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Library 1994.PARTICIPATION OF THE
.BUFFALO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
IN THE
ERIE CANAL CENTENARY
Celebrated at Rome, N. Y., July 4, 1917THE ERIE CANAL CENTENARY
Observed at Rome, N. Y., July 4, 1917
At the City of Rome, N. Y., on July 4, 1917, was cele-
brated the centennial of the Erie canal. That date marked
the completion of the first hundred years since the first
construction work was done on this great waterway from
the Hudson to Lake Erie.
The exercises were held under the auspices of the New
York State Waterways Association and the Rome Cham-
ber of Commerce. The Buffalo Historical Society was
conspicuously identified with the occasion through its pres-
ident, Hon. Henry W, Hill, who, as president of the State
Waterways Association, presided at the celebration; and
also through the Hon. George Clinton, a special delegate
from the Buffalo Society for this occasion, who made the
principal historical address.
On the morning of the 4th, delegates to the celebration
were conducted by the local Chamber of Commerce to
numerous points of interest in and about Rome. The region
is rich in sites of historical interest, and the visitors, in a
long procession of automobiles, were afforded opportunity
to inspect the spot where formerly stood Fort Stanwix,
now in part occupied by the handsome Colonial home of
the Rome Club. From here the visitors were taken along
the line of the old carry, westward to Fort Bull, a site now
marked by a boulder monument. Nearby are still to be
seen remains of an ancient dam used in early days to
hold back the water of Wood creek until the loaded boats
were ready to start, when the gates would be opened and
the boats floated on the flood on their way to Oneida lake.270
ERIE CANAL CENTENARY
Later the visitors inspected the summit level, where, at New
London, is located the first of the two locks required to pass
boats between the summit level of the Barge Canal and
Oneida lake.
Finally, driving over what was formerly the old Oswego
Plank Road, but is now an important State highway, the
party arrived at the spot where, at sunrise, July 4, 1817,
the first excavation for the Erie canal was made. The exact
spot has been located by Senior Assistant Engineer Noble
E. Whitford, and had been marked by a stake and pile of
stones in which had been implanted a small cedar pole,
cut from a nearby clump, from the top of which floated an
American flag. As the spot happens to be in the now
nearly dry bed of the recently abandoned portion of
the Erie canal, it did not lend itself especially well to
grouping about it a great number of people, but as many
as could gather in the rather limited range of the camera
did so and a picture of the historic place was taken. It is
interesting to note in the group the presence of Hon.
George Clinton, whose constant and efficient advocacy of
an enlarged waterway has won for him the title of “Father
of the Barge Canal”; for just a century ago his grand-
father, Governor DeWitt Clinton, was present in person at
this same spot aiding in the actual starting of the canal
for which he had so persistently labored.
The inspection tour also included a visit to Hyland's
Mills, with their famous fish-propagating ponds and
springs; and the great Delta dam, which has made a lake
from 50 to 60 feet deep and over eight miles long, cover-
ing completely the former village of Delta, in a valley
which now forms the great storage basin for the Barge
eanal.
In the afternoon, at the Family theatre, in Rome, a
great throng convened for exercises, presided over by Hon.
Henry W. Hill. Governor Charles S. Whitman, Hon. F. M.
Williams, State Engineer and Surveyor; Gen. W. W.ERIE CANAL MAP OP 1834, SHOWING PLACE NEAR ROME. WHERE CANAL CONSTRUCTION BEGAN.EBIE CANAL CENTENABY
271
Wotherspoon, Superintendent of Public Works; Hon.
"Thaddeus C. Sweet, Speaker of the Assembly, and other
State officials were present. Mr. S. H. Beach, Chairman of
Ihe local Committee of Arrangements, introduced Senator
Hill with a brief, appropriate address. Chairman Hill in *
accepting the post of Chairman spoke as follows:
Mayor Midlam, Mr. Lawton, President of the Rome Chamber of
Commerce, Mr. Clinton, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the
New York State Waterways Association, State officers, ladies and
gentlemen:
The celebration of Independence Day and of the beginning of the
building of the Erie canal at Eort Stanwix, a century ago, was a
happy omen of the fruition of both political and commercial freedom
from pre-existing conditions, the first of which, prior to 1776, denied
to the people of this and other provinces voice in public affairs and
the latter of which hampered them in their activities. The enterpris-
ing citizens then residing in this historic region and the state officials,
having the supervision of the first contract, dated June 27, 1817, for
the construction of that section of the original Erie canal extending
through the Rome summit level, wisely and enthusiastically partici-
pated in the public exercises' on that occasion. Governor DeWitt
Clinton, who took office on July 1, 1817, Col. Samuel Young and
the other canal commissioners, state engineers, Judge Joshua Hatha-
way, who delivered an address, Judge John Richardson, who removed
the first spadeful of dirt and many others joined in the ceremonies.
That was the culmination of the long and untiring efforts of
DeWitt Clinton and others to establish navigable communication
between the great lakes and the Atlantic ocean, an event at that
time and under the conditions then existing of consummate achieve-
ment in statesmanship, that betokened the ultimate upbuilding of the ,
state in agriculture, manufactures and of its far-reaching commerce
to that of the proportions of an empire.
Col. Samuel Young in his address 100 years ago in this town on
that occasion said:	“We have assembled* to commence the excava-
tion of the Erie canal. The work when accomplished will connect
our western inland seas with the Atlantic ocean. It will diffuse the
benefits of internal navigation over a surface of vast extent, blessed
with a salubrious climate and luxuriant soil, embracing a tract of
country capable of sustaining more human beings than were ever
accommodated by any work of the kind.”
DeWitt Clinton predicted it would be a “canal as to the extent of
its route, as to the countries which it would connect, and as to the
-consequences, which it would produce, without a parallel in the his-
tory of mankind.”
These prophetic utterances to some extent indicate the sweep of
vision of those -who projected New York’s matchless canal system,
that has contributed immeasurably to the upbuilding of its diversified
.activities, its wealth and its liberal humanities.272
ERIE CANAL CENTENARY
In appreciation of the manifold activities and inestimable services
of the Clintons and others, whose “number is legion,’’ and of the
foresight, liberality and sacrifices of the people of the state a century
ago in providing for and carrying to completion the most gigantic
American undertaking in some respects of the 19th century, we are
assembled to observe the centenary of the beginning of its building
in this vicinity on July 4, 1817.
The people of the State of New York are officially represented by
His Excellency Governor Whitman and Speaker Thaddeus C. Sweet
of the Assembly, State Engineer and Surveyor Frank M. Williams,
Superintendent of Public Works General W. W. Wotherspoon, mem-
bers of the canal board, the New York State Waterways Association,
by its president, its vice-presidents, the chairman of its executive
committee, George Clinton, the chairman of its committee on resolu-
tions, P. W. Cullinan, several other state association officers and by
many of its members, the City of Rome is represented by its mayor,
Mr. Midlam, and other officers and many of its citizens and the Rome
Chamber of Commerce by its president, Mr. Lawton, and many of its
members and many other cities and commercial organizations are
represented by delegates, a list of which so far as obtainable, will
appear in the official records of the celebration. In addition to these,
many representative citizens from the political divisions of the state
are in attendance to join in the centenary exercises. To all these
officials, delegates and representatives and to all others present on
this occasion, we join with Chairman Beach of the Rome Canal Cen-
tenary Committee in extending a hearty welcome. We will now pro-
ceed with the formal addresses, which will be both edifying and highly
entertaining.
New York has excelled in its chief executives. They have quite
generally appreciated its unique position among the states of the
Union and have done what they were able to do to promote its com-
mercial as well as its general development to the proportions of an
empire.
Chairman Hill introduced for the first speaker of the
afternoon, Hon. George Clinton, chairman of the executive
committee of the New York State Waterways Association,
and special delegate from the Buffalo Historical Society for
the centenary celebration. Mr. Clinton’s address is given
in full, in pages following. Others who spoke, following
Mr. Clinton, were Governor Whitman; Hon. Frank M.
Williams, State Engineer and Surveyor; Hon. Thaddeus
C. Sweet, Speaker of the Assembly; Mr. E. R. Carhart of
New York, former president of the New York Produce
Exchange; Mr. W. Pierrepont White of Utica, and Oswald
P. Backus of Rome.EVOLUTION OF THE
NEW YORK CANAL SYSTEM
By Hon. George Clinton.i
To give a complete history of the canals down to the time of the
first improvement would take much greater time and space than the
present occasion warrants. This paper will therefore be limited to
sketching the evolution of our canal system and the improvement of
the canals, with a mere outline of their history.
