pacific Northwest Room of the Tacoma Public Library, where much of the collection was scanned and made available digitally.
Today, the Willits canoe remains an icon throughout Washington State. In October 2024, the Washington State History Museum opened the exhibit Makers on the Tide, which features three Willits canoes and a documentary film about the brothers, their canoes, and their time. And on the list of pure Northwest maritime experiences is undeniably the chance to paddle a Willits canoe in Pacific Northwest waters. It’s like playing a Stradivarius at Carnegie Hall.