The History of the Erie Canal documentary
Frederic Obrien2018-02-07
Review#Steamboat#Canals#Fred#1840s#Story#Here:#1993#Docu#Travel#Panama#documentary#Ship#Canal#What#years#Suez#Amazing#British#Ohio
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💫 Short Summary
The Erie Canal, a groundbreaking engineering marvel, connected New York to the American West, revolutionizing commerce, transportation, and immigration patterns. Despite skepticism and challenges during construction, it opened in 1825, costing $7 million. The canal's success transformed America's towns, boosting economies and populations. Overcoming obstacles like the Niagara Escarpment, the Erie Canal utilized innovative tools and methods, becoming a vital commercial route that shaped the nation's development. Despite facing competition and claims of obsolescence, the Erie Canal's legacy endures, experiencing a resurgence as a recreational attraction today.
✨ Highlights
📊 Transcript
✦
The Impact of the Erie Canal on American History.
02:11The Erie Canal revolutionized commerce in the United States by connecting New York to the American West.
It facilitated the transportation of goods and people, playing a vital role in westward expansion.
The canal symbolized progress and opportunity, influencing immigration patterns and shaping the nation's development.
Despite undergoing multiple reconstructions and upgrades, the Erie Canal's legacy endures as a testament to American innovation and vision.
✦
Importance of the Erie Canal in US history.
07:26The Erie Canal reduced travel time from weeks to days and allowed access to western territories.
George Washington's concerns about trade with Canada led to the need for a connection between the interior and the eastern seaboard.
The Appalachian Mountains posed a barrier to western migration, but a twist in the chain in New York allowed for a passage for the Hudson River.
Building a canal along the Mohawk River Valley was the most cost-effective transportation solution, with canals being an efficient method of travel since ancient times.
✦
Challenges and Opposition to the Construction of the Erie Canal.
11:44The project faced skepticism and opposition due to high costs and perceived risks.
Governor DeWitt Clinton championed the bill for the canal, which narrowly passed in the New York legislature.
Building the canal through rugged terrain, icy rivers, and desolate swamps in the Mohawk River Valley posed physical challenges.
The geological history of the area, dating back 12,000 years, influenced the path of the Erie Canal, with the difference in elevation between Lake Erie and the Hudson River presenting a major engineering challenge.
✦
Construction of the Erie Canal faced skepticism but was accomplished by an army of engineers and laborers.
13:16The total cost of the Erie Canal was seven million dollars.
The Canal served as a crucial connection between the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes trade.
Preservationists are restoring the commercial slip in Buffalo to its former glory.
Archaeologist Frank Chowpatty unearthed artifacts showing the Canal's role in pioneering westward expansion.
✦
Construction of the Erie Canal in 1817.
17:04Laborers, mostly unskilled, worked long hours for decent pay, using innovative tools like the tree stump puller.
By the first winter, 15 miles of the canal were completed, with crews earning 80 cents a day, double the wage of other unskilled laborers.
The project showcased ingenuity and hard work.
Laid the foundation for a significant transportation route in the state of New York.
✦
Challenges faced during the construction of the Erie Canal and innovative solutions implemented.
21:54Workers encountered difficulties such as swamps, rivers, mosquitoes, and malaria during construction.
Aqueducts inspired by ancient Roman methods were used to navigate waterways.
The most challenging obstacle was the Niagara Escarpment, a solid limestone ridge.
Engineers developed locks to lift boats uphill, a technique borrowed from the Dutch.
✦
Evolution of Lock Systems at Niagara Escarpment.
26:26Initially, locks were operated manually, making it time-consuming and labor-intensive to move boats.
Engineers modernized the locks by reducing their number and installing motorized gates.
Workers faced challenges in blasting through solid limestone to create the Lockport cut using gunpowder and specially tempered steel rods.
The laborious process was replaced by inventor Orange Devil's creation of horse-powered derricks for efficient debris removal.
✦
The completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 was a significant achievement in American history.
29:09Governor DeWitt Clinton celebrated the canal's opening by traveling its entire length, sparking parades and festivals along the route.
The Erie Canal facilitated commerce and travel, with around 160 boats navigating its waters at any given time.
The canal was a source of national pride, drawing visitors from around the world to witness the technological marvel.
The Erie Canal's impact extended beyond New York, shaping the growth and development of the entire nation.
✦
The Erie Canal revolutionized transportation and commerce in the United States in 1850.
32:33Tolls for the canal were based on cargo weight, making it a profitable venture for New York state.
Passengers on packet boats paid by the mile and navigated low bridges along the canal.
Canal boats had segregated sleeping cabins by gender for passengers.
Mule teams were crucial for towing boats along the canal, allowing for efficient transportation of heavy loads.
✦
Impact of the Erie Canal on American towns.
37:08The Erie Canal led to economic growth and population increase in towns along its route.
New York City became the main port in the US and a hub of commerce due to the canal.
Despite its success, there were oppositions related to class divisions and materialism.
Improvements were made to the canal to accommodate larger boats and reduce transportation costs, leading to increased traffic and congestion.
✦
Revitalization of the Erie Canal in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
42:21Governor Theodore Roosevelt's actions in 1899 led to a $101 million bond measure in 1903 for a larger, modernized Barge Canal.
The Barge Canal featured concrete lining, motor-powered vessels, and electric locks, leading to the abandonment of parts of the original Erie Canal.
Despite commercial decline by the 1950s, the Erie Canal is now a popular recreational attraction with refurbished sections, boat tours, and water sports.
✦
Success of Erie Canal
47:06Use of mules to carry heavy loads was crucial in transforming America's commercial routes and boosting town populations.
Construction of the canal over rugged terrain, including the creation of Niagara Falls, was initially doubted but successful thanks to dedicated engineers and laborers.
✦
The Erie Canal construction transformed American trade and towns in the 19th century.
49:35The cost of constructing the Erie Canal in the 19th century was seven million dollars, which is equivalent to three billion dollars today.
Preservationists are working to restore the commercial slip in Buffalo, showcasing the historical significance of the Erie Canal.
Archaeologist Frank Chowpatty discovered artifacts highlighting the Erie Canal's role in pioneering westward expansion.
Canal passengers had segregated sleeping quarters and relied on mules to tow boats, establishing the Erie Canal as a vital commercial route.
✦
Impact of Erie Canal on New York State and New York City.
54:11Economic boom resulted from the construction, making western New York State and New York City prominent ports.
Workers faced challenges such as extreme topography, swamps, mosquitoes, and malaria during construction.
Aqueducts, inspired by ancient Roman designs, were used to cross rivers.
Overcoming obstacles like the Niagara Escarpment required innovative solutions and steady progress each year.
✦
Completion of the Erie Canal in 1825.
57:53Orange Dibble's derrick, powered by one horse, revolutionized the debris clearing process by lifting one ton of stone in a single load.
Governor DeWitt Clinton celebrated the completion of the Erie Canal in a ceremony on October 26, 1825.
The Erie Canal took two years to carve a three-mile trench to Buffalo and cost seven million dollars to complete.
The opening of the Erie Canal signified the beginning of America's new superhighway, facilitating transportation and communication between Buffalo and New York City.
✦
Construction of the Erie Canal.
01:01:32Laborers faced long hours, challenging weather, and utilized innovative tools like the tree stump puller.
Overcoming obstacles such as the Niagara Escarpment with locks to lift boats uphill.
Five separate locks were required to transport boats up the 60-foot high escarpment, featuring the first set of side by side locks for two-way traffic.
The Lockport section demonstrated engineering ingenuity with water flow control valves in wooden gates, highlighting the dedication of laborers.
✦
Modernization of Erie Canal locks in the 20th century.
01:06:04Erie Canal locks were reduced from five to two and equipped with motorized gates.
Engineers developed innovative tools like the tree stump puller to efficiently extract stumps.
Erie Canal laborers were paid 80 cents a day, almost double the wage of other unskilled laborers.
Challenges faced during canal construction included extreme topography like New York's Montezuma swamp.
✦
Completion of the Erie Canal in 1825.
01:10:10The canal was opened by Governor DeWitt Clinton after 8 years of construction and $7 million in costs.
The ceremonial journey from Buffalo to New York City was celebrated by towns along the route.
The Erie Canal connected the Hudson River to the Great Lakes, boosting trade and economic growth.
Its success paved the way for future canal projects in the United States.
✦
DeWitt Clinton champions the proposed Erie Canal despite opposition from budget-conscious state representatives.
01:14:06The canal was projected to cost more than twice the state's expenses during the War of 1812.
The canal bill narrowly passed in the New York legislature despite political obstacles.
Clinton faced physical challenges in the Mohawk River Valley due to rugged mountains, icy rivers, and desolate swamps.
The severe topography of the area was shaped by natural forces that had carved the gorge, highlighting the significance of the Erie Canal.