While all the heads of the state have contributed largely to its
prosperity, by far the greatest agency in laying the foundations of
New York’s commercial and industrial supremacy has been the Erie
canal, and the three canals most intimately connected with the early
history of the state have been that and the Champlain and Oswego
canals. This paper will, therefore, be devoted primarily to the Erie
and the Oswego, with such relation of historic facts as cluster around
the Champlain canal that may be of interest.
The Original Canal Idea.
In the past there has been much controversy over the Interesting
question, “Who originated the Erie canal?” It is enough to say that
after all that has been written and said on this subject it is not
possible truly to give the credit for this to any one person for the
simple reason that no one originated the idea of the Erie canal as
constructed. So far as the basic idea of connecting Lake Erie with
the Hudson by water channel is concerned, the statement made by
Cadwalader D. Colden in 1825 in his memoirs prepared at the request
of a committee of the Common Council of the City of New York cor-
rectly and clearly enunciates the impossibility of coming to any con-
clusion. He says: “How much in vain, then, must it be to inquire
who first thought to connect the western and northern and southern
waters. Many had opportunities of acquiring all the knowledge con-
nected with the subject, and it is probable that the thought of water
communications, where they are now made by the Western Inland
Lock Navigation Company, was common to hundreds at the same time.
Could we pursue this inquiry with any prospect of success it would
be a futile labor. The discovery would be of no benefit to the com-
munity, and but little more credit would be due to one to whom the
original thought might be traced if he did nothing towards executing
the idea he had conceived than if it had been a dream” (page 13).
1. Address at the centennial of the beginning of construction work on the Erie
Canal, at Rome, N. Y., July 4, 1917. Mr. Clinton was a special delegate from
the Buffalo Historical Society on this occasion.
273274
EBIE CANAL CENTENABY
This was written by Mr. Colden almost one hundred years after the
idea of making some connection with the Great Lakes by water had
been suggested by his grandfather, Cadwalader D. Colden, then sur-
veyor general of the Province of New York. The truth is that the
Erie canal and our other canals are the products of evolution, increase
of knowledge and the growing demands of commerce.
Many Deserve Credit.
If the limitations of this paper would permit, it would be interest-
ing to trace at length the parts taken by the many thoughtful and
able men in the projection, advocacy and construction of our canals;
but there are so many who are entitled to greater or less credit that
a discussion of the parts taken by them would occupy so much space
it would be impossible to lay before this convention the facts which
I regard as of most importance and of the greatest interest. I may,
however, mention a few names of those who have been given, and are
entitled to. credit for suggestion, promotion, investigation, advocacy
and legislative and constructive action during the early stages of
the consideration of the propriety of constructing the Erie, Oswego
and Champlain canals and during the actual creation of those great
works. In addition to Christopher Colles, an ardent advocate of
constructing a canal through from the Hudson to the Great Lakes,
Elkanah Watson, who claimed the credit of suggesting the idea of
the Erie, but who merely independently voiced what was in the
minds of many people; Gouverneur Morris, who was one of the first
canal commissioners, appointed on account of his ability and because
he had also suggested the possibility of connecting the Erie with
the Hudson; Messrs. Adgate, Williams, Livingstone and Barker, all
of whom took a very active part in the legislative transactions which
resulted in canal construction; George Clinton, first Governor of the
State; George Washington, first President of the United States and
commander of the Revolutionary forces; Cadwalader D. Colden, John
Smith, Peter Schuyler, Jesse Hawley, Joshua Forman, Thomas Eddy,
Jonas Platt, Jeremiah VanRensselaer and Cadwalader D. Colden,
the younger, are entitled to our grateful remembrance and the
greatest credit for promoting the artificial inland waterway system
of our State. I have not yet mentioned my ancestor, DeWitt Clinton.
He was chosen by the canal advocates of that day on account of his
great ability, energy and deep interest in the public welfare as the
great champion of our waterways, and to him the credit is due of
co-ordinating the labor of the others and by his eloquence and
knowledge securing the necessary legislation and finances and the
actual construction of our great canals. Yet, when speaking of the
canals, he, recognizing that he alone could never have brought about
the consummation of these great works and that many others were
as necessary as he to their achievement., said, “for the good which
has been done by individuals or communities, in relation to this
work, let each have a due share of credit/7
It is interesting to follow this process of evolution of ideas that
has given us our artificial waterways. We are apt to give particular
individuals too much credit for their greatness and -we are prone not
to acknowledge the great Power above which guides our destiniesERIE CANAL CENTENARY
275
and the lessons taught to men by nature herself. Indeed, we do not
often enough stop to think that the individual—his physical energy
-and his mental capacity—is the child of nature and the servant of the
laws of God, built up and enabled to see and to act through a growth
of thought and action that has preceded him for centuries. Canals
ware constructed at least 600 years before Christ.
Our Early Settlers.
When the English colonized America they planted their settlements
Along the Atlantic coast. The colonists were barred from the great
middle west by the mountains, knew little thereof and of the Pacific
coast. The great barrier between them and the middle west was the
Appalachian chain of mountains. When the Erench took possession
of the part of the North American continent which they at first
occupied, they settled upon the St. Lawrence and were not barred
from the great west by any high mountain ridge. At the time of
these early settlements the great Iroquois Confederacy, the Five
Nations, inhabited and dominated the State of New York from the
Hudson to Lake Erie. They were savages pure and simple, canni-
balistic, living by the chase, except as they raised maize and a few
vegetables and gathered wild fruits, berries and bark. They were
warlike and occupied the great military strategic point of this con-
tinent. From their domains they could reach the Atlantic coast by
the Mohawk and the Hudson, by the Delaware and by the Susque-
Jianna, and they could reach the Ohio and the Mississippi by the
Allegheny and, with portages by the great rivers that run southerly
.from and northerly into Lake Erie, in addition to having the Great
Lakes at their command for reaching the northwest, as well as the
Desplaines and the Illinois, and, by that way, the Mississippi. With
these water communications and through the valleys of the streams
they carried on a ruthless war against their neighbors. There was
^practically no interchange of products between them and other tribes
-and no commerce.
The face of nature invited the English and the French by the way
of the St. Lawrence, the Niagara and the Great Lakes, as well as the
Ohio and the Mississippi, the Mohawk and the Hudson to extend
their possessions and iarry on the fur trade with the savages of the
continent. This, the fur trade, was the beginning of the great com-
merce which now flows between the east and the west in the United
'States and Canada. The English were barred from the northern
routes and the St. Lawrence, although they could reach the St. Law-
rence by the Hudson, Lake George, Lake Champlain and the rivers,
which, with portages, connect those waters with the Great St. Law-
Tence.
Early Appreciation op Water Routes.
I cannot go into detail of the contest for supremacy between the
Trench and English and it must suffice to say that both the French
and the English endeavored to take the greatest advantage of the
water communications I have mentioned and that the easiest and
most economical'way for communication with the Great Lakes was276
ERIE CANAL CENTENARY
by Lake Ontario and the Niagara to Lake Erie, the only obstacle
to water transportation being the heavy portage around the falls and
rapids of the Niagara. The French carried on their fur trade with
the west by the St. Lawrence and this route and the English reached
Lake Ontario by the Hudson river, the Mohawk, portaging into Lake
Oneida and thence down the Oswego. It is interesting to note that
the St. Lawrence in those days was called the Cataraqui, Lake Ontario-
had the same name as the river and the Oswego was called the
Onondaga.
