Betcha y’all didn’t know 299

[953 nut 69,726]

 October 26, 1825,  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.

Work began on the waterway in 1817. Teams of oxen plowed the ground, but for the most part the work was done by immigrants, among them 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 more than 500-foot rise in elevation. After more than two years of digging, the 363-mile Erie Canal from Albany to Buffalo, was opened by Governor Clinton.

[ebinmaine 80,882]

You guys think whatever you want to but I remember reading something at one point that Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox actually built that.

 

[953 nut 69,726]

5 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

You guys think whatever you want to but I remember reading something at one point that Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox actually built that.

 

He may have cut the trees and then moved on to Cheese Curd Land. Babe didn't do ditches, she just hauled logs!          

[ri702bill 13,163]

50 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

mmigrants, among them 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

If the barrels were empty, that would have been downright cruel...

"Drinkin' buttermilk thru the week, whiskey on a Sunday..."

 

 

Edited 17 hours ago by ri702bill

[Beap52 2,515]

Last year, we, my wife and another couple from the mid west, spent some time on the Erie Canal.  Very interesting and my first time to pass through locks. 

 

Some take-aways for me was how quickly the locks filled and lowered.  2. There was a private boat passing through the locks.  If I understood, there was no charge for their passage.   3.There is one place where we drove under the canal.   I am amazed how the builders were able to predict the fall in elevation needed for the water to flow at the speed that I suppose was desired.   I realize that cultures built canals many centuries  ago but I found the Erie Canal quite interesting. 

[ebinmaine 80,882]

2 minutes ago, Beap52 said:

pass through locks

 

I've watched it done but never been through personally.  

Songo locks between Sebago Lake and Long Pond. Only about a 4 foot differential.  

Very interesting to see.  

[Handy Don 17,546]

My family and I rented a canal boat on the Erie some years ago. Great fun and we all learned quite a bit.

A few years after that, I had the chance to ride my bike from Buffalo to Albany, most of it along the Erie Canal pathway that had previously been used by the mules, pulling the barges.

But the most fascinating lock that I’ve been through, was on the Saranac river in the Adirondacks. It’s very small, manually operated, andonly large enough to accommodate two or three canoes, but by having the lock, we were able to avoid a half-mile canoe carry around a rapids. 

Thankfully, there were plenty of smart people in our history!

 

Edited 7 hours ago by Handy Don