00:01America's first superhighway a ribbon of
00:05water carved through sheer rock and
00:07untamed wilderness featuring an
00:10ingenious network of stone locks and
00:12aqueducts skeptics called it Clinton's
00:15ditch but visionary saw it as the
00:17Gateway to a gleaming future now the
00:21Erie Canal on modern marvels
00:23[Music]
00:35in the woods off Interstate 90 in
00:38eastern New York there's a narrow ditch
00:41surrounded by a tangle of weeds
00:44it's a rare remnant of one of America's
00:46greatest engineering achievements
00:48[Music]
00:59celebrated in story and sawn the Erie
01:02Canal first opened for business in 1825
01:05it was the first commercial link between
01:07New York and the American West
01:10[Music]
01:12well they reckon out was a breakthrough
01:14public works project it was the most
01:17mammoth project ever attempted by this
01:19country at the time it was sweeping and
01:21it's in its grandeur
01:23it was Canal for nature not just a canal
01:26for New York State
01:27and very real sense a united the country
01:30in ways that no other event of his time
01:33could do it was indeed a world-famous
01:37engineering marvel one analogy I like to
01:40make as I was very much like the
01:41Internet today that people realize
01:43viewed it as something that was amazing
01:45that was unprecedented that was very
01:47much changing their lives from Albany
01:51New York's capital on the Hudson River
01:53Erie Canal stretched through a gap
01:55between the Appalachian Mountains on the
01:57south and the Adirondacks on the north
02:03363 miles later it terminated in Buffalo
02:06linking the Great Lakes with the eastern
02:09seaboard it opened up the entire
02:11heartland of the United States to
02:13commerce not only with the eastern
02:15seaboard but with the world
02:18[Music]
02:20since its completion in the early 19th
02:22century the Erie Canal is undergone
02:24three separate reconstructions and
02:26upgrades
02:28the original waterway was just 40 feet
02:30wide and four feet deep but it was big
02:33enough to consolidate the strength of a
02:35young nation
02:37it's parade of traffic traveled
02:39literally at a Mules pace led by a young
02:43boy called a hoagie the Mules walked a
02:46path along the canal and towed boats
02:48crowded with cargo and passengers there
02:52would have been a tow path on this side
02:54of the canal it would have been
02:55perfectly quiet all that one would have
02:58would be hearing perhaps here would be
03:01the hoof sounds of the towing animals
03:06and the boat would silently glide along
03:11boats traveling west on the Erie Canal
03:14carried manufactured goods from the
03:16industrialized East supplies ranging
03:20from axes and shells to dishware and
03:22clothing helped settlers develop the new
03:25frontier at the same time the canal made
03:30the rich land and resources of the West
03:32accessible to cities east of the
03:34Appalachians goods such as flour wood
03:38and pelts filled the canal boats bound
03:40for Albany once at the capital the boats
03:44were rafted together and towed by
03:46steamboats down the Hudson River to New
03:48York City
03:50their supplies were transferred onto
03:52larger ocean-going vessels bound for
03:55ports around the globe but the canal
03:58boats carried more than just provisions
04:00they carried the dreams of compliments
04:03who hope to find their fortunes in the
04:06bountiful West there was a river of
04:09humanity that came from Europe to the
04:11East Coast and then flowed along the
04:13Erie Canal to this port and then from
04:16here some people stayed others went
04:19farther west on schooners and settled
04:21the Highlands the country a lot of
04:23Americans had ancestors who stood in
04:26this piece of land before the canal was
04:30built the only way west for pioneers and
04:32merchants was an arduous and expensive
04:34Trek by wagon for them Erie Canal was a
04:38dream come true the canal basically took
04:42a six-week trip by wagon down to about
04:44six to ten days once it was complete
04:47across the state and then from that
04:49point in Buffalo you could go all the
04:50way across the Great Lakes as far as
04:52Chicago by water today the Canal is
04:58still busy with traffic but the boats
05:00are usually carrying tourists instead of
05:02Freight that really gives them a sense
05:04of history
05:06I mean there's Nooh lots and there's
05:07other canals but if you figure how far
05:10this dates back gives them a very
05:12interesting perspective on travel you
05:15know from our 500 mile an hour jet
05:17planes everybody is used to do on Erie
05:19Canal and the lots it's quite a
05:21different perspective
05:25back in the 1780s almost as soon as the
05:28ink was dry on the US Constitution the
05:32new nation began to look for an
05:33economical way to push West to tap the
05:36rich resources available in the western
05:38territories but access to resources
05:41wasn't the only reason that the u.s.
05:42wanted to link the region's it just
05:45wasn't economics because there was a
05:48genuine fear by George Washington that
05:50if we don't unite these people that are
05:52moving into the interior with the
05:54eastern seaboard
05:55they might trade with Canada and they
05:57didn't want that economic time because
05:59maybe there would be a political attack
06:01but America's dreams of expansion faced
06:04a formidable obstacle the Appalachian
06:06Mountains
06:07[Music]
06:09the mountain range that stretches from
06:11the southern tip of the Smokies to was
06:13far north as Maine was a daunting
06:16natural barrier that had slowed western
06:18migration for decades the American West
06:23was simply cut off from the Atlantic
06:25coast cities except at one location
06:29fortunately for New York State as the
06:32Appalachian Mountains move northward
06:33from novel Alabama they veer in
06:35Pennsylvania East and then continue
06:37north again and what is not primarily
06:39New England this twist in the mountain
06:43chain creates a gorge which allows the
06:45Hudson River to run through it's the
06:47only place where a major river flows
06:49from west of the Appalachians to the
06:51Atlantic nowhere between Birmingham
06:55Alabama in the South in the st. Lawrence
06:58River on the north is there a passage
07:00through this Eastern mountain chain
07:03other than through New York Nature
07:06preordained this path across New York
07:09State back 200 million years ago when
07:12the athletes of Mount was formed but the
07:15Hudson River flowing through this
07:16passage runs north-south what the nation
07:20needed was a connection directly west
07:22utilizing the Mohawk River Valley but
07:24ran from Albany to central New York
07:26State
07:28the best way to exploit this ancient
07:30river route was with a canal water or
07:36was and still is the cheapest form of
07:38transportation most economical when
07:41you're looking at for ton-mile it takes
07:43a lot less energy in your costs or a lot
07:45less
07:45it's a lot smoother there are no
07:47potholes and water like there are and
07:49even art today paved roads much less the
07:52old dirt roads
07:55in the early 19th century engineers
07:58considered canals the logical choice
07:59when faced with a daunting
08:01transportation challenge they've been
08:06part of humanity's technological legacy
08:08since 4000 BC when the Egyptian King
08:11meanies built a canal to unite Upper and
08:14Lower Egypt it may have been in canals
08:17very much like these that ancient
08:19Egyptians floated blocks of limestone to
08:21build the pyramids ancient China also
08:27forged an enduring legacy of Canal
08:29building workers constructed its Grand
08:32Canal 1400 years ago linking Beijing the
08:36Emperor's capital in the north with the
08:38ocean-going trade of the China coast
08:40south of Shanghai commercial traffic
08:44moves through it to this day
08:48by the late 18th century canals abounded
08:51in Europe proving their worth as
08:53indispensable components of
08:55transportation and commerce this solid
09:00track record wasn't lost on civic
09:01leaders in the fledgling United States
09:05in 1800 New York City was just another
09:08port on the eastern seaboard it began to
09:11see a canal as the key to its future
09:13success in New York at the time that the
09:17canal opened was was doing pretty well
09:18it was growing the population was
09:21growing its the tonnage going in and out
09:23of the harbour was increasing the value
09:26of the goods were increasing the only
09:28trouble is that Philadelphia was still
09:30larger and New York was in very big
09:32competition with Philadelphia
09:35in 1808 the New York state government
09:38began to seriously study the possibility
09:41of a canal that would link the Hudson
09:43River ports of Manhattan to the Great
09:44Lakes the following year a delegation
09:48from New York traveled to Washington DC
09:51to request federal funding for a canal
09:53to the West they projected a budget of
09:56five million dollars but critics claimed
09:58the canal would cost several times that
10:00amount so there are many naysayers for a
10:03lot of different reasons one wasn't an
10:06honest-to-goodness feeling a perception
10:09that it would bankrupt the nation
10:11because we were at that time essentially
10:14a third world nation we went to the
10:16federal government and Thomas Jefferson
10:19said my god fellows come back in about a
10:21hundred years and maybe we'll talk about
10:23it in 1810 almost in defiance of
10:27Jefferson's flat refusal New York's
10:29leaders launched a feasibility study for
10:31a Western waterway they sent a Canal
10:34Committee to western New York State to
10:36examine the possible routes one of the
10:40committee members was a savvy politician
10:41named DeWitt Clinton in 1817 Clinton won
10:47the governorship of New York he
10:50championed the proposed Canal which was
10:52projected to cost more than twice as
10:54much as it cost the state to fight the