The vital importance of connecting the English and French colonies
with the Great Lakes in order to carry on the fur trade successfully
was apparent to both nationalities. Thus nature had already pointed
the way for commerce and the dominion of the continent. It is
therefore not surprising that as the heavy portage around the falls
and rapids of the Niagara added greatly to the cost and burden of
carrying on the only commerce that existed between the east and
the west, men should unconsciously take advantage of the book
which nature laid before them and, studying it, seek to extend the
communication by water directly between Lake Ontario and Lake
Erie so that canoes and bateaux, and even small vessels, could pro-
ceed directly from the St. Lawrence to Mackinac, the foot of Lake
Michigan and the head of Lake Superior without any portages except
the one at Sault St. Marie. The French were the first to take this
idea up. Cadillac in 1707, communicated with the minister of Louis
XIY a scheme for a canal between the two lakes. We do not have
the exact idea of Cadillac, but we do possess the reply of the minister
to him. I quote from “An Old Frontier of France/’ a very thor-
ough, able and interesting early history of the Niagara Frontier,,
written by Frank H. Severance and published for the Buffalo His-
torical Society. He says (page 161, Yol. I) :
“A document of the time, of singular interest, is a letter from the
minister, Pontehartrain, to La Mothe-Cadillac, in which, replying
to a proposal of the latter to connect Lakes Erie and Ontario by a
canal, it is remarked:	‘It does not seem to me that we can at
present undertake the junction of the Lake Ontario with Lake Erie
by a canal, as you propose, because of the expense. However, send
me an analyzed statement (“Un memoire rais^onne”), with a plan
and estimate of cost.’ ”
We thus see the germ of the idea of the Erie canal, that is direct
water communication between the Atlantic and the Great Lakes. - *
Further evidence that this was not a mere dream, but that Cadillac
was in earnest is found in a communication between Cadillac and
I)’Aigremont with Pontehartrain, the French minister. To quote
again from Mr. Severance’s work (page 201, Yol. I):
“On this point a document of 1708, summarizing certain letters
of Cadillac, says:	‘It would be necessary to make a junction be-
tween Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. He says that he knows, for that
(purpose), a way and a canal which has remained unknown to every-
one else until now.’ He may have had the Grand River and western
end of Lake Ontario in mind; if not, one is at a loss to know whatEBIE CANAL CENTENABY
277
lie did mean. Two years later the Sieur d ’ Aigremont, reporting on
■conditions at lake posts, wrote:
“ ‘When I passed the portage at Niagara it did not appear to me
that any communication between Lake Ontario or Lake Erie could
be made that could avoid this portage, and if M. de la Mothe knows
a means of doing so, I think he is the only man in the country who
does. But, My Lord, even if it were true that a communication with
Lake Ontario or Lake Erie could be made it could only be done with
wery great expense and it would not follow from that, that Detroit
would be able to obtain from Montreal any help it might need
in case of war with the Iroquois, for such help could not even be
given to Fort Frontenae, which has to be passed through on the way
•to Detroit.9 ”
Thus we see that the French were seriously considering a small
-canal around the falls and rapids of the Niagara.
As the minister of Louis XIY seemed to regard the project of a
canal as inadvisable in his time “because of the expense,” it is of
some interest to note what the fur traffic with the Indians amounted
to so far as the French Government was concerned* Mr. Severance,
at page 205 of his work, gives us, from authentic documents, a glimpse
of the value of this trade, which amounted in profit to about one
thousand dollars a year of our money. I quote (page 205) :
The Day op Small Things.
“That it was the day of small things, in trade as in war, may
be illustrated by a statement of provisions, munitions and merchan-
dise sent to the Lake Ontario posts—Frontenae, Niagara, head of
the lake, Bay of Quinte—for the year 1722-23. The total government
outlay for the three sorts of supplies was 29,800 livres^ 17 sous, 6
deniers. Furs from these points, not including Quinte, in 1722, netted
18,178 livres; in 1723, 22,732 livres. This of course was by exchange.
In the same season, wages of employes at Frontenae came to 900
livres; the storekeeper at Niagara received 400 livres per annum and
the gunsmith the same. The pay of six soldiers was 180 livres each.
In the two years named, there was charged to transportation on Lake
'Ontario 1,050 livres. The total expense of administering these posts,
1722-23, was 35.210 li. 17 s. 6 d.; total receipts from sale cf peltries
40,911 li. 8 s. 6 d., a profit of 570 li. 11s.—or a little over $1,000 a
year. This was the trade for which Joncaire labored and lived with
the Iroquois, for which the Niagara was occupied, for which two great
Powers contended!1 ’
Lake Erie with the Hudson.
In the meantime the English were not idle. As the French through
Joncaire had secured control of the Niagara, the English colonists
were practically compelled to carry on the fur trade with the Indians
of the west by intercepting their canoes on Lake Ontario and by
-reaching Lake Erie overland from the south shore of Lake Ontario
rand from the Seneca Eiver. These means of communication were
so expensive and burdensome on account of the long distance by land278
ERIE CANAL CENTENARY
that Cadwalader D. Colden in 1724, he then being surveyor general
for the colony of New York, examined into the question of feasibility
of communication with the west through the Great Lakes by an
entirely inland water route. As a result he presented to Governor
Burnet a memorial concerning the fur trade of the province of New
York, in which he discusses the relative positions of the French and
English geographically,' their command of the different waters and
their facilities for controlling the fur trade. He recognized thG
necessity of securing water communication, if possible, between Lake
Ontario and Lake Erie. He describes the route pursued by the
Indian traders from the Hudson to Lake Ontario as follows:	‘‘From
Albany the Indian traders carry their goods sixteen miles overland
to the Mohawk River at Schenectady. From Schenectady they carry-
them in canoes up the Mohawk River to the carrying place between
the Mohawk River and the river which runs into Oneida Lake, which
carrying place between is only three miles long, except in very dry
weather, when they are obliged to carry them two miles further.
From thence they go with the current down the Onondaga River to
Lake Ontario.9 9 He then adverts to the possibility of connecting, by
way of the Onondaga (Oswego) River and the Seneca River, by water
directly with Lake Erie. In some document which I have seen ho
even suggests investigation. The language which he uses in sug-
gesting the possibility of water communication with Lake Erie is as
follows:
“But besides this passage by the lakes, there is a river which
comes from the country of the Senecas,, and falls into the Onondaga
River, by which we have an easy carriage into that country, without
going near Lake Ontario. The head of this river goes near to Lake-
Erie, and probably may give a very near passage into that lake,
much more advantageous than the way the French are obliged to
take by the great fall of Niagara, because narrow rivers are much
safer for canoes than the lakes, where they are obliged to go ashore
if there be any wind upon the water. But as this passage depends
upon a further discovery, I shall say nothing more of it at this
time.9 9
Colden 's suggestions do not seem to have been acted upon but
they certainly show that men as early as 1724 recognized the neces-
sity and were thinking of the possibility of a connection of Lake1
Erie with the Hudson.
Probably following the ideas suggested by Colden's memorial, Gov-
ernor Burnet in 1724 established a substantial settlement where*
Oswego now stands, with a view to intercepting the Indian canoes
from the west bearing furs destined for Montreal and inducing them
to change their destination to Albany.
Nature's Geographic Plan.
/. }
/ We thus see that nature's geographic plan, the topography of the-
continent, the courses of the streams and the situation of the lakes,
the location of the tribes of savages and the abundance of fur bear-
ing animals led men on to conquest and trade and taught them that
the waterways furnished them the best and cheapest means of reap-ERIE CANAL CENTENARY
279
ing the advantages of commerce with the savages and that those
routes should be utilized to the best advantage by connecting them
with artificial waterways. And so we see that from a process of
knowledge gained and evolution of ideas the connection of the upper
lakes with Lake Ontario and with the Hudson naturally presented
itself to the minds of the early colonists. That the knowledge and
ideas thus gained should have been lost and revived in later years is
impossible and I think it goes without saying that increase of knowl-
edge, increase of commerce, the settling of the west, increase of
wealth and means of construction simply continued the process of
nature’s teachings in the minds of many men, with the result that
the Erie and Oswego canals came into being.
Wars Helped Progress.
Among other factors, in addition to the greed for conquest and a
desire to build up commerce, we find that war is a potent one in the
evolution of all great human undertakings. It not only teaches man
many things that help his progress, but it often removes obstacles
in the way of commerce and industry. We find that with free use
of the waterways between the east and the west sought by the French
at Niagara, the English colonists made comparatively little advance
in their endeavor to extend colonization, and trade with the western
Indians. But when the so-called French and Indian war was ended
and the treaty of peace between France and England signed in 1763,
French domain and control east of the Mississippi Eiver ended and
the British became possessed of the entire country, which included the
Great Lakes, the Ohio and its tributaries and all the waters and
portages which connect that great river with the Great Lakes and
the upper lakes with Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence. This re-
moved the greatest obstacle to English colonization of, and trade
with, the west, and set them to thinking more seriously of improving
the means of water transportation by artificial canals.
An Evolution.
The treaty of 1763 was naturally followed by an extension of
English colonization in this State and to some extent in the West,
and trade with the Indians was fostered and grew. This condition
of affairs brought forcibly to the minds of men the absolute neces-
sity of providing cheaper and more expeditious means of transpor-
tation. There being no railroads and the construction of highways
through the mountains and dense forests and over a multitude of
streams was not within the means or capacity of the colonists'
Indeed such construction would have been too slow and would have
retarded colonization and trade if relied upon. The inevitable con-
sequence was that men thought and schemed for the improvement of
nature’s highways—the waterways. What they learned and the
knowledge they transmitted to those that followed them led on to the
final consummation—the construction of our canals.
