"On this part of the canal are two stupendous aqueducts across the Mohawk, whose aggregate length, exclusive of the wings, is eighteen hundred and ninety-two feet. And although it was feared by some, that they would not be able to resist the impetus of the ice and current, in the breaking up of the river, by winter freshets; yet they have already been twice subjected to the hazard of such an occurrence, without exhibiting the least appearance of injury or damage. .

"Between Schenectady and Albany are 29 locks, including two at the side cut opposite the city of Troy, most of which were completed during the last season, and it is confidently believed that some of them, for beauty of materials, elegance of workmanship, and symmetry of form, will compare with any locks in the world. . .

"The work on that part of the eastern section, which is confined within the narrow valley of the Mohawk, has been obstructed with a greater complication of difficulties than can be found in any part of the canal. . . . These shores are frequently intersected with steep gullies, which seem to have been excavated by mountain torrents. It was necessary sometimes to project the line along the face of steep banks, and in several places, upon the sides of ledges and cliffs. . . Where the canal occupies the bed of the river, the outer side of the bank is surmounted by enormous slope walls to protect it from abrasion.

"None but those who had examined the line previous to the commencement of the work; who had seen the rude and undulating surface which it traversed, the rocks which were to be blasted, the irregular ledges filled with chasms and fissures which were to form the sides and basis of a water-tight canal; the spongy swamps, and gravel beds, and quick-sands, which were to be made impervious to water; and in short, the huge masses of rough materials, which, with immense labor, were to be reduced to symmetry and form, can duly appreciate the effort which it has required to surmount these various obstacles."

On April 5, 1824, an act was passed "relative to the draining of the Cayuga marshes, and for other purposes," and it was made the duty of the Canal Commissioners, and they were directed

"to examine into the condition of the Seneca valley from the Onondaga outlet, or Jack's reef, to the Cayuga lake, and to take measurements, soundings and levels, with a view to reclaim the marshes, commonly called the Cayuga marshes; also, to ascertain the practi

cability of draining and reclaiming the marshes adjoining the Seneca and Cayuga lakes, respectively; and, also, of examining into the condition of the works erected and constructed upon the Seneca outlet and to take levels and measure distances along or near the outlet, with a view to the improvement of the navigation from the Erie canal, at Montezuma, to the Seneca lake, at or near Geneva; and that the said engineer be, and he is hereby required to report their proceedings with all convenient speed to the Legislature, setting forth what will be the most eligible mode, the probable expense, and the consequent advantages of the proposed improvements, and the effect such improvements would have on the Erie canal.” '

1

On April 10, 1824, the Canal Commissioners were “authorized and required to cause a survey to be made by one or more of the engineers in their employ, of the most practicable route for a canal from the foot of sloop and schooner navigation of the river St. Lawrence, in the county of St. Lawrence, to Lake Champlain, together with estimates of the expense, as nearly as the same can be made, of constructing a canal between the places aforesaid"; and report to the Legislature at its next session.2

On April 12, 1824, the Canal Commissioners were directed "to cause Grand Island, in the Niagara river, to be surveyed and divided into lots not exceeding two hundred acres each," with a view of selling the same.

In November, 1824, Mr. James Tallmadge of Dutchess county, offered a resolution in the Assembly, which was unanimously adopted by that body and then by the Senate, requiring the United States Senators and members of Congress from New York to use their utmost endeavors to prevent the exaction of tonnage duties on boats navigating the canals of this State, which was attempted under the act of Congress passed on February 18, 1793, providing for the enrollment of and imposition of tonnage duties on vessels in the coastwise trade of the United States. He supported his resolution in an able speech, in which he called attention to the fact that tonnage duties were not imposed on boats navigating in the Middlesex, James river or Dismal Swamp

canals, and there was no justice in imposing such burden upon the commerce of the New York canals.

On November 26, 1824, an act was passed to connect the Erie canal with the waters of Lake Ontario; and by an act passed on April 20, 1825, the commissioners of the canal fund were authorized to borrow $160,000, and to apply other revenues to the construction thereof, provided that the whole sum did not exceed $227,000, and it was to be known as the Oswego canal. It was 38 miles long and had 18 locks 90 feet long and 15 wide and cost $565,437 and was completed on December 10, 1828.

The preliminary survey for the Champlain canal was made by Col. Lewis Garin, who reported two places on the Hudson river whence a canal might be constructed to Lake Champlain. One of these was near the mouth of Moses Kill, and following the channel of that stream and Dead Creek reach the summit level, whence it was possible to reach the channel of Wood creek and proceed to Whitehall; the other point of departure from the Hudson was at the mouth of Fort Edward creek and the course was along the valley of that creek to the summit level, and thence down to Wood creek to Whitehall. This route, which was finally chosen, was originally proposed by General Philip Schuyler and the other commissioners appointed by chapter 237 of the Laws of 1816, the same year that the Hudson and Mohawk Lock Navigation Company was incorporated with a capital stock of half a million dollars. In 1817 Mr. James Geddes re-examined the Champlain canal route and made a survey of the territory between Whitehall and Fort Edward.1

By the second section of an act, passed on April 7, 1819, the Canal Commissioners were authorized and empowered to proceed to open the navigation by canals and locks between Fort Edward and the navigable waters of the Hudson river.

The contract for the first section from Whitehall for five miles south was let to Messrs. Melancthon Wheeler and Ezra Smith in 1817. Some difficulty was found in obtainI N. Y. Canal Laws, 377.

I.

ing water for a summit level and it was proposed that a feeder might be brought from Lake George or from the Hudson river, and it was ascertained that one might easily be made from the Halfway brook, which was deemed to be the principal source of supply for the summit level. When the summit level was constructed in 1819, several springs were intercepted which supplied the water for the level without the construction of any other feeder.

In the report of the Canal Commissioners to the Legislature, under date of February 18, 1820, they say:

"During the last season the works on the Champlain Canal have been prosecuted with zeal and activity, by the several contractors to whom they were committed. The locks, the waste weirs, the culverts, and the remaining parts of the excavation and embankment, have been so far completed as to render the canal fit for navigation. On admitting the water in December last, it was ascertained that both levels are perfectly correct."

The engineers were troubled to devise a method of constructing a feeder to the summit level in order to take water from Baker's falls, but a contract was finally entered into for the erection of a dam and excavation of a navigable feeder and the construction of a guard lock to prevent the irruption of the water into the river.

By the provisions of section 3 of the act passed April 12, 1820, entitled, "An act concerning the Erie and Champlain Canals," one-fourth of the moneys to be applied on the construction of the Erie and Champlain canals was appropriated towards the construction of the Champlain canal and the remaining three-fourths to complete sections of the Erie.

The original estimated cost of a canal between Lake Champlain and Waterford on the Hudson river was $871,000. That was deemed sufficient to construct a canal 30 feet wide at the surface, 20 feet at the bottom and 3 feet in depth, with locks 75 feet long and 10 feet wide in the clear. Thereafter the dimensions of the Champlain canal were enlarged to conform to those of the Erie and the additional cost was estimated to be an increase of one-third. However, the data upon which the estimates were made were

insufficient, and as the work progressed it was evident that the cost of the Champlain canal would exceed the estimates.

In 1821, the Canal Commissioners reported that "the works on the Champlain canal have been vigorously prosecuted during the past season. About seventeen miles of excavation, extending from Saratoga falls to within ten miles of the village of Waterford, have been nearly completed. The banks of the canal, on the above seventeen miles, have been formed and completed with a strength and beauty far surpassing any of the similar works which had previously been finished." Credit is given therefor to the engineer, Mr. William Jerome, in charge of that section of the Champlain canal.

It became necessary to construct a dam across the Hudson at the head of Fort Miller falls, which, aided by excavations, improved the bed of the river through Crocker's and Potter's reefs, and produced good boat navigation between Fort Edward and Fort Miller. The Wood creek was so improved that it was made navigable, but the rapidity of the current and deficiency in the depth of water rendered it necessary to construct a dam and lock in that stream.

In this report they predicted that the Champlain canal would be completed the following year, so that vessels could pass from Lake Champlain to the Hudson river without delay. In a later report the commissioners say that the dam, which had been constructed at Fort Edward, was injured by the freshet of 1821 and that Canvass White was directed to lay out a new feeder from the Hudson from above Glens Falls. This was found impracticable and it was decided to repair the dam at Fort Edward.

The Champlain canal was opened to navigation and boats passed through it from Whitehall to Waterford in the fall of 1822. The cost of construction was $921,011, up to 1832, which included the cost of the canal from Fort Edward to the dam above Saratoga Falls.

The Glens Falls feeder was authorized in 1822, completed in 1837, and cost $91,944. The amount of tolls collected during the short period of navigation in 1822 was $3,625.44.

. 2 N. Y. Canal Laws, 19, 24.