10:56war of 1812 budget-conscious state
11:01representatives from Manhattan adamantly
11:03opposed him they derided his grandiose
11:05vision of a canal dubbing it Clinton's
11:08ditch
11:10in 1817 the canal bill went before the
11:13New York legislature by a very narrow
11:16margin the bill passed Clinton knew the
11:21political obstacles he had overcome
11:22didn't compare to the physical ones that
11:24lay ahead the Mohawk River Valley
11:28through which the canal would pass was a
11:31gauntlet of rugged mountains icy rivers
11:33and desolate swamps the severe
11:37topography was the result of the same
11:39natural forces that had carved the gorge
11:44in a very real way the Erie Canal began
11:48in western New York 12,000 years ago
11:52geologically speaking I'm at one point
11:55the Great Lakes flowed almost due east
11:58to the Hudson River down what is now the
12:01Mohawk River and it was those escaping
12:04waters from the Great Lakes that
12:05actually cut the Mohawk River Gorge for
12:10the canals designers the greatest
12:13topographic obstacle created by these
12:15ancient waters was a pronounced
12:17variation in elevation between Lake Erie
12:19and the Hudson River
12:22[Music]
12:23the difference in elevation is 565 feet
12:27and boats can't sail uphill
12:31no where was the shift in elevation more
12:33extreme than at the 60 foot high solid
12:36limestone Niagara Escarpment which
12:40creates Niagara Falls 25 miles to the
12:43northwest
12:44skeptics claimed constructing a canal
12:47over such rugged terrain would be
12:48impossible but an army of engineers and
12:52laborers was determined to prove them
12:54wrong
12:55[Music]
13:00the total cost to construct the Erie
13:03Canal was seven million dollars
13:04equivalent to about three billion
13:07dollars today the Erie Canal will return
13:10on modern marvels
13:11[Music]
13:16we now return to the Erie Canal on
13:19modern marvels in the mid 19th century
13:27this site in downtown Buffalo was filled
13:30with water it was a man-made Harbor
13:33called a commercial slip the slip was
13:36situated at the crucial site where the
13:38western terminus of the Erie Canal met
13:40the Great Lakes here canal boats that
13:42were too small to navigate the lakes
13:44across paths with Lake vessels that were
13:47too large for the canal the commercial
13:50slip was the primary connection between
13:54the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes trade
13:57this was a point where cargoes had to be
14:00transferred the cargo had to be moved
14:02from one but one type of vessel to
14:04another and that was a shipment between
14:07Lake schooners too and the canal boats
14:11the smaller canal boats preservationist
14:14are beginning to restore the slip to its
14:15Erie Canal heyday
14:18by removing the dirt that's accumulated
14:20here in recent decades
14:21once the debris is cleared city
14:24officials will fill the slip with water
14:25enabling boats to dock in downtown
14:28Buffalo this was a real bustling
14:32commercial center we're trying to
14:34recreate that site the flavor the
14:36character the ambiance of that 19th
14:38century site as a way to encourage
14:41tourism and here in Buffalo and really
14:43help people learn and understand the
14:45role of Erie Canal in the history of
14:47this country at the site archaeologist
14:50Frank Chowpatty has unearthed artifacts
14:52that reveal how the Canal pioneered the
14:54way West this is something that we find
14:59probably in the thousands there are
15:02shells from the East Coast that were
15:06shipped in barrels up the canal and it
15:12excited a lot of the Easterners who had
15:14moved here or we were passing through
15:15her because they could finally get fresh
15:18oysters beyond fresh Atlantic oysters
15:22just about every commodity imaginable
15:24once passed through this commercial
15:25nucleus the Erie Canal made it all
15:30possible
15:31[Music]
15:33two centuries ago with a prodigious
15:35challenge of designing a waterway
15:37through New York's rugged wilderness
15:38fell upon three determined men surveyor
15:43James Geddes laid out the canals route
15:45during a scouting expedition through the
15:47Mohawk River Valley getting's was later
15:50joined by geologist Amos Eaton who later
15:53founded Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
15:56now one of America's premier engineering
15:58schools and heading the entire project
16:02was surveyor Benjamin Wright hailed by
16:05many as the father of American civil
16:07engineering none of these men were
16:11professionally trained engineers and
16:13they came to that position either as
16:15land surveyors
16:17oftentimes they were trained as
16:18mathematicians oftentimes they were
16:20trained as scientists but none of them
16:23were trained as engineers and in fact
16:25Benjamin Wright had no college education
16:27whatsoever but for that matter neither
16:29did the other two men there was a little
16:31formal engineering knowledge in the
16:33sense of formal education but there was
16:36a lot of hands-on practical than well
16:39schooled and surveying they read widely
16:43they knew all about preexisting canals
16:45especially in England and in France the
16:50canals pragmatic designers sought to
16:52begin construction on the least
16:53challenging terrain rather than starting
16:56at the rocky and difficult terminals of
16:58buffalo or Albany they chose to begin at
17:01the center of the proposed route on a
17:04wide flat plain in the village of Rome
17:06town officials broke ground on the 4th
17:09of July 1817
17:13the canal would be little more than a
17:15basic dirt ditch and its width of only
17:1840 feet and depth of just 4 feet made it
17:21slightly smaller than its European
17:22counterparts Builders had determined
17:27that four feet of water would supply
17:28just enough buoyancy for a fully loaded
17:31canal boat
17:33[Music]
17:34and canal commissioners didn't want to
17:36pay for anything deeper the Canal
17:39Commission contracted out the labor to
17:41farmers who lived along the route
17:43proposed by the canals designers
17:46typically most of the diggers the the
17:49general maintenance people were
17:50unskilled laborers the early diggers on
17:53the canal were frankly a pretty rough
17:56bunch of people they were tough they
17:59they were they were there to make a
18:01living it was a well-paying job actually
18:04but a lot of fights a lot of labor
18:07fights that type of a thing
18:09these men were people who were used to
18:11hard work and working all day long in
18:14all types of weather and that's what
18:16they faced while they dug at the canal
18:17the canal was dug usually from spring to
18:20fall and they work 12 to 16 hour days
18:23clearing the land so they could build
18:26the dish essentially it was from time to
18:29time to 3,000 perhaps 4,000 men working
18:33away at from 50 to 75 cents a day to get
18:38this ditch built 363 miles across the
18:42state of New York the canals laborers
18:45relied mostly on picks and shovels and
18:47strong backs but they also developed
18:50innovative new tools like the tree stump
18:52puller
18:54the mobile device consisted of two
18:56wheels 16 feet in diameter
18:59set on a long axle mounted in the middle
19:02of the axle was a slightly smaller spool
19:04a rope was wound around the spool and
19:07harnessed to a team of horses a chain
19:10wound around the axle was secured to a
19:12tree stock after workers braced the
19:15outside wheels the horses pulled the
19:17rope which turned the axle and wound in
19:20the chain this provided the leverage
19:22necessary to extract the stump
19:25extracting a stump with a pick and
19:27shovel might take a lone farmer an
19:29entire day or more using a tree stump
19:34remover a crew of seven men and poor
19:36horses could pull out 40 stumps a day
19:38[Music]
19:40such ingenuity and sheer brawn resulted
19:43in a productive first season of
19:44construction but when the ground froze
19:47in November of 1817 crews had to cease
19:50work for the winter they had completed
19:5215 miles of Erie Canal 348 miles and the
19:58roots most treacherous terrain still
20:01remain Erie Canal laborers were paid 80
20:05cents a day nearly double the wage paid
20:07to other unskilled laborers in America
20:09at that time the Erie Canal will return
20:12on modern marvels
20:15you
20:19we now return to the Erie Canal on
20:22modern marvels these engineering
20:30students from Union College in
20:32Schenectady New York are treading in the
20:35footsteps of history they're restoring a
20:38section of the Erie Canal using only the
20:40kinds of tools available to the men who
20:42built it what better way to learn about
20:44the enormity of the challenge faced by
20:46the original workforce
20:48we could come in here with the back hose
20:50and scramble things around fairly
20:52quickly but we want to teach the
20:53students what it was like to build this
20:55before you head the major back both
20:56we've got students in their mechanics
20:58classes that are working with pulleys
21:00and mechanical advantage and stuff like
21:02that and the engineering hasn't changed
21:03a whole lot the laws of physics hasn't
21:06changed perhaps no more fitting
21:10classroom than this exists for budding
21:12engineers because the Erie Canal has
21:15been called America's first school of
21:17engineering the first two seasons of
21:21canal construction had been productive
21:23in 1817 and 1818 the canals builders had
21:28dug close to 95 miles of the Erie Canal
21:31but that early progress had been over
21:34the flattest and most easily excavated
21:36terrain of the route in 1819 builders
21:40would have to cope with more extreme
21:41topography beginning with New York's
21:43great Montezuma swamp in March when the
21:47ground began to thaw workers began
21:49digging through the marshy land west of
21:51Syracuse men worked waist-deep in the
21:54swamp flinging out shovel fulls of mud