While the slow work of advancing civilization was proceeding, the
war of the Revolution came. That also performed a great work in
the civilizing and peopling of the United Statles. When, in 1783, Great280
EEIE CANAL CENTENAEY
Britain by treaty acknowledged the Independence of the United
States, the St. Lawrence from St. Regis, Lake Ontario, the Niagara
and the upper lakes and their connecting waters became the boundary
between Canada and the United States, Lake Michigan passing wholly
under our jurisdiction, and the Ohio and its tributaries were included
within the limits of the independent states under conflicting grants
from the British crown. The great northwest territory or parts of
it was claimed by Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania
and New York, but in a spirit of amity and for the good of the new
nation, compromises were made and the territory turned over to the
nation, with certain proprietory reservations in parts, that did not
involve sovereignty. This immense area was thus opened to settle-
ment and colonists began to cross the mountains. Still one obstacle
to untrammeled colonization of the territory existed which had to be
removed by war'. The Indians in the territory were savage and im-
placable. They feared and therefore resisted the inflow of the white
man. It was not until General Wayne in 1794 defeated the Indians
at the great battle of the Fallen Timber that they were forced to
make a treaty which opened the northwest to immigration and settle-
ment without hindrance.
Immigration's Influence.
We can now trace another great factor in the evolution of human
affairs which led up to the building of the canals. War had done its
work well and the colonists and people from across the Atlantic
beheld the opportunity to acquire homes in the fertile northwest
territory. The influx of immigrants west of the mountains at first
was largely confined to the western part of our State and Tennessee
and Kentucky. As the population in New York State increased the
necessity for cheap transportation in our own State became apparent
and when, subsequently, the immigration increased and flowed beyond
our boundary into the territory now comprising Ohio, Indiana and
Illinois, the need for water communication directly between the
Atlantic by way of the Hudson and the Mohawk, together with the
Great Lakes, stared our people in the face. The cost of carriage of
persons and property was almost prohibitive. The waterways were
the only available highways, and the many and heavy portages occa-
sioned such great loss of time and so much labor that the expense of
carriage could not be reduced. There were some roads, it is true,
but they were not of the best and were utterly insufficient. It is
hardly necessary to call attention to the fact that not only were
means of access to the Northwest Territory a necessity to enable
immigrants to reach it, but it was also a necessity to keep them
supplied with necessaries, clothing and the materials and implements
for building and for cultivating the land, as well as food until they
could support themselves. Immigrants, too, could not make any
reasonable progress unless they were able to send their products of
the land and the forest to the east; they could not buy from the
east unless they could sell to it.
Nevertheless, immigration continued to flow into the Northwest
Territory to such an extent that it was very early divided into sepa-
rate territorial jurisdictions and the increase of population was suchERIE CANAL CENTENARY
281
that Ohio, Indiana and Illinois were admitted to the Union in the
•early years of the last century.
A United States Canal.
We thus see that with full knowledge of the physical condition of
the country, with the lessons of the past before them, with the limited
commerce represented by the fur trade having grown into the great
commerce existing and potential which the settlement of the North-
west Territory created, the thoughts of, not one man or a few men,
but of many men reverted to the same ideas shadowed forth by Colden
in 1724; namely, the connecting of the waters of Lake Ontario with
those of Lake Erie by an artificial waterway, through which boats
could pass without having to surmount the heavy portage at Niagara,
and the overcoming of the obstacles of navigation between the Hud-
son and Lake Ontario by way of the Mohawk, Oneida Lake and the
Oswego River. The great obstacles to water transportation between
the Hudson and Lake Ontario were, the portage around the great
fall of the Mohawk River, the portage around the little falls of that
river, a few rapids, the portage from the Mohawk into Wood Creek
and the portages of the Oswego River. There was talk and constant
talk about a canal around the Falls and there was agitation to remove
the obstacles between Lake Ontario and the Hudson. Men knew,
in a general way, what the necessities were and what should be
done, but there was no definite plan. Finally Christopher Colles took
the matter up and ably and independently urged upon the Legisla-
ture of New York the improvement of the Mohawk, and the con- X
struction of a canal from Rome to, and the improvement of, Wood
Creek. During these times discussion of the wisdom and feasibility
of reaching the St. Lawrence by connecting the upper Hudson with
Lake Champlain and that lake with the Chambly. arose. This route,
however, it was quite plain would not greatly facilitate communica-
tion with the west by water, for the St. Lawrence would be reached
near Montreal and the heavy current and great rapids, as well as the
long distance necessary to reach the east end of Lake Ontario would
make the route certainly more expensive for transportation to the
west and to the Northwest Territory than the direct route from the
Hudson, by the Mohawk, Oneida Lake, the Oswego River and Lake
Ontario. In addition to this the exigencies of war had to be con-
sidered. Communication by the Hudson-Champlain-Chambly route
would be partly through Canadian territory by land and a long dis-
tance through it by water, and it would be more available for us by
the British, in case of war, than it would to the State of New York or
the United States, for it would furnish a direct highway of attack, the
strategic route for entering New York, the same route followed by
Champlain, Montcalm and Burgoyne- Thus the natural exigencies of
commerce, as well as the threat of the god of war led our people to
center their minds on the improvement of the waterways within our
own boundary and led up directly to the construction of the Erie
Canal.
Cadwalader Colden nearly a century before the time that I am
speaking of had, in the report to which I have referred, pointed out
the advantages and disadvantages of the two water routes and pro-282
ERIE CANAL CENTENARY
nounced strongly in favor of the interior water route by the Mohawk^
and Governor Burnet had anticipated the utilization of that route
by planting his settlement at Oswego.
We thus find that a difference of nationality, impediments to
transportation and the physical conditions resulted in a consensus
of opinion that while the Champlain route was advisable for trade
with Canada, the interior route through the State of New York to
the Great Lakes was the only one which could insure our commerce
with the west, expedite the settlement of the great Northwest, pre-
serve the advantages of the State of New York in commerce and its-
various industries and be available, not being exposed to attack, to
aid operations in case of war. In other words, the geographical and
political conditions were still operating powerfully towards the con-
struction of a canal from the Hudson to the Great Lakes.
This resulted in the passage in the Assembly March 21, 1808, of a
resolution instructing the surveyor general, then Simeon DeWitt, to
make an accurate survey of the waterways on the usual route of
communication between the Hudson River and Lake Erie and such
other contemplated route as he might deem proper. The Senate
concurred in this resolution April 6, 1808, and the surveyor general
appointed James Geddes to do the work. October 20, 1809, Geddes«
made a report to the surveyor general in which he covered very thor-
oughly the different routes which might be pursued, one by the way of
Lake Ontario and one directly from Three River Point to Lake Erie.
This report is very valuable historically and has great merit from an
engineering point of view. Geddes considers all the engineering fea-
tures of both routes and the variation possibly of the route to Lake
Erie. However, the details of the report are not pertinent for the-
purposes of this address. Nevertheless, it is curious to know that
the same questions which have arisen several times since in connec-
tion with a proposed ship canal around Niagara Falls were being
considered at that time, as plainly appears from Mr. Geddes7 state-
ment in the report comparing the merits of the two routes. He*
says:
Argument Over Routes.
y^In comparing the Ontario route with the interior one, it is obsti-
/nately insisted upon, in favor of the latter, that it! would be bad"
policy in the United States, to open a communication for sloops
between Erie and Ontario, as the products of all the upper lakes'
l would on their passage to the ocean, come into Ontario, and when
I there, the lockage to the tide in the* St. Lawrence being only 206'
ifeet, while it is 574 feet to the tide in the Hudson, there would be
danger of the whole lake trade being diverted to a port in the terri-
tory of another nation. It is likewise contended, that if the two
routes should not differ materially in the cost of making, the interior
one ought to be preferred, as being free from the risk and uncertainty
of wind and waves: That merchants can afford to pay higher freight
when property is secure, and will arrive on a day certain^/ 1 It is a
consideration of some importance,7 says a correspondent^ ‘that the
inland canal would always be safe in the event of war with Great
Britain. It will impose an additional value on a long tract of fineERIE CANAL CENTENARY
28S
country, through which it must pass; will increase its population, and
of course the wealth and prosperity of the state.' On the other
hand, it is insisted upon that cheapness of conveyance, the grand
desideratum in all such works, would best be obtained by the Ontario
route, as the great emporium of the lakes would be 150 miles nearer
the tide in the Hudson, if placed at Oswego, than if at Black Rock;
and that the produce of the upper lakes would be carried cheaper
through Ontario to Oswego, than 150 miles forward on a canal. In
answer to this the fact is stated, that $5.25 is now the common price
for carrying 7 barrels (about a ton) of salt from Oswego to Lewiston,
26 miles short of Black Rock, while, according to Mr. Robert Ful-
ton's calculation, a ton would be carried 150 miles on a canal for
$1.50. Mr. F. supposes the case of a canal being made at the
public expense, and no toll taken but the charge of the bargemen*
If the cost of making would amount to the same on either route, then
the toll due a canal company would be the same on either, and the
one being set off against the other, brings it to the bargemen's charge
as stated by Mr. F."
