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N0KFQ > TODAY 26.10.10 18:33l 63 Lines 2910 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Oct 26
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Sent: 101026/1653Z @:N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA #:19292 [Branson] FBB7.00i $:19292_N
From: N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
To : TODAY@WW
Oct 26, 1825:
Erie Canal opens
The Erie Canal opens, connecting the Great Lakes with the
Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson River. Governor DeWitt Clinton of
New York, the driving force behind the project, led the opening
ceremonies and rode the canal boat Seneca Chief from Buffalo to
New York City.
New York legislators became interested in the possibility of
building a canal across New York in the first decade of the 19th
century. Shipping goods west from Albany was a costly and tedious
affair; there was no railroad yet, and to cover the distance from
Buffalo to New York City by stagecoach took two weeks. Governor
Clinton enthusiastically took up the proposal to build a canal
from Buffalo, on the eastern point of Lake Erie, to Albany, on
the upper Hudson, passing through the gap in the mountains in the
Mohawk Valley region. By 1817, he had convinced the legislature
to authorize the expenditure of $7 million for the construction
of a canal that he proposed would be 363 miles long, 40 feet
wide, and four feet deep.
Work began on "Clinton's Ditch" in August 1823. Teams of oxen
plowed the ground, but for the most part the work was done by
Irish diggers who had to rely on primitive tools. They were paid
$10 a month, and barrels of whisky were placed along the canal
route as encouragement. West of Troy, 83 canal locks were built
to accommodate the 500-foot rise in elevation. After more than
two years of digging, the 425-mile Erie Canal was opened on
October 26, 1825, by Governor Clinton.
As Clinton left Buffalo in the Seneca Chief, an ingenious method
of communication was used to inform New York City of the historic
occasion. Cannons were arranged along the length of the canal and
the river, each within hearing distance of the next cannon. As
the governor began his trip, the first cannon was fired,
signaling the next to fire. Within 81 minutes, the word was
relayed to New York_it was the fastest communication the world
had ever known. After arriving in New York on September 4,
Clinton ceremoniously emptied a barrel of Lake Erie water in the
Atlantic Ocean, consummating the "Marriage of the Waters" of the
Great Lakes and the Atlantic.
The effect of the canal was immediate and dramatic. Settlers
poured into western New York, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and
Wisconsin. Goods were transported at one-tenth the previous fee
in less than half the previous time. Barge loads of farm produce
and raw materials traveled east as manufactured goods and
supplies flowed west. In nine years, tolls had paid back the cost
of construction. Later enlarged and deepened, the canal survived
competition from the railroads in the latter part of the 19th
century. Today, the Erie Canal is used mostly by pleasure
boaters, but it is still capable of accommodating heavy barges.
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