21:57from holes that immediately filled with
21:59mud again by July mosquitoes descended
22:03on the workers and became a bigger
22:05problem than the mud malaria carried by
22:09the mosquitoes spread rapidly through
22:11the workforce an estimated 1,000
22:14laborers fell seriously ill one season
22:16and scores of the afflicted are said to
22:19have died the salvation of the workforce
22:24was the early onset of winter in 1819
22:27the cold killed the mosquitoes and froze
22:30the swamp enabling the workers to dig
22:32through the firmer terrain and shore up
22:34the canal banks with wood pilings other
22:38obstacles the laborers faced were dozens
22:40of streams and rivers which criss
22:43crossed the canal route and had to be
22:45either incorporated into the canal or
22:47traversed to cross the rivers the
22:49workers used a tried and true system
22:51perfected by the ancient Romans the
22:54aqueducts purpose of an aqueduct was to
22:57take your boat from one side of a creek
23:00or river to the other side it did not
23:03lift you or drop you down the method of
23:06holding the water was done by a floor
23:08made of Timbers eighteen inches thick
23:11and then there were two walls providing
23:14a box I like to think of it as a rain
23:17gutter and all it did was just take it
23:19from one side of the creek to the other
23:22side the longest of the Erie Canal
23:24aqueducts featured 26 50-foot high
23:27arches that spanned more than 1,100 feet
23:30of river
23:32year after year mile after mile
23:35the workers made steady progress halting
23:38during each winters freeze then resuming
23:41at the spring thaw they saved the most
23:44difficult obstacle for last
23:46a ridge of solid limestone at the town
23:50of Lockport its geological name was the
23:54Niagara Escarpment one of the challenges
23:58that the engineers had was getting over
24:00the Niagara Escarpment
24:02it held Lake Erie from entering New York
24:05State and to the north you'll find
24:08Niagara Falls which is similar there's a
24:1130 foot thick layer of limestone and
24:13Flint
24:14there's Scarman itself is 60 feet high
24:17to traverse the Niagara Escarpment the
24:20canals designers had to devise a way to
24:22get water to flow uphill for 60 feet
24:27the solution to this daunting problem
24:29had been engineered six centuries
24:30earlier by the Dutch it was known simply
24:33as the lock
24:35a lock is a device that lifts or lowers
24:38boats from one water level to another
24:41after a boat heading uphill enters the
24:44lock the gates are closed and water
24:46flows in raising the waterline and the
24:49vessel when the water level reaches that
24:53of the elevated segment ahead the gates
24:55are opened and a boat proceeds to move
24:59downhill water is released from a lot
25:01lowering the waterline and the craft
25:04transporting boats up the 60-foot high
25:06Niagara Escarpment required five
25:09separate locks in a series each lock
25:13would raise about twelve feet to the
25:15next block and finally to the top of the
25:17ridge
25:18[Music]
25:19but maneuvering one boat up were down
25:22all five locks took more than 40 minutes
25:24so the designers devised history's first
25:27set of side by side or twins locks to
25:30accommodate two-way traffic
25:33there were actually 10 lacs it was a
25:36northern tier and a southern tier so
25:38they could maintain traffic in each
25:40direction at the same time up and down
25:43the water flow at Lockport was
25:45controlled by a valves within the wooden
25:47gates that separated each lock the lock
25:50master would go to the top of the gate
25:52which originally was seventeen feet six
25:54inches high he would use a throw rod 90
25:58to 180 degrees cracking the valves
26:01themselves when he opened them up in
26:04about this position water then could
26:06flow from the high side into the low
26:08side when the water level was equalized
26:10then the lock master by means of a
26:13balance beam could actually swing the
26:16gates up against the wall on one side
26:18and swing the gates up against the wall
26:20on the opposite side the bowl would then
26:22enter or leave the lock itself later in
26:26the 20th century engineers modernized
26:28the locks reducing their number from
26:30five to two the locks were also equipped
26:33with motorized gates
26:35today's locks we're going to go through
26:37our five story side that we've 50 tons
26:40of piece and they're operated by a seven
26:42horsepower motor we're gonna go up 25
26:44feet maybe three and a half million
26:46gallons of water flown in here all by
26:48gravity when we first start up in the
26:49locks they can't leave the water in it
26:51too too fast because it boils up and it
26:54gets the too rough for the boats so once
26:57we reach the halfway point then the
26:59operator can open up the valves a little
27:00bit more and the water starts to flow in
27:02the middle of it faster after workers
27:08finished building the locks scaling the
27:10Niagara Escarpment they faced yet
27:12another obstacle they had to blast a
27:15three-mile quarter through the solid
27:17limestone wall that blocked the path to
27:20Buffalo this is a miniature version of
27:22what would have been used by the workmen
27:24to drill the blast holes for the
27:28Lockport cut they would have used a
27:30specially tempered steel rod held by one
27:36man while the other man would hit the
27:38top of the rod with a sledge hammer
27:40essentially strike turn strike turn
27:47these holes would be filled with black
27:49gunpowder and stuffed with a fuse they
27:52actually would hire a kid to do it and
27:54have the kid light it because it was
27:56felt that kids had really good reflexes
27:57and they could get out of there faster
28:00once the explosion shattered the rock
28:02workers smashed it with sledgehammers
28:04and cleared out the debris with shovels
28:07and wheelbarrows
28:08this laborious system was eventually
28:11replaced by the clever creation of an
28:13inventor named orange devil he built a
28:16derrick that could be powered by just
28:18one horse but was strong enough to lift
28:21one ton of stone in a single load these
28:24Derrick's were placed every 70 feet
28:26along the west bank of the Lockport cut
28:29and so at the bottom of the cut they men
28:31would blast and put debris in these
28:34buckets and then the buckets would be
28:36lifted and dropped on the side of the
28:38canal dibbles innovation accelerated the
28:42work on the escarpment but it still took
28:45laborers two years to carve the three
28:47mile trench to Buffalo they finished in
28:49the autumn of 1825
28:52[Music]
28:54and it was in fact that last bit of work
28:56in the Lockport cut that delay the
28:59opening of the canal and was that last
29:01piece of work that when finished that
29:04signaled the opening of the entire Erie
29:07Canal from Buffalo to New York City
29:09after eight years of construction the
29:12Erie Canal was complete the final price
29:15tag was seven million dollars at a
29:17ceremony in Buffalo on October 26th 1825
29:21governor DeWitt Clinton boarded a boat
29:23named the Seneca chief and began a
29:26triumphant journey down the entire
29:28length of the Erie Canal towns along the
29:31route celebrated his passage with
29:33parades and festivals after nine days
29:37and 363 miles Clinton ceremonial regatta
29:41entered the Hudson River when his
29:45flotilla reached the New York City
29:46harbor the governor poured a barrel of
29:49water from Lake Erie into the Atlantic
29:51Ocean in a ceremony called the wedding
29:53of the waters the Erie Canal was
29:56officially open now the real work of
29:59America's new superhighway could begin
30:04word of the Erie Canal grand opening was
30:06relayed from Buffalo to Manhattan by a
30:08succession of firing cannons the cannons
30:12each placed within earshot of the next
30:14along the canal and the Hudson River
30:15delivered the message in less than an
30:18hour and a half the Erie Canal will
30:20return on modern marvels
30:23you
30:27we now return to the Erie Canal on
30:30modern marvels
30:32[Music]
30:37it's hard to imagine but these seemingly
30:40desolate spots that dot upstate New York
30:43or once buzzing with Erie Canal boat
30:45traffic if you could visualize that this
30:47would be filled with water four feet
30:49deep and the water would come up to
30:51about a foot below the level of the tilt
30:53path itself you'd have boats cruising
30:56both east and west at this point a lot
30:59of activity it's only fitting that the
31:02New York State Thruway parallels the
31:04canals original footprint in many
31:07respects the Erie Canal was America's
31:09first highway complete with gnarled
31:11traffic and rest stops what happened was
31:15as the boats came up to these locks it
31:17took time to go through the little towns
31:19it blossomed around the lock systems
31:22because of the stalled traffic at every
31:25lock there's gonna be a general store
31:27there's gonna be a tavern there's gonna
31:30be a butcher shop like any well-traveled
31:34thoroughfare the canal had its share of
31:35fender benders but there were always
31:38accidents bumping lock to gates buffing
31:41lock doors
31:41hitting the stonework hitting each other
31:45in 1826 the first full year of Erie
31:48canals operation
31:50the concept of traffic was a little
31:52different than it is today
31:54at any given time about a hundred and
31:56sixty boats were traveling on the canal
31:59modest is that figure sounds today it
32:03was proof then that the canal was a
32:04triumph for the young nation with the
32:07opening of the Erie Canal here was
32:09something that not only New Yorkers who
32:11had paid for the canal could be proud of
32:13but the whole nation was proud of this
32:16canal and when the canal first opened
32:19people from all over the world but
32:21particularly from the eastern United
32:22States came up to to see it I mean it
32:24was touted as being this amazing
32:27achievement there were technological
