3,000-year-old canoe recovered from Lake Mendota in Madison

WISCONSIN (CBS 58) -- A piece of Native American history sailed home again -- a story 3,000 years in the making. 

A joint operation between the Wisconsin Historical Society and Ho-Chunk Nation recovered a second ancient canoe from Lake Mendota in Madison.

"I texted my boss, I'm like, 'You're not going to believe this, this is not a joke. I found another dugout canoe,'" said Tamara Thomsen, scuba diver.

Four months ago, a Wisconsin Historical Society dive team delicately raised an ancient dugout canoe from the lake.

A scuba diver spotted the relic while off the southwestern shores in May.

The historical society says in conjunction with the Ho-Chunk tribe, there will be much to learn and celebrate in the years to come.

"That's part of the story that we're going to bring up out of the water and the investigation starts," said Christian Overland, director of the Wisconsin Historical Society. "The storytelling starts. History moves forward in a new way."

The excavation process started on Monday, 30-feet deep in Lake Mendota.

The canoe will now head to the state Archive Preservation Society.