Proposal and Logistics
The success of the Bridgewater Canal in Britain (completed in 1769) led to a rush of canal-building in England. The colonial idea of a canal (or artificially improved waterway) to tie the East Coast to the new western settlements was in the air; in 1724, New York provincial official Cadwallader Colden made a passing reference (in a report on fur trading) to improving the natural waterways of western New York. George Washington led a serious effort to turn the Potomac River into a navigable link to the west, sinking substantial energy and capital into the Patowmack Canal from 1785 until his death fourteen years later. By 1788 Washington's Potomac Company was successful in constructing five locks which took boats 4,500 feet (1,400 m) past the Potomac Great Falls. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal superseded the Potomac Canal in 1823. Christopher Colles (who was familiar with the Bridgewater Canal) surveyed the Mohawk Valley, and made a presentation to the New York state legislature in 1784 proposing a canal from Lake Ontario. The proposal drew attention and some action, but came to naught.
Gouverneur Morris and Elkanah Watson were other early proponents of a canal along the Mohawk. Their efforts led to the creation of the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company (which took the first steps to improve navigation on the Mohawk), but the company proved that private financing was insufficient. In 1798 the Niagara Canal Company was incorporated.
Jesse Hawley finally got the canal built. Hawley envisioned growing large quantities of grain on the Western New York plains (then largely unsettled) for sale on the Eastern seaboard. However, he went bankrupt trying to ship grain to the coast. While in Canandaigua debtors' prison, Hawley began pressing for the construction of a canal along the 90-mile (140 km)-long Mohawk River valley with support from Joseph Ellicott (agent for the Holland Land Company in Batavia). Ellicott realized that a canal would add value to the land he was selling in the western part of the state, and later became the first canal commissioner.
The Mohawk River (a tributary of the Hudson) runs in a glacial meltwater channel just north of the Catskill range of the Appalachian Mountains, separating them from the geologically-distinct Adirondacks to the north. The Mohawk and Hudson valleys form the only cut across the Appalachians north of Alabama, allowing a water route from New York City in the south to Lakes Ontario and Erie in the west. From there, much of the interior (and many settlements) would be accessible by the Great Lakes and related rivers.
The problem was that the land rises about 600 feet (180 m) from the Hudson to Lake Erie. Locks at the time could handle up to 12 feet (3.7 m), so at least fifty locks would be required along the 360-mile (580 km) canal. Such a canal would be expensive to build today; in 1800, the expense was barely imaginable. President Thomas Jefferson called it "a little short of madness" and rejected it; however, Hawley interested New York Governor DeWitt Clinton in the project. There was much opposition, and the project was ridiculed as "Clinton's folly" and "Clinton's ditch". In 1817, though, Clinton received approval from the legislature for $7 million for construction.
The original canal was 363 miles (584 km) long, from Albany on the Hudson to Buffalo on Lake Erie. The channel was cut 40 feet (12 m) wide and 4 feet (1.2 m) deep, with removed soil piled on the downhill side to form a walkway known as a towpath. Canal boats up to 3.5 feet (1.1 m) in draft were pulled by horses and mules on the towpath. There was only one towpath (generally on the north side of the ditch). When canal boats met, the boat with the right of way steered to the towpath side of the canal. The other boat steered toward the berm (or heelpath) side of the canal. The driver (or "hoggee", pronounced HO-gee) of the privileged boat brought his team to the canalside edge of the towpath, while the hoggee of the other boat moved to the outside of the towpath and stopped his team. His towline would go slack, fall into the water and sink to the bottom while his boat continued on by its own momentum. The privileged boat's team would step over the other boat's towline, and then their boat would pass over the sunken towline without stopping. Once clear, the other boat's team would continue on its way.
The Erie Canal began construction in 1817 and was completed eight years later at a cost of $7 million; it was acclaimed as an engineering marvel. It united the country and helped New York City to become a financial capital. Its construction, through limestone and mountains, proved a daunting task. Mosquito-borne malaria killed over 1,000 during a single season. The canal was built using some of the most advanced engineering technology from Holland. In 1823 construction reached the Niagara Escarpment, necessitating the building of five locks along a 3-mile (4.8 km) corridor to carry the canal over the escarpment. To move earth, animals pulled a "slip scraper" (similar to a bulldozer). The sides of the canal were lined with stone set in clay, and the bottom was also lined with clay. The stonework required hundreds of German masons, who later built many of New York's buildings. All labor on the canal depended upon human (and animal) power or the force of water. Engineering techniques developed during its construction included the building of aqueducts to redirect water; one aqueduct was 950 feet (290 m) long to span 800 feet (240 m) of river. As the canal progressed, the crews and engineers working on the project developed expertise and became a skilled labor force.
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