32:29feats that people thought would be
32:31impossible to accomplish and so people
32:33went out to see it spectators crowding
32:37the banks enjoyed a close-up glimpse of
32:39the flat bottom boats moving
32:40methodically east and west
32:44based upon European models the boats
32:46were usually 14 feet wide and 78 feet
32:49long each could carry a hundred and
32:52forty thousand pounds of freight most
32:55commonly wheat lumber and raw materials
32:57from the West and furniture tools
33:00clothes and manufactured goods from the
33:02east if this was 1850 this boat would be
33:07filled in the middle section with cargo
33:09either boxed up or in barrels or in
33:11sacks so this section would be filled
33:14from the floor to the ceiling with a lot
33:15of cargo
33:17tolls based on the weight of the cargo
33:19were calculated by way masters in so
33:22called way lock buildings the system is
33:25essentially actually like a an off-ramp
33:28on the Thruway on the on the on the on
33:31the highway system where the trucks
33:33would come off they come off the canal
33:35into the chamber the gates are shut
33:37behind them
33:38the waters is drained out of the chamber
33:41once the water is out of the chamber the
33:43boats resting on a cradle in the bottom
33:45and the boat the boats weight is pushing
33:47that cradle down the weight of the boat
33:49is then recorded on a scale so the way
33:52master is able to then record the loaded
33:55weight of the boats they determine their
33:56toll and off the boat goes the average
34:00tariff was about a half cent per ton per
34:02mile with his boat fully loaded a
34:05merchant paid a toll of around one
34:07hundred and sixty five dollars for the
34:08entire trip
34:10Erie Canal became a cash cow for the
34:13state of New York it was such a success
34:16at paid for all of its construction all
34:18of the operation all of the maintenance
34:20and showed a profit so large in ten
34:22years they did offset the state budget
34:24by two-thirds a sizable portion of the
34:27canals revenue came from passengers
34:29paying by the mile aboard so-called
34:31packet boats the spirit of their journey
34:35was captured in a memorable song many
34:43enjoyed the journey sitting on the boats
34:44wide roof and watching the scenery roll
34:47by but they had to stay alert because as
34:50a cost-saving measure the bridge is over
34:52the Erie Canal were built just four feet
34:54high boat pilots routinely warn
34:56passengers with a cry low bridge
34:59everybody down to remind passengers to
35:02duck as they passed beneath them
35:07it's coming to town
35:11many avoided this drama by relaxing
35:13inside the boat central cabin when night
35:18fell passengers converted the boats
35:20interior to sleeping rooms with pulldown
35:22berths the sexes were segregated when it
35:26came time to sleep men and boys would be
35:29on one side of the curtain and women
35:32would be on the other side so almost
35:34every canal boat would have a curtain
35:35like this which would keep things a
35:38descent during the nighttime canal
35:42passengers valued only one thing more
35:44than comfortable lodging
35:46[Music]
35:53the tireless mule team propelling them
35:56toward their destination the thing that
36:01made the canal so successful was the
36:02fact that two animals this size could
36:05carry loads as great as 75 ton on a
36:08canal boat as opposed to just a few
36:11tonne on a wagon the Mules abiding
36:15companions were the young boy is leading
36:16them mile after mile along the towpath
36:19the boys who worked along the canal were
36:21often sheltered in in barns alongside
36:24their horses often with just four or
36:26five hours of sleep at night and then
36:28they would pull a boat and then they
36:29would stop and maybe have a few more
36:30hours of sleep some 30,000 other workers
36:35including boat men locked tenders toll
36:37takers and repair men helped establish
36:39the Erie Canal as a booming commercial
36:42route that transformed America towns
36:45along the routes such as Albany
36:46Rochester and Syracuse so their
36:49populations explode almost overnight
36:51they were just basically very few
36:54inhabitants until the canal came through
36:56the brought people brought they had to
36:59stay in places they had to buy items and
37:02it was quite a economic boom tremendous
37:06boom
37:08the Erie Canal transformed not only
37:10western New York State but also New York
37:12City the canal steady shipments of flour
37:16and grain made New York the premier port
37:18of the United States and its capital of
37:20Commerce
37:23despite the Canal success there were
37:25those who opposed it they rebelled
37:28against the way it transformed the
37:30economy and accelerated the pace of life
37:33some people just didn't like the whole
37:36market revolution that was happening at
37:37the time they were suspicious of it they
37:40thought that it was leading to class
37:41divisions in society they thought that
37:43it was making people too materialistic
37:46no matter which side of the issue
37:48Americans stood on nothing could stop
37:51the radical march of progress the
37:54changes wrought by the canal would be so
37:56great that the canal itself would have
37:58to be remade if it were to survive
38:01[Music]
38:04to lessen water turbulence that could
38:07erode the Erie Canal earthen walls
38:09officials set the canals first legal
38:12speed limit at four miles per hour the
38:15Erie Canal will return on modern marvels
38:18[Music]
38:23we now return to the Erie Canal on
38:25modern marvels the day Peckinpah barge
38:34has been a fixture on the Erie Canal
38:36since 1921
38:38today it's passing through the canals
38:40modernized blocks just as it has
38:42thousands of times in the past
38:46but this trip is special the ship is
38:48headed to Albany where it will undergo a
38:50major transformation from cargo carrier
38:52to historical landmark where it will be
38:55restored and it'll be a floating Museum
38:59classroom and we hope to then be able to
39:02take it on the waters of New York State
39:04and use it as a public goodwill tour
39:07educational tour and to bring people
39:10back to the canal system again
39:14reservationist spelt compelled to save
39:16the day Peckinpah from the scrapheap
39:18because it's the oldest surviving Erie
39:20Canal cargo ship the day Peckinpah would
39:24never a fit in clinton's ditch the
39:27super-sized canal at now traverses was
39:29created because the original waterway
39:31was unable to keep pace with a
39:33modernizing America by 1836 the Erie
39:38Canal was hailed as an unqualified
39:40success for New York and for America but
39:44success brought its own problems
39:47it didn't take very long into the
39:49history of the canal for people to start
39:51complaining about how they had to wait
39:53when a lock was taking too long when a
39:55boat turned over the canal by being so
39:57successful in fact raised the
39:59expectations so high that people were
40:02soon quite disappointed with it
40:04beginning in 1836 New York officials
40:07launched an improvement project
40:09enlarging the canal to accommodate
40:11bigger boats in greater numbers
40:13it went from 40 feet wide to 70 feet by
40:16from 4 feet deep 7 feet deep took out a
40:19whole bunch of loops of Clinton's ditch
40:20made a canal 15 miles 13 mile shorter
40:24the tonnage of each boat went from 70 to
40:26240 that lowered the cost of
40:28transportation even more by 1862 the
40:33enlargement project was complete but the
40:36canals increased capacity served only to
40:38attract more traffic and congestion
40:40continued in 1895 officials began yet
40:44another improvement in widening project
40:47but it was underfunded and poorly
40:50planned laborers halted their work when
40:53it was only 40 percent complete
40:55all the while the beleaguered canal was
40:58being challenged by a formidable rival
41:00the railroad a train could carry more
41:03freight and passengers faster and over
41:05longer distances than any canal by the
41:091890s many declared that the Erie Canal
41:11had outlived its usefulness
41:13[Music]
41:15New York's energetic governor Theodore
41:18Roosevelt disagreed in 1899 two years
41:22before he would ascend to the presidency
41:24he took bold action to ensure the Erie
41:26Canal survival
41:30Roosevelt appointed a commission to
41:32study the state's waterways this
41:35resulted in a 101 million dollar bond
41:37measure passed by New York State voters
41:39in 1903 it called for the construction
41:43of an even larger canal tailored for
41:4520th century industry the so called
41:49Barge Canal was a far cry from Clinton's
41:52ditch it was 125 feet wide 12 feet deep
41:56and lined with concrete vessels on the
41:59canal could carry up to 1600 tons and
42:02were powered by motors rather than mules
42:04and engineers installed huge new locks
42:07with electric powered doors but progress
42:11had its price the barge canal basically
42:14erased the engineering marvel that
42:16preceded it the portions of the Erie
42:18that weren't incorporated into the barge
42:21canal system were abandoned by the state
42:23in some areas they remained abandoned up
42:25to today and then in some sections the
42:28canal has been incorporated into the
42:30barge canal system
42:31they literally superimposed the barge
42:32canal on top of it over the next half
42:36century the modernized canal became the
42:38prime freight route for the state of New
42:40York
42:41but by the 1950s the combined might of
42:44the railroads highways and larger sea
42:46ways rendered the canal commercially
42:49unviable today however the Erie Canal is
42:53experiencing a rebirth cities along the
42:57route of refurbished sections of the old
42:58waterway to recreate the bygone spirit
43:01of its heyday replicas of old canal
43:05boats take sightseers on tours from
43:07Albany to Buffalo the canal is also
43:11enjoying its new image as a recreational
43:13attraction the New York State canal
43:16corporation has refashioned the old mule
43:18tow path for bikers and runners and open
43:21the canal to watersports we're seeing
43:25more kayaks we're seeing more canoes and
43:27would have ever thought canoes and
43:29kayakers you know going to relax the
43:31future the Canal is bright I think
43:33because this this water weight can be
43:36used in so many different ways it's
43:39ironic that now this canal that we
43:40celebrate because it seems like it
43:42represents a slower pace of life it
43:44seems as though it was a time when when
43:47life was a lot less complicated in fact
43:49at the time was seen as being something
43:51that cop was complicating people's lives
43:53and that was a sign of progress and in
43:54no way a sign of the past well I think
43:57that the Erie Canal very much like any
43:59technological advances that we see today
44:01did have the effect of raising people's
44:04expectations and so that I think we can
44:06see that with anything in our own
44:08lifetime so it was well with plain
44:10transportation or most recently with the
44:12internet for example the Erie Canal
44:16created in the formative years of the
44:18Republic indoors is a symbol of American
44:21ingenuity and the pursuit of progress
44:25it remains a treasured institution that
44:28conjures rich images of the nation's
44:30past for those who ply its waters today
44:33the refrain of the classic ballot may
44:36still ring true
44:39[Music]
44:45lyrica
44:47[Applause]
44:48[Music]
44:59[Applause]
45:03[Music]
45:10you
45:12for all of its construction all of the
45:14operation all of the maintenance and
45:16showed a profit so large in ten years
45:19that had offset the state budget by
45:21two-thirds a sizable portion of the
45:23canals revenue came from passengers
45:25paying by the mile aboard so called
45:27packet boats a spirit of their journey
45:31was captured in a memorable song many
45:39enjoyed the journey sitting on the boats
45:41wide roof watching the scenery roll by
45:43but they had to stay alert because as a
45:46cost-saving measure the bridges over the
45:48Erie Canal were built just four feet
45:50high
45:50boat pilots routinely warned passengers
45:53with a cry low bridge
45:55everybody down to remind passengers to
45:57duck as they passed beneath them
46:04we're coming to the time
46:07many avoided this drama by relaxing
46:09inside the boat central cabin when night
46:14fell passengers converted the boats
46:16interior to sleeping rooms with pulldown
46:18berths the sexes were segregated when it
46:22came time to sleep men and boys would be
46:25on one side of the curtain and women
46:28would be on the other side so almost
46:30every canal boat would have a curtain
46:31like this which would keep things a
46:34decent during the nighttime canal
46:38passengers valued only one thing more
46:40than comfortable lodging
46:42[Music]
46:49the tireless mule team
46:52propelling them toward their destination
46:56the thing that made the canals so
46:57successful was the fact that two animals
47:00this size could carry loads as great as
47:0275 ton on a canal boat as opposed to
47:06just a few ton on a wagon
47:09the Mules abiding companions were the
47:11young boy is leading them mile after
47:13mile along the towpath the boys who
47:16worked along the canal were often
47:18sheltered in in barns alongside their
47:20horses often with just four or five
47:22hours of sleep at night and then they
47:24would pull a boat and then they would
47:25stop and maybe have a few more hours of
47:27sleep some 30,000 other workers
47:31including boat men locked tenders toll
47:33takers and repair men helped establish
47:35the Erie Canal as a booming commercial
47:38route that transformed America towns
47:41along the routes such as Albany
47:42Rochester and Syracuse so their
47:45populations explode almost overnight
47:47they were just basically very few
47:50inhabitants until the canal came through
47:52the brought people brought they had to
47:55stay in places they had to buy items and
47:58it was quite a economic boom tremendous
48:02boom
48:04the Erie Canal transformed not only
48:06western New York State but also New York
48:08City the canal steady shipments of flour
48:12and grains from the Great Lakes that
48:14actually cut the Mohawk River Gorge for
48:19the canals designers the greatest
48:21topographic obstacle created by these
48:23ancient waters was a pronounced
48:25variation in elevation between Lake Erie
48:27and the Hudson River
48:30[Music]
48:31the difference in elevation is 565 feet
48:35and boats can't sail uphill
48:39no where was the shift in elevation more
48:41extreme than at the 60 foot high solid
48:44limestone Niagara Escarpment which
48:48creates Niagara Falls 25 miles to the
48:51northwest
48:52skeptics claimed constructing a canal
48:55over such rugged terrain would be
48:56impossible but an army of engineers and
49:00laborers was determined to prove them
49:02wrong
49:03[Music]
49:08the total cost to construct the Erie
49:11Canal was seven million dollars
49:12equivalent to about three billion
49:15dollars today the Erie Canal will return
49:18on modern marvels
49:19[Music]
49:24we now return to the Erie Canal on
49:27modern marvels in the mid 19th century
49:35this site in downtown Buffalo was filled
49:38with water it was a man-made Harbor
49:41called a commercial slip the slip was
49:44situated at the crucial site where the
49:46western terminus of the Erie Canal met
49:48the Great Lakes here canal boats that
49:50were too small to navigate the lakes
49:52across paths with Lake vessels that were
49:55too large for the canal the commercial
49:58slip was the primary connection between
50:02the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes trade
50:04this was a point where cargoes had to be
50:08transferred the cargo had to be moved
50:10from one but one type of vessel to
50:12another and that was shipment between
50:15Lake schooners to end the canal boats
50:19the smaller canal boats preservationist
50:22are beginning to restore the slip to its
50:23Erie Canal heyday
50:26by removing the dirt that's accumulated
50:28here in recent decades
50:29once the debris is cleared city
50:31officials will fill the slip with water
50:33enabling boats to dock in downtown
50:36Buffalo this was a real bustling
50:40commercial center we're trying to
50:42recreate that site the flavor the
50:44character the ambiance of that 19th
50:46century site as a way to encourage
50:48tourism and here in Buffalo and really
50:51help people learn and understand the
50:53role of Erie Canal in the history of
50:55this country at the site archaeologist
50:58Frank Chowpatty has unearthed artifacts
51:00that reveal how the Canal pioneered the
51:02way West this is something that we find
51:07probably in the thousands there are
51:10shells down to remind passengers to duck
51:15as they passed beneath them
51:19[Music]
51:21coming to town
51:24many avoided this drama by relaxing
51:26inside the boats central cabin when
51:31night fell passengers converted the
51:32boats interior to sleeping rooms with
51:35pulldown berths the sexes were
51:38segregated when it came time to sleep
51:41men and boys would be on one side of the
51:43curtain and women would be on the other
51:46side so almost every canal boat would
51:48have a curtain like this which would
51:50keep things a decent during the
51:52nighttime canal passengers valued only
51:56one thing more than comfortable lodging
51:59[Music]
52:06the tireless mule T propelling them
52:09toward their destination the thing that
52:14made the canals so successful was the
52:15fact that two animals this size could
52:18carry loads as great as 75 ton on a
52:21canal boat as opposed to just a few ton
52:24on a wagon
52:26the Mules abiding companions were the
52:28young boy is leading them mile after
52:30mile along the towpath the boys who
52:33worked along the canal were often
52:35sheltered in in barns alongside their
52:37horses often with just four or five
52:39hours of sleep at night and then it
52:41would pull a boat and then they would
52:42stop and maybe have a few more hours of
52:44sleep some 30,000 other workers
52:48including boat men locked tenders toll
52:50takers and repair men helped establish
52:52the Erie Canal as a booming commercial
52:55route that transformed America towns
52:58along the routes such as Albany
52:59Rochester and Syracuse so their
53:02populations explode almost overnight
53:04they were just basically very few
53:07inhabitants until the canal came through
53:09it brought people brought they had to
53:12stay in places they had to buy items and
53:15it was quite a economic boom tremendous
53:19boom
53:21the Erie Canal transformed not only
53:23western New York State but also New York
53:25City the canal steady shipments of flour
53:29and grain made New York the premier port
53:31of the United States and its capital of
53:33Commerce
53:36despite the Canal success there were
53:38those who opposed it they rebelled
53:41against the way it transformed the
53:43economy and accelerated the pace of life
53:46some people just didn't like the whole
53:49market revolution that was happening at
53:50the time they were suspicious of it they
53:53thought that it was leading to the class
53:54divisions in society they thought that
53:56it was making people too materialistic
53:59no matter which side of the issue
54:01Americans stood on nothing could stop
54:04the radical march of progress the
54:07changes wrought by the canal would be so
54:09great that the canal itself would have
54:11to be remade 1818 the canals builders
54:14had dug close to 95 miles of the Erie
54:17Canal but that early progress had been
54:20over the flattest and most easily
54:22excavated terrain of the route in 1819
54:26Builders would have to cope with more
54:28extreme topography beginning with New
54:30York's great Montezuma swamp
54:33in March when the ground began to fall
54:35workers began digging through the marshy
54:37land west of Syracuse men worked
54:41waist-deep in the swamp flinging out
54:43shovel fulls of mud from holes that
54:45immediately filled with mud again by
54:48July mosquitoes descended on the workers
54:50and became a bigger problem than the mud
54:54malaria carried by the mosquitoes spread
54:57rapidly through the workforce an
55:00estimated 1,000 laborers fell seriously
55:02ill one season and scores of the
55:05afflicted are said to have died the
55:10salvation of the workforce was the early
55:12onset of winter in 1819 the cold killed
55:15the mosquitoes and froze the swamp
55:17enabling the workers to dig through the
55:19firmer terrain and shore up the canal
55:22banks with wood pilings other obstacles
55:26the laborers faced were dozens of
55:28streams and rivers which criss crossed
55:30the canal route and had to be either
55:32incorporated into the canal or traversed
55:34to cross the rivers the workers used a
55:37tried and true system perfected by the
55:39ancient Romans the aqueduct purpose of
55:43an aqueduct was to take your boat from
55:46one side of a creek or river to the
55:49other side it did not lift you or drop
55:51you down the method of holding the water
55:53was done by a floor made of Timbers
55:57eighteen inches thick and then there
55:59were two walls providing a box I like to
56:03think of it as a rain gutter and all it
56:05did was just take you from one side of
56:07the creek to the other side the longest
56:11of the Erie Canal aqueducts featured 26
56:1350-foot high arches that spanned more
56:16than 1,100 feet of river
56:19year after year mile after mile
56:22the workers made steady progress halting
56:25during each winters freeze then resuming
56:28at the spring thaw they saved the most
56:31difficult obstacle for last
56:33a ridge of solid limestone at the town
56:37of Lockport its geological name was the
56:41Niagara Escarpment one of the challenges
56:45that the engineers had was getting over
56:47the Niagara Escarpment
56:49it held Lake Erie from entering New York
56:52State and to the north you'll find
56:55Niagara Falls which is similar there's a
56:5730 foot thick layer of limestone and
57:00Flint
57:01there's Scarman itself is 60 feet high
57:04to traverse the Niagara Escarpment the
57:07canals designers had to devise a way to
57:09get water to flow uphill for 60 feet
57:12workers smashed it with sledgehammers
57:14and cleared out the debris with shovels
57:17and wheelbarrows this laborious system
57:20was eventually replaced by the clever
57:22creation of an inventor named orange
57:25Dibble he built a derrick that could be
57:27powered by just one horse but was strong
57:30enough to lift one tonne of stone in a
57:32single load these Derrick's were placed
57:35every 70 feet along the west bank of the
57:38Lockport cut and so at the bottom of the
57:41cut they men with blast and put debris
57:43in these buckets and then the buckets
57:46would be lifted and dropped on the side
57:48of the canal dibbles innovation
57:51accelerated the work on the escarpment
57:53but it still took laborers two years to
57:56carve the three mile trench to Buffalo
57:58they finished in the autumn of 1825
58:02[Music]
58:04and it was in fact that last bit of work
58:06in the Lockport cut that delay the
58:09opening of the canal and was that last
58:11piece of work when finished that
58:14signaled the opening of the entire Erie
58:17Canal from Buffalo to New York City
58:19after eight years of construction the
58:22Erie Canal was complete the final price
58:25tag was seven million dollars at a
58:27ceremony in Buffalo on October 26th 1825
58:31governor DeWitt Clinton boarded a boat
58:33named the Seneca chief and began a
58:36triumphant journey down the entire
58:38length of the Erie Canal towns along the
58:41route celebrated his passage with
58:43parades and festivals after nine days
58:47and 363 miles Clinton's ceremonial
58:51regatta entered the Hudson River when
58:55his flotilla reached the New York City
58:56Harbor the governor poured a barrel of
58:59water from Lake Erie into the Atlantic
59:01Ocean in a ceremony called the wedding
59:03of the waters the Erie Canal was
59:06officially open now the real work of
59:09America's new superhighway could begin
59:14word of the Erie Canal grand opening was
59:16relayed from Buffalo to Manhattan by a
59:18succession of firing cannons the cannons
59:21each placed within earshot of the next
59:24along the canal and the Hudson River
59:25delivered the message in less than an
59:28hour and a half the Erie Canal will
59:30return on modern marvels
59:33you
59:37we now return to the Erie Canal on
59:40modern marvels
59:42[Music]
59:47it's hard to imagine but these seemingly
59:50desolate spots that dot upstate New York
59:53for once buzzing with Erie Canal boat
59:55traffic if you could visualize that this
59:57would be filled with water four feet
59:59deep and the water would come up to
01:00:01about a foot below the level of the
01:00:03towpath itself you'd have boats cruising
01:00:06both east and west at this point a lot
01:00:09of activity it's only fitting that the
01:00:12meatman town officials broke ground on
01:00:15the fourth of July 1817 the canal would
01:00:20be a little more than a basic dirt ditch
01:00:22and its width of only 40 feet and depth
01:00:26of just four feet made it slightly
01:00:27smaller than its European counterparts
01:00:31Builders had determined that four feet
01:00:33of water would supply just enough
01:00:35buoyancy for a fully loaded canal boat
01:00:39[Music]
01:00:40and canal commissioners didn't want to
01:00:42pay for anything deeper the Canal
01:00:45Commission contracted out the labor to
01:00:47farmers who lived along the route
01:00:49proposed by the canals designers
01:00:52typically most of the diggers the the
01:00:55general maintenance people were
01:00:56unskilled laborers the early diggers on
01:00:59the canal were frankly a pretty rough
01:01:02bunch of people they they were tough
01:01:05they they were they were there to make a
01:01:07living it was a well-paying job actually
01:01:10but a lot of fights a lot of labor
01:01:13fights that type of a thing
01:01:15these men were people who were used to
01:01:17hard work and working all day long in
01:01:20all types of weather and that's what
01:01:22they faced while they dug at the canal
01:01:23the canal was dug usually from spring to
01:01:26fall and they work 12 to 16 hour days
01:01:29clearing the land so they could build
01:01:32the ditch
01:01:33essentially it was from time to time to
01:01:363,000 perhaps 4,000 men working away at
01:01:39from 50 to 75 cents a day to get this
01:01:44ditch built 363 miles across the state
01:01:48of New York the canals laborers relied
01:01:52mostly on picks and shovels and strong
01:01:54backs but they also developed innovative
01:01:56new tools like the tree stump puller
01:02:00the mobile device consisted of two
01:02:02wheels 16 feet in diameter
01:02:05set on a long axle mounted in the middle
01:02:08of the axle was a slightly smaller spool
01:02:10a rope was wound around the spool and
01:02:13harnessed to a team of horses a chain
01:02:16wound around the axle was secured to a
01:02:18tree stump after workers braced the
01:02:21outside wheels the horses pulled the
01:02:23rope which turned the axle and wound in
01:02:26the chain this provided the leverage
01:02:28necessary to extract the stump
01:02:31extracting a stump with a pick and
01:02:33shovel might take a lone farmer an
01:02:35entire day or more
01:02:38using a tree stump remover a crew of
01:02:41seven men and poor horses could pull out
01:02:4340 stumps a day such ingenuity and sheer
01:02:48brawn resulted in a productive first
01:02:50season of construction but when the
01:02:52ground froze in November of 1817 crews
01:02:56had to cease work for the winter they
01:02:58had completed 15 miles of Erie Canal 348
01:03:03miles and the routes most treacherous
01:03:05terrain still remain Erie Canal laborers
01:03:10were paid 80 cents a day nearly da they
01:03:14saved the most difficult obstacle for
01:03:16last
01:03:17a ridge of solid limestone at the town
01:03:21of Lockport its geological name was the
01:03:25Niagara Escarpment one of the challenges
01:03:29that the engineers had was getting over
01:03:31the Niagara Escarpment
01:03:33it held Lake Erie from entering New York
01:03:36State and to the north you'll find
01:03:39Niagara Falls which is similar there's a
01:03:4230 foot thick layer of limestone and
01:03:44Flint the escarpment itself is 60 feet
01:03:47high to traverse the Niagara Escarpment
01:03:50the canals designers had to devise a way
01:03:53to get water to flow uphill for 60 feet
01:03:58the solution to this daunting problem
01:04:00had been engineered six centuries
01:04:01earlier by the Dutch it was known simply
01:04:04as the lock
01:04:06a lock is a device that lifts or lowers
01:04:09boats from one water level to another
01:04:11after a boat heading uphill enters the
01:04:15lock the gates are closed and water
01:04:17flows in raising the waterline and the
01:04:20vessel when the water level reaches that
01:04:23of the elevated segment ahead the gates
01:04:26are opened and a boat proceeds to move
01:04:30downhill water is released from a lot
01:04:32lowering the waterline and the craft
01:04:35transporting boats up the 60-foot high
01:04:37Niagara Escarpment required five
01:04:40separate locks in a series each lock
01:04:44would raise about twelve feet to the
01:04:46next block and finally to the top of the
01:04:48ridge
01:04:49[Music]
01:04:50but maneuvering one boat up were down
01:04:53all five locks took more than 40 minutes
01:04:55so the designers devised history's first
01:04:58set of side by side or twins locks to
01:05:01accommodate two-way traffic
01:05:04there were actually 10 lacs it was a
01:05:07northern tier and a southern tier so
01:05:09they could maintain traffic in each
01:05:11direction at the same time up and down
01:05:14the water flow at Lockport was
01:05:16controlled by a valves within the wooden
01:05:18gates that separated each lock the lock
01:05:21master would go to the top of the gate
01:05:23which originally was seventeen feet six
01:05:25inches high he would use a throw rod 90
01:05:29to 180 degrees cracking the valves
01:05:32themselves when he opened them up in
01:05:34about this position water then could
01:05:37flow from the high side into the low
01:05:39side when the water level was equalized
01:05:41then the lock master by means of a
01:05:44balance beam could actually swing the
01:05:47gates up against the wall on one side
01:05:49and swing the gates up against the wall
01:05:51on the opposite side the bowl would then
01:05:53enter or leave the lock itself later in
01:05:57the 20th century engineers modernized
01:05:59the locks reducing their number from
01:06:01five to two the locks were also equipped
01:06:04with motorized gates
01:06:06today's locks we're going to go through
01:06:08our five story side then we've 50 tons
01:06:11of piece and they're operated by a song
01:06:13max but they also developed innovative
01:06:15new tools like the tree stump puller the
01:06:20mobile device consisted of two wheels 16
01:06:23feet in diameter set on a long axle
01:06:25mounted in the middle of the axle was a
01:06:27slightly smaller spool a rope was wound
01:06:30around the spool and harnessed to a team
01:06:33of horses a chain wound around the axle
01:06:36was secured to a tree stump after
01:06:39workers braced the outside wheels the
01:06:41horses pulled the rope which turned the
01:06:43axle and wound in the chain this
01:06:46provided the leverage necessary to
01:06:48extract the stump extracting a stump
01:06:52with a pick and shovel might take a lone
01:06:53farmer an entire day or more
01:06:57using a tree stump remover a crew of
01:07:00seven men and poor horses could pull out
01:07:0240 stumps a day such ingenuity and sheer
01:07:07brawn resulted in a productive first
01:07:09season of construction but when the
01:07:11ground froze in November of 1817 crews
01:07:15had to cease work for the winter they
01:07:17had completed 15 miles of Erie Canal 348
01:07:22miles and the routes most treacherous
01:07:24terrain still remain Erie Canal laborers
01:07:29were paid 80 cents a day nearly double
01:07:32the wage paid to other unskilled
01:07:33laborers in America at that time the
01:07:36Erie Canal will return on modern marvels
01:07:40you
01:07:44we now return to the Erie Canal on
01:07:47modern marvels these engineering
01:07:55students from Union College in
01:07:57Schenectady New York are treading in the
01:08:00footsteps of history they're restoring a
01:08:03section of the Erie Canal using only the
01:08:05kinds of tools available to the men who
01:08:07built it what better way to learn about
01:08:09the enormity of the challenge faced by
01:08:11the original workforce
01:08:13we could come in here with the back hose
01:08:15and scramble things around fairly
01:08:17quickly but we want to teach the
01:08:18students what it was like to build this
01:08:20before you head the major back boat
01:08:21we've got students in their mechanics
01:08:23classes that are working with pulleys
01:08:25and mechanical advantage and stuff like
01:08:27that and the engineering hasn't changed
01:08:28a whole lot the laws of physics hasn't
01:08:31changed perhaps no more fitting
01:08:35classroom than this exists for budding
01:08:37engineers because the Erie Canal has
01:08:40been called America's first school of
01:08:42engineering the first two seasons of
01:08:46canal construction had been productive
01:08:48in 1817 and 1818 the canals builders had
01:08:53dug close to 95 miles of the Erie Canal
01:08:56but that early progress had been over
01:08:59the flattest and most easily excavated
01:09:01terrain of the route in 1819 builders
01:09:05would have to cope with more extreme
01:09:06topography beginning with New York's
01:09:08great Montezuma swamp in March when the
01:09:12ground began Boreas system was
01:09:14eventually replaced by the clever
01:09:15creation of an inventor named orange
01:09:18Dibble he built a derrick that could be
01:09:20powered by just one horse but was strong
01:09:23enough to lift one ton of stone in a
01:09:25single load these Derrick's were placed
01:09:28every 70 feet along the west bank of the
01:09:31Lockport cut and so at the bottom of the
01:09:34cut they men would blast and put debris
01:09:36in these buckets and then the buckets
01:09:39would be lifted and dropped on the side
01:09:41of the canal dibbles innovation
01:09:44accelerated the work on the escarpment
01:09:46but it still took laborers two years to
01:09:49carve the three mile trench to Buffalo
01:09:51they finished in the autumn of 1825
01:09:55[Music]
01:09:57and it was in fact that last bit of work
01:09:59in the Lockport cut that delay the
01:10:02opening of the canal and was that last
01:10:04piece of work when finished that
01:10:07signaled the opening of the entire Erie
01:10:10Canal from Buffalo to New York City
01:10:12after eight years of construction the
01:10:15Erie Canal was complete the final price
01:10:18tag was seven million dollars at a
01:10:20ceremony in Buffalo on October 26th 1825
01:10:24governor DeWitt Clinton boarded a boat
01:10:26named the Seneca chief and began a
01:10:29triumphant journey down the entire
01:10:31length of the Erie Canal towns along the
01:10:34route celebrated his passage with
01:10:36parades and festivals after nine days
01:10:40and 363 miles Clinton's ceremonial
01:10:44regatta entered the Hudson River when
01:10:48his flotilla reached the New York City
01:10:49Harbor the governor poured a barrel of
01:10:52water from Lake Erie into the Atlantic
01:10:54Ocean in a ceremony called the wedding
01:10:56of the waters the Erie Canal was
01:10:59officially open now the real work of
01:11:02America's new superhighway could begin
01:11:06word of the Erie Canal grand opening was
01:11:09relayed from Buffalo to Manhattan by a
01:11:11succession of firing cannons the cannons
01:11:14each placed within earshot of the next
01:11:16along the canal and the Hudson River
01:11:18delivered the message in less than an
01:11:21hour and a half the Erie Canal will
01:11:23return on modern marvels
01:11:26you
01:11:26[Music]
01:11:30we now return to the Erie Canal on
01:11:33modern marvels
01:11:35[Music]
01:11:40it's hard to imagine but these seemingly
01:11:43desolate spots that dot upstate New York
01:11:46for once buzzing with Erie Canal boat
01:11:48traffic if you could visualize that this
01:11:50would be filled with water four feet
01:11:52deep and the water would come up to
01:11:54about a foot below the level of the
01:11:56towpath itself you'd have boats cruising
01:11:59both east and west at this point a lot
01:12:02of activity it's only fitting that the
01:12:05New York State Thruway parallels the
01:12:07canals original footprint in many
01:12:10respects the Erie Canal was America's
01:12:12first by the late 18th century canals
01:12:16abounded in Europe proving their worth
01:12:18as indispensable components of
01:12:20transportation and commerce this solid
01:12:25track record wasn't lost on civic
01:12:26leaders in the fledgling United States
01:12:30in 1890 board it began to see a canal as
01:12:37the key to its future success in New
01:12:40York at the time that the Canal opened
01:12:42this was doing pretty well it was
01:12:44growing the population was growing its
01:12:47the tonnage going in and out of the
01:12:49harbor was increasing the value of the
01:12:51goods were increasing the only trouble
01:12:53is that Philadelphia was still larger
01:12:55and New York was in very big competition
01:12:57with Philadelphia
01:13:00in 1808 the New York state government
01:13:03began to seriously study the possibility
01:13:06of a canal that would link the Hudson
01:13:07River ports of Manhattan to the Great
01:13:09Lakes the following year a delegation
01:13:13from New York traveled to Washington DC
01:13:16to request federal funding for a canal
01:13:18to the West they projected a budget of
01:13:20five million dollars but critics claimed
01:13:23the canal would cost several times that
01:13:25amount so there are many naysayers for a
01:13:28lot of different reasons that one wasn't
01:13:29an honest-to-goodness feeling and
01:13:34perception that it would bankrupt the
01:13:36nation because we were at that time
01:13:38essentially a third world nation we went
01:13:41to the federal government and Thomas
01:13:43Jefferson said my god fellows come back
01:13:46in about a hundred years and maybe we'll
01:13:47talk about in 1810 almost in defiance of
01:13:52Jefferson's flat refusal New York's
01:13:55leaders launched a feasibility study for
01:13:56a Western waterway they sent a Canal
01:13:59Committee to Western New York State to
01:14:01examine the possible routes one of the
01:14:05committee members was a savvy politician
01:14:06named DeWitt Clinton in 1817 Clinton won
01:14:12the governorship of New York he
01:14:15championed the proposed Canal which was
01:14:17projected to cost more than twice as
01:14:19much as it cost the state to fight the
01:14:21war of 1812 budget-conscious state
01:14:26representatives from Manhattan adamantly
01:14:28opposed him they derided his grandiose
01:14:30vision of a canal dubbing it Clinton's
01:14:33ditch
01:14:35in 1817 the canal bill went before the
01:14:38New York legislature by a very narrow
01:14:41margin the bill passed Clinton knew the
01:14:46political obstacles he had overcome
01:14:47didn't compare to the physical ones that
01:14:49lay ahead the Mohawk River Valley
01:14:53through which the canal would pass was a
01:14:56gauntlet of rugged mountains icy rivers
01:14:58and desolate swamps the severe
01:15:02topography was the result of the same
01:15:04natural forces that had carved the gorge
01:15:08in a very real way the Erie Canal the
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