HISTORY OF THE WARIOUS
PROJECTS, REPORTS, DISCUSSIONS
ANI) ESTIMATES
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(ANAL ROUTES ACROSS THE STATE ()R NEW YORK
F()R REACHING THE
GREAT LAKES FROM TIDE-WATER
1768–1901–
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN P"


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History of the Various Projects, Reports, Dis-
cussions and Estimates for Reaching the
Great Lakes from Tide-Water.
1768–1901,
BY
WM. PIERSON JUDSON
M. Ann. Soc. C. E.
M. Inst. C. E.
President Oswego Historical Society
; Checked
May 1913
Transportation
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History of the Various Projects, Reports, Dis-
cussions and Estimates for Reaching the
Great Lakes from Tide-Water.
It has been recognized from the earliest days of the settlement
of North America that the Great Lakes and the water courses
by which they could be reached from tide-water were the most
important factors in the development of the country. With
recognition of this fact, the commanding points along the St.
Lawrence, the Niagara, the