OCONEE COUNTY, S.C. -- A rare canoe that was found in the Keowee River by three young boys has made its way to the Oconee Heritage Center.

David and Brandon Kwietniewski and their friend, Andrew Sauls, found the canoe while swimming in the river in early July.

The boys told their neighbors, Mike and Diana Stafford, about their discovery.

The Staffords remembered reading about another ancient canoe that had been found a few years earlier.

From reading about the Chattooga Canoe, the Staffords knew that the canoe needed to remain in the water because keeping the wood wet would help to preserve the artifact. The Chattooga Canoe was discovered in 2002, and after a preservation process, it was put on display at the Heritage Center.

Eventually, the Staffords called the Army Corps of Engineers in an effort to figure out the next step.

With the current drought conditions, the surrounding waters were quickly receding from around the canoe, which needed to stay wet.

After several agencies examined the second canoe, which is believed to be hundreds of years old, it was determined that it would be moved to the Heritage Center to join the Chattooga Canoe.

Within 24 hours, the Keowee Canoe was moved to a preservation tank in Walhalla where it will be kept until polyethylene glycol can begin to preserve the wood and eventually dry out. The Chattooga Canoe is ready to begin drying out after nearly four and a half years of soaking in its tank.

Now that the canoe is safely housed at the museum, archaeologists will be able to take a closer look at the wood and hopefully be able to determine an approximate age and possible origin of the artifact.

The Keowee Canoe measures approximately 21 feet in length, over 2 feet wide and has an overall height of 16 inches.

The Keowee Canoe, like the Chattooga Canoe, is owned by the state of South Carolina.