The additional argument for the interior route and against the
Ontario route, with a ship canal around the Falls, which, as we hare
seen, appeared in the report of Cadwalader Colden, colonial surveyor
general in 1724, that commerce once reaching Lake Ontario from the
west would be likely to pass down the St. Lawrence route to Mon-
treal, whereas this could not occur if the interior route were adopted,,
does not seem to have been advanced. This probably was so because
the rapids of the St. Lawrence seemed an insurmountable obstacle
to direct commerce between Montreal and the west by vessels larger
than bateaux. This obstacle had been foreseen nearly a century be-
fore. together with a remedy which has since been applied by the*
Canadian government; namely, the construction of canals around the'
rapids.
t •
Early Water Corporations.
Prior to this survey and leading up to it two corporations had
been created by the Legislature for the improvement of navigation
between the Hudson and Oswego, the Western and the Northern
Inland Lock Navigation Companies. The promoters of these com-
panies were General Philip Schuyler and Elkanah Watson and they
were the most active in their operations. The Western Company
was to improve the western route and the Northern Company te
connect Lake Champlain with the upper Hudson. These companies
expended very considerable amounts of money, raised by subscrip-
tion and appropriation by the Legislature, in building locks at Little
Falls, at some places around other rapids in the Mohawk and in
connecting the Mohawk at Rome, or rather where Rome now is, with
Wood Creek and Oneida Lake, and the Northern Company did some
work towards connecting the Hudson with Lake Champlain. Never-
theless it soon became apparent that these improvements were utterly^
inadequate to care for the increasing flow of immigration to the
western part of this State and the great Northwest Territory, accom-
panied as it was with the necessity for better facilities for carriage-
of the commerce that was constantly swelling. It was this condition284
EBIE CANAL CENTENABY
of affairs which led to the investigation in 1808 of the physical con-
ditions guiding, and controlling the feasibility and economy of a
through adequate water route between the Great Lakes and the
Hudson, and to the legislative resolution directing the surveyor general
to survey and report.
Increase of Population.
At this point it is of interest to note the increase of population in
the area covered by the Northwest Territory. Soon after that great
area had been conveyed to the United States it was divided into
territories, Ohio and Indiana being shortly after cut out, and Mich-
igan, Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota subsequently created. As I
have stated, the Indians in the territory covered now by Ohio and
part of Indiana were conquered by General Wayne in 1794, those
further west were defeated and brought into subjection by General
Harrison at the battle of Tippecanoe in Indiana in 1811. The pre-
carious condition arising from the hostility of the Indians prevented
at first the rapid settlement of the territory and after the Indians
were brought into subjection, immigration began to increase. Ohio
was made a state in 1802 or 1803 (there is a dispute as to the date
arising from the peculiar enactments of Congress) ; its population in
1800 was 45,365; in 1810 it was 230,760 ; in 1820 it had increased to
581,295. The State of Indiana was admitted in 1816; its population in
1800 was 5,641; in 1810, 24,420, and in 1820, 147,178. Illinois was ad-
mitted to the Union in 1818; in 1810 its population was 12,282; in
1820, 55,162, this state growing more slowly than Indiana and Ohio
in white population on account of the unsettled conditions existing
between the Indians and the whites up to and throughout the war
of 1812. The other western states were very sparsely settled until
after the events connected with the construction of the Erie Canal,
to which we are now giving attention. These figures show very
clearly that as soon as immigrants in the Northwest Territory could
safely settle and cultivate their farms, they began to seek the great
west in large numbers. This of eourse stimulated the efforts of faT-
seeing men in this state to secure water communication with the
Great Lakes. I have not mentioned the increase .of population in
New York State, but this also is of interest as bearing upon the
evolution of the idea of the Erie Canal. Up to the Revolution the
population of New York began to grow and find its way westward,
necessitating better communications between the eastern and western
parts of the state and becoming a potent factor in the agitation for
a canal through to Lake Erie. The population of New York (con-
fined almost wholly to the eastern part of the state) was, in 1719,
340,120; in 1800, < 589,051; in 1810, 959,049; in 1820, 1,372,111.
Space and time will not permit me to go into the details of the
distribution of this population and it must suffice to say that towns
and villages sprang up along the Mohawk and west to the Genesee
Yalley and to Buffalo at Lake Erie, as well as through what we
commonly call the present southern tier of counties.ERIE CANAL CENTENARY
285
Washington’s Plan.
It would seem that enough has beeif said to show that the idea of
a water connection between the Hudson by Lake Erie was the out-
growth of circumstances, and that the route, so far as the State of
New York and the United States were concerned, was all that was
in contention in the early part of the nineteenth century. Whether
a canal should be built which would have Oswego for its terminus and
pass Niagara Falls by a ship canal, or whether the terminus, by an
inland route, should be Lake Erie, was the only mooted question.
This was discussed, pro and con, and reasons given by many for
the one route and for the other, but there was nothing definite known
or settled upon. Washington has been given credit for suggesting a
through route, but he never did, he merely spoke of the feasibility
of a water route through the state to connect eastern New York with
the Lakes, something that hundreds of other men knew and talked
about. Washington, indeed, had a plan of his own which was utterly
antagonistic to the interests of New York State. He urged roads
to connect Maryland and Virginia with the west and the construc-
tion of a canal to connect with the Allegheny from Lake Erie and
from that river or the Monongahela by canal across the mountains
to the navigable waters of the Potomac, a plan which, if successful,
would have diverted the commerce of the west from our own state.
The same factors were influencing the minds of men in the days
of which I have spoken; those who had particular interests advocat-
ing the Oswego route, and those who were looking to the great in-
terests of the country and the state, looking to an inland route.
Among the latter might be mentioned Christopher Colles, who, with-
out definite plan, urged very early in the last century direct con-
nection by an inland route with Lake Erie, and Elkanah Watson
who later advocated the same idea. It would seem, however, that
Gouverneur Morris is entitled to credit for the first conception of a
dream of a canal from Lake Erie to the Hudson. As early as 1803,
he made the suggestion, but he had no definite plan, his idea being
impracticable from an engineering point of view- It was that a
canal should be constructed practically upon an inclined plane, of
course with descending locks to the Hudson.
The necessity for an adequate canal connection with Lake Erie by
some route and the constant discussion resulted in the Legislature,
by joint resolution of March, 1810, appointing a commission “to
explore the route of an inland navigation from Hudson’s River to
Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.” The commissioners were Gouverneur
Morris, Stephen Van Rensselaer, DeWitt Clinton, Simeon DeWitt, W.
North, Thomas Eddy and Robert R. Livingston. These commission-
ers on March 2, 1811, made a full report after personal inspection
of all available routes, they having the assistance of competent en-
gineers. This legislation and the selection of the personnel of the
commission was largely due to the energy and ability of DeWitt
Clinton, he having been chosen to head the advocates of a canal
through to Lake Erie.286
ERIE CANAL CENTENARY
Clinton*s Private Journal.
Clinton kept a private journal of the trip through the State, which
has been, published and is of great interest. It not only indicates
the care taken by the commissioners in making their investigations^
but gives a picture of the settlements and people along the entire
route. The journal covers many pages. The commissioners left
Albany on the 3d of July, 1810, and wended their way by boat and
wheeled vehicles, following the route of the Mohawk, crossing over
the divide at Rome and proceeding through Oneida Lake. Clinton
-speaks of the earnings of the Western Canal Company at Little
.Palls, stating that in April, May and June, two hundred and forty-
two boats passed the Palls. He gives the amounts received by the
Company for tolls ^rom 1803 to 1810, amounting to something less
than fifty thousand dollars. He also refers to the fact that two
boats passed through the locks in the presence of the commissioners,
one a Durham boat from Ithaca with potash, part of which came
from Oswego, stating that the boat when fully loaded drew twenty-
eight inches of water and was capable of carrying one hundred barrels
of potash or two hundred and forty of flour; that it paid for lock-
age at Rome $16.50. He also speaks of Utica as a flourishing vil-
lage and gives us the information that produce is carried by land
from Utica to Albany, the freight rate being eight shillings for one
hundred pounds, by water to Schenectady, six shillings. This would
be about 20 cents per ton mile by land and 15 cents per ton mile by
water. This rate necessarily was largely increased by the difficulties
of navigation west of Utica and by the necessity of carriage by land
over many miles. We thus can see the pressing necessity of furnish-
ing cheap water navigation to Lake Erie, because the rate was almost
prohibitive, even in those days; today it would absolutely prevent
commerce passing through the State of New York. The diary then
carries us to Fort Stanwix or Fort Schuyler, Rome. Clinton speaks
of it as important strategically to protect the passage between the
Lakes and the Mohawk River. He also states the interesting fact
that the commissioners dined on a salmon caught in Fish Creek about
eight miles from Rome. In this connection he remarks that salmon
came into the Lake Oneida and continued until winter; that they
brought sixpence a pound. The diary carries us down the Oswego
River and up the Seneca River and overland to Buffalo. By way of
Lewiston, the Niagara portage and past Niagara Falls, the route
followed by the commissioners ended at Lake Erie. At Buffalo,
Clinton says, there were thirty or forty houses, the Court House of
Niagara County, several stores and taverns and a post office. He
Temarks that it is a place of great resort and that all persons that
travel to the western states and Ohio, from the eastern states, and
all that visit the Falls of Niagara, come this way.
We thus get an idea of the social condition of affairs existing in
the state when the exploration for an inland navigation route was
made in 1810, supplementing what has been said about the influx
of population to the western part of the state and the Northwest
Territory.EBIE CANAL CENTENABY
287
Favored Inland Eoute.
The report of the Commission is a very able one, not dealing
merely in generalities, but giving all the material facts, although,
necessarily, not the engineering details, for those had to be worked
out later. It evidently favored the through inland route direct from
the Hudson by way of the Mohawk, Wood Creek, Oneida Lake, the
Seneca River and thence overland to Lake Erie, and it contains this
prophetic statement: ‘ ‘ Thus, it is evident that the canal will, if prop-
erly effected, turn to the United States the commerce of the upper
lakes,” meaning not merely the United States, but the State of New
York. The report further adverts to the question whether the state
shall bear the whole expense or whether the nation should share in
it. As to this it is sufficient to say that the Federal Government was
asked to aid in the construction of the 'Erie Canal later, but refused
to do so, and that several attempts have since been made to secure
national aid, but it has always been refused. The War of 1812 inter-
vened after the making of this report and prevented active under-
taking of steps looking to the construction of the canal. However,
in 1816, the Legislature was besieged by petitions to take the matter
up again and in February of that year a memorial of the citizens
of New York was presented urging the construction of a canal direct
from Lake Erie by the inland route, giving an estimated expenditure
of two and one-half millions of dollars, and in April, 1816, an act
was passed providing for the appointment of commissioners to devise
and adopt such measures as may or shall be requisite to facilitate
and affect the community, by means of canal and locks, between the
waters of the Hudson and Lake Erie, and the navigable waters of
Lake Champlain. By the first section of the bill DeWitt Clinton,
Stephen Yan Rensselaer, Townsend M’Coun, Melancton Wheeler,
Henry Seymour, Joseph Ellicott, Jacob Yan Rensselaer, Philip I.
"Schuyler, Samuel Young, John Nicholas, William Bayard, George
Huntington and Nathan Smith were appointed commissioners.
We have thus followed the evolution of the idea which resulted in
"the construction of the Erie and Champlain canals and I think it
must be quite plain to the mind of am£ impartial man that no indi-
vidual is entitled to the credit of the origination of our artificial
waterways, but that that is due# as I have said, to geographic, topo-
graphic, geologic, political and commercial necessity and the peopling
of a new country, impressing upon men from time to time the need
of artificial waterways, followed by the exploration; investigations
and thought of many minds crystalizing into the final consummation
of the wisdom of building the canals as they were built.
The further evolution of the idea seen in the improvement of our
canals depends upon the same factors and it is therefore necessary
for me merely to state the facts in order to show the final working
out of all the elements that went to produce the great results we see
today.
The original Erie Canal was begun with great ceremony at Rome
on the 4th of July, 1817, and it was practically completed on the
26th day of October, 1825. The completion was celebrated with2S8
ERIE CANAL CENTENARY
great pomp by mingling the waters of Lake Erie with those of the
Atlantic at New York City. It is no part of my undertaking to
describe these well known celebrations. The original canal had a
draft of about four feet of water, was about forty feet in width at
the water surface and about twenty-eight feet in width at the bot-
tom with locks ninety feet by twelve, and accommodated boats of
about seventy tons. At first it was navigated by passenger boats,
with handsome and comfortable accommodations, as well as freight
boats. The commerce between the east and the west began to grow
immediately and far exceeded the expectations of the early promoters
even before the advent of the railroads. Immense numbers of im-
migrants passed to the west over the Erie Canal. Indeed', the benefi-
cent effects that immediately followed the opening of the canal are
past description and an enumeration of statistics would simply con-
fuse the mind. I may, however, call attention to the facts hereto-
fore stated of the great increase in population that followed in this
state, particularly New York City, and in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois,
and of the subsequent tremendous increase of population of the
entire west; I would also call attention to the fact that while the
population of this state was 959,049 in 1810, in 1830 it was 1,918,608,
that is five years after the final completion of the canal, parts of
which had been in actual use for some years before, the population
of this state had been increased nearly one million. The population
of the City of New York about 1817 was one hundred thousand and
in 1830 it had arisen to over two hundred thousand-
Following the development of the canal there are some facts which
are interesting to note, but the details are either so well known to this
audience or will be so covered by subsequent papers, that I shall con-
fine myself to a bare statement of those which indicate the further de-
velopment of the idea of necessity for water communication between
the Hudson and the Great Lakes and between the Hudson and Lake
Champlain.
The great success of the canals as factors in commerce, furnishing
cheap transportation until years after the commencement of the
railroads and the effect of the improvement of the latter and the
construction of trunk lines north and south of the State of New
York, may be illustrated by reference to the construction of others
than the main arteries and the commerce of the Erie.
11 The Western Canal.’7
The Erie was first known as the 11 Western” Canal but, on account
of its terminus at Lake Erie, it came to be known as the Erie Canal.
The Champlain Canal was constructed under the original act, but
the Oswego and other laterals were not. Steps were taken in 1819
looking to the construction of the Oswego Canal and after various
vicissitudes it was opened in 1829. The Oswego Canal is one of the
most important of our canal system.
The Cayuga and Seneca Canal was first agitated in 1813 to furnish
water transportation from the south, and various companies were
organized to construct locks and make connection with the Chemung
Eiver. In 1824 steps were taken to connect this water system withERIE CANAL CENTENARY
289
the Erie Canal and after various expenditures of private capital the
state completed the necessary locks, channels and connecting canals,
making enlargements. The construction of the Black River Canal
may be said to have first taken form through agitation in 1825, and
after various legislative enactments and appropriations that water-
way was finally completed.
The four canals, the Erie, Champlain, Oswego, Cayuga and Seneca /
and Black River have always been regarded as the canal system of
‘this state and as such have been protected by the Constitution from
sale, lease or other disposal.
Induced Other Canals.	^
The construction of these canals caused agitation for further arti-
ficial waterways, the idea of which may be said, generally, to have
been to connect the important arteries with the rivers and other
waterways of Pennsylvania. Thus the Genesee Valley Canal was
to connect the Erie with the Allegheny, the projectors having in view
their connection with the Ohio. _ Governor DeWitt Clinton in Febru-
ary, 1825, sent a communication to the Legislature recommending
a full investigation of this proposed waterway and in 1836 an act
was passed for the construction of a navigable canal, to be known
as the Genesee Valley Canal, from the Erie in Rochester through the
valley of the Genesee River to near Mt. Morris, and thence by the
most eligible route to the Allegheny River at or near Olean. The pos-
sibility of the Cheipung Canal was the subject of consideration in the
latter part of the eighteenth centpry and after the incorporation of
the Lock Navigation Companies and the expenditure of private
moneys in the attempt to secure a waterway for connection with the
Erie and the Chemung, the canal was finally constructed with the
view to reaching the rich coal fields and extensive lumber districts of
Pennsylvania. The Chenango Canal and its extension first took the
form of a proposition for a canal through the Chenango Valley in
1814, to connect the Erie Canal with the Susquehanna River and with
the Pennsylvania canals, and in 1833 an act was passed for its con-
struction at Binghamton up the valley of the Chenango to its head-
waters, and thence to the Erie Canal. This waterway was practically
completed in 1836. In 1838 a survey from the termination of the
canal at Binghamton along the valley of the Susquehanna to the
state line near Tioga, thence to connect with a Pennsylvania canal
was ordered by the Legislature, and subsequently a company was
incorporated to build an extension which finally came under state
control and was completed.
Other short canals, such as the Crooked Lake, the Glens Falls
feeder and the Shinnecock have been constructed, but the Chemung,
Chenango and Genesee Valley were abandoned by the state for the
reason that the traffic upon them became so small after the advent of
the railroads and the expense of maintenance and operation so great,
that their continuance as a means of transportation was thought to
be neither necessary nor wise. However, the Shinnecock Canal con-
necting Great Peeonie and Shinnecock bays, near the eastern end of
Long Island, still remains and it is hoped that it will be improved in
the near future and connect with a canal route on the southern side290
ERIE CANAL CENTENARY
of Lake Erie, which will make interior communication between Long
Island Sound, via the south side of Long Island, available for barge
canal boats.
The history of each of these canals, the rise and decadence of
their traffic, would fill volumes, and I must therefore confine myself,
as I have stated, to a short review of what has occurred on the Erie.
i'
The Erie Canal's Success.
The success of the Erie Canal as a promoter of the commerce and
manufactures of the state and the great west, and its effect as a
means of rapidly increasing the population of those parts of our
country, is apparent when we consider the comparatively inaccessible
condition of the western part of our state and of the northwest and
middle west, together with sparse population and the great cost of
transportation of persons and property before and after the canal
came into existence. I have already stated the facts existing before
the canal was constructed, as showing how the necessity of existing
conditions originated and developed the idea of providing a main
artery between the Hudson and Lake. Erie and I have already given
the figures showing the impetus that that construction gave to the
populating of our state and of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and the
development of their farms and industries. It only remains to advert
to the growth of traffic as an index of the beneficial effects of the
Erie Canal. To go farther than this would be too great an under-
taking for this short paper. Prom nothing the tonnage passing
over the Erie Canal reached high water mark, very nearly 6,500,000
tons, in 1879, notwithstanding the active competition of the railroads.
So great a movement of articles transported by water, when it is con-
sidered that the construction of the Erie had built up cities, towns
and villages throughout the state, had encouraged the construction of
canals in Ohio and Pennsylvania, with like results in those states,
and had made possible the construction of thousands of miles of
railroads connecting the Atlantic coast with the great west, and of
railroads running north and south, the railways carrying east and
west, north and south many million more tons of freight and hun-
dreds of thousands of passengers, makes it apparent that the Erie
Canal was the prime factor in starting, and hastening the building
up of the commerce and industries, and the populating, not only of
the State of New York, but of the great middle west, the northwest,
the south and eventually the southwest of the United States. The
benefit to our country at large was immeasurable. I may add that
the Erie Canal not only accomplished all this but it originated and
has maintained the pre-eminence of the State of New York in com-
merce and manufactures, in population, wealth and prosperity at all
times.
Changes in Sentiment.
It is well to note that the physical and social conditions which lead
the minds of men to the idea of constructing artificial waterways,
sometimes, in the process of evolution, become antagonistic. This
is illustrated in the case of the abandoned laterals. The physical con-
ditions remained the same, but the social conditions and ease and:ERIE CANAL CENTENARY
291
cheapness of transportation by rail became entirely different and
prevailed over the opportunities offered by the various rivers, small
lakes and valleys. It is also well to note that changes of this char-
acter, continually going on, not infrequently bring all the conditions
into unison again and impress upon men the wisdom of returning
to old paths of commerce. This is illustrated very clearly by the
movement now being agitated for the construction of a waterway
•on the south side of Long Island connecting with the Sound by re-
habilitation of the Shinnecock Canal and the construction of a canal
from Flushing Bay on the north of the Island to Jamaica Bay
on the south; the improvement of the Glens Falls feeder, and in the
case of the Black River Canal, its improvement and the improve-
ment of the Black River in connection with it. I may add also the
rehabilitation of a portion of the Chemung route and negotiations
which have been had with a view to the improvement of the Sus-
quehanna by Pennsylvania, so as to reach the coal regions of that
state. I can not devote the time or space to discuss in this paper
the various causes of these changes of public sentiment and must
confine myself to the statement, which can be verified, that they will
facilitate water transportation over the main system of canals and
cheapen the carriage of freights accordingly. The Chemung improve-
ment will certainly also facilitate and cheapen the transportation of
that most important product of the mines, coal, together with its
^distribution to the people of this state and to the people of the west.
Realizing that the process of evolution to which I have been ad-
dressing myself is dependent upon forces which are continually at
work, I feel that this paper would not be complete without a sketch
of the improvement of our canals which has taken place and is now
going on, for they are the results of what has gone .before.
- The Coming of Railroads.
The coming of the railroads in the early thirties of the last century
had no effect upon the usefulness of the canals or the necessity of
maintaining and operating them, but as railroad improvement in-
creased, and ten-ton freight cars were replaced by those that
would carry from twenty to even fifty tons, drawn by coal-burning
locomotives of tremendous weight and power over heavy steel rails
resting on well and carefully constructed roadbeds and modern
bridges and viaducts, the cost of transportation by rail, with the
superior terminal facilities of the railroads, placed our canals in the
position of being feeble factors in transportation. In addition to this
the great trunk lines combined and by differential rates, intended
to give the lines terminating at Atlantic ports equality in securing
freight, began the process of crushing out competition by the canals
of this state in connection with the Great Lakes.
Canals Paid for Themselves.
Prior to the great improvements of railroads, however, the tre-
mendous increase of commerce between the east and the west made
it imperative that our main canals should be improved. Passing by
legislation for particular improvements on the Champlain, Erie,292
ERIE CANAL CENTENARY
Oswego and other canals, made from time to time, a glance at the-
efforts to place our main canal arteries at first in a condition to
properly accommodate the growing commerce, and afterwards to put
them on a par with the railroads, will suffice to illustrate the con-
tinuance of the evolution. Before doing this we may take notice of
the fact that by constitutional amendment (Article 7, Section 9), in
1882, tolls were abolished- This step in the direction of making our
canals efficient shows that the prior improvements (which will be-
spoken of hereafter) had not accomplished the desired result. We may
also note here that it appears from the report of a Legislative Com-
mission, referring to a report made by the auditor of the Canal Depart-
ment for 1875, that the revenue of the Erie, Champlain and Oswego
canals, after deducting all costs for construction, repairs and main-
tenance with interest thereon, at 6 per cent., was $63,000,000; that is,,
the report shows that the revenues from the main arteries had brought
a great net profit to the state in dollars and cents, as well as caring
for all losses upon the canals which were finally abandoned.
Enlargements.
Eor the reasons above stated and the necessity of complying with
the demands of commerce, the first step towards increasing the ca-
pacity of the Erie Canal was taken in 1834. This step was the con-
struction of double locks to expedite the passage of boats. The idea
was not a new one, it having been discussed as early as 1825, but it
first took form in 1834 through a report of the canal commissioners.
The final result of the agitation which followed was the passage on
May 11, 1835, of a law which authorized the canal commissioners to*
enlarge the Erie Canal and construct a double set of lift locks a^
soon as the Canal Board believed that the public interest required
the improvement. Under this, act locks were rebuilt, some were
doubled and an enlargement, with some changes off location, begun,
together with other improvements of the prism. This method of pro-
cedure continued, with interruptions, until 1862, when the Legisla-
ture by law put an end to the almost haphazard improvement, by
declaring the first enlargement officially completed. The work off
enlargement thereafter went on by fits and starts but was not called
enlargement or improvement; what was done towards perfecting the
construction previously accomplished coming under the head of main-
tenance and repairs and comparatively small special appropriations.
This improvement gave us_ nominally, a canal seven feet deep, 55.5
feet wide on the bottom and 70* feet wide on the surface of the water
with locks 100 feet by 18, having a capacity for the passage of boats
carrying two hundred and forty tons of freight.
The Nine Millions.
The great increase in traffic between the East and the West, the
tremendous enlargement of the carrying capacity of the railroads at
very low rates and the combination between the trunk -lines, as the
years passed by attracted attention to the fact that the commerce
of our State, and particularly of our great port of New York, was
in danger. This made clear the absolute necessity of improving ourEBIE CANAL CENTENABY
293
-canal system so that its competition with the railroads might operate
ns a regulator of their freight rates and continue the natural flow
of commerce through the State from the West to the East and from
the East to the West. Consideration was given to methods of im-
provement, such as the enlargement of the carrying capacity of boats
through improvements in methods of navigation, some of the ideas
advanced being what was called the Belgian Cable System (which
turned out to be a failure) and the use of steam as the motive power
instead of horses and mules. But it was quite clear that any means
of increasing the ability of boats navigating the canals to save time
nnd expense were entirely inadequte to meet the exigencies of the
case, and the attention of those who believed in the regulating effect
of our canals as well as their importance as active factors in trans-
portation, was directed to enlargement of prism capacity. About the
first fruit of this was what is called the Seymour plan, which was to
deepen the canal by raising the banks and lowering the bottom so
•that a depth of water of nine feet would be attained. Serious and
long agitation followed until sufficiently strong public sentiment had
been aroused, when the plan, in 1895, for deepening and improving
the Erie Canal so that it would have a depth of nine feet was adopted
by the Legislature and ratified by the people. The amount asked and
^authorized for this work was nine millions of dollars, but unfortun- j
ately the estimates of the state engineer, from which this amount j
was fixed, had been cut down, so that only one-half of the sum neces- i
sary was provided. Work proceeded, however, until the money was
exhausted. In spite of grafting on the part of subordinates of the
state officials and of ignorance and insufficient preparation, between
one-half and two-thirds of the work was done and quite well done.
The failure to accomplish the improvement with the moneys pro-
vided by law and sanctioned by the people and charges of fraud and
peculation caused 'the appointment of a commission to investigate,
and the stoppage of all further work. The plan was never carried
out.
After the stoppage of work upon the enlargement last described,
agitation for improvement of the canals continued. Railroad com-
petition and discrimination continued to undermine the commerce of
the state and threaten disaster to the port of New York. In addi-
tion to this an agency extremely injurious to our prosperity had
become more active. This had for some years been having a consider-
able effect upon the commerce between the Great Lakes and the port
of New York, but its effects were becoming more and more apparent.
1 refer to one of the elements of evolution to which I have hereto-
fore spoken in connection with the early history of the origination
•of our canal system. It will be remembered that Cadwalader D.
Colden in his report to Governor Burnet speaks of the necessity of
having waterway connections with the Great Lakes, so as to intercept
or prevent trade going to the St. Lawrence., and that Mr. Geddes
in his report to Simeon DeWitt, surveyor general, in 1808, states
that one of the arguments against a ship canal around the Ealls is
that it would open up an avenue of trade between the west and
Montreal. That this factor was the real and threatening one, fore-
seen by the men of the early days, has been proved by the construe-294
ERIE CANAL CENTENARY
tion of the Welland Canal connecting Lakes Erie and Ontario through,
the Canadian peninsula and by the construction of canals around the
rapids of the St. Lawrence. These canals the Canadian government
had improved and enlarged and the trade between Montreal and the
west had grown and was growing greatly, thus threatening great
injury, if not destruction, of the flow of commerce through the State
of New York.
The Barge Canal.
The agitation for further improvement of our canals became so
pressing and public sentiment for it so strong that Governor Roose-
velt in 1899 appointed a commission which examined into the advis-
ability of improving the canals and reported in favor thereof, and
providing for a depth of twelve feet of water in the prism. This
was followed by a reference of the entire matter to the state engineer
and surveyor with engineer counsel, the result being a report upon
all existing conditions and suggesting different routes for the Erie,
with changes in the Champlain, giving estimates of cost. In 1905
the Legislature passed an act referring to the people the question of
incurring an indebtedness of one hundred and one millions of dollars,
to be applied to the proposed improvement. The indebtedness was
authorized by the people in the same year. The act provided for a
change in the route of the Erie, back to the one originally outlined
in the report of Colden made in 1724, the one which had been fol-
lowed prior to the construction of the Erie Canal by those trading*
with bateaux, as far as Lake Ontario. The route finally adopted
proceeds from the Hudson at Waterford up the Mohawk,' through
a canal connecting that river with Oneida Lake, thence down the
lake and through Oneida River, improved, to Three Rivers Point,
thence on the Oswego to Lake Ontario and by the Seneca and Clyde
Rivers to a point near to and west of Clyde, thence overland prac-
tically on the line of the Erie Canal to the Niagara River at Tona-
wanda, the Erie Canal from Tonawanda to Buffalo being preserved.
The act of 1903 included the Champlain and Oswego Canals. The
capacity of all the canals mentioned was increased by furnishing a
depth of twelve feet, a bottom of seventy-five feet in the prism and
two hundred feet in wide waters. The locks as finally provided for
being three hundred and twenty-eight feet long and forty-five feet
wide, with a depth of twelve feet over the miter sills. Subsequently
the people ratified an appropriation of seven millions of dollars for
the improvement of the Cayuga and Seneca Canal to give it the same
dimensions and capacity as the other improved canals. The work,
of improvement has progressed slowly since the passage of the act
of 1903, but it is expected that it will be completed in May, 1918.
The improved canals, now known as the Barge Canal system, will
increase the size of boats that can navigate it to a tonnage capacity
of at least five times that of the existing canal, namely, from 240
tons to 1,500 tons.
The Terminals.
The competition of the railroads disclosed and emphasized the fact
that in any system of transportation proper terminals^had become
a vital necessity, and it was also apparent that the improved canalsERIE CANAL CENTENARY
295
could not perform the duty expected without such terminals. In
1911, therefore, the Legislature submitted to the people an act pro-
viding for an indebtedness of $19,800,000 to construct proper public
canal terminals for the receipt, delivery and protection of freight
cheaply. The indebtedness being ratified, the work has proceeded
and terminals where needed will have been constructed by the time
the Barge Canal system is opened, or not long thereafter.
Discrimination against the waterways by the railroads in the past
through refusal to interchange traffic upon a just basis and in other
ways, and the actual use of the canals by them to the great detri-
ment of their use'by individuals and independent corporations, had
made plain in years past the necessity of compelling the railroads to
perform their public duty with relation to the waterways without
discrimination, and the advocates of canal transportation, with the
assistance of the chambers of commerce throughout the state, pro-
cured the passage in 1917 of a law, based upon the Interstate Com-
merce Act and the Panama Canal Act, which will prevent the rail-
roads discriminating, compel them to interchange traffic with the
canals on a just basis and made it impossible for them to control com-
merce on the canals directly or indirectly. This is done by prohibi-
tions, mandates and by giving the Public Service Commission juris-
diction and ample powers. At the same time the act does not place
any additional burdens upon those using the canals in transportation.
I believe that I have now clearly shown that the construction of
our canals originally, and their improvement, and the abandonment
of some, have been the result of natural causes operating through the
years in a process of . evolution, and that to give any single man, or
set of men, credit for origination is to fly in the face of the facts
and to contradict the unchangeable law of nature, of economics and
of society, which have been in existence and working out the welfare
of mankind for ages. If I have accomplished this I shall have not
only added something to history, but to a clear conception of the
fact that there is an over-ruling Power that guides our destinies
through laws that always operate in the same way and for the benefit
of mankind.
In closing, I would say that it would please me greatly, had I the
time and space to mention the names of those in the past and the
present who are entitled to be recognized as having done great work
for the promotion of the prosperity of the people of our state through
the creation and improvement of our waterways, the construction of
canal terminals and the prevention of discrimination by the railroads,
but to do so would involve danger, through failure of memory or
lack of information, of omitting the names of many men who have
taken part in this great work. However, if I may repeat the language
of Judge Jonas Platt, “As to the merit of the first design of a
canal, directly from Lake Erie to the Hudson, it belongs in my
opinion, exclusively to no person. It was gradually developed to
the minds of many who were early acquainted with the geography
and topography of the western region of this state, ’7 and add to it
the words of DeWitt Clinton; ‘1 For the good which has been done by
individuals or communities, in relation to this work, let each have an
equal share of credit.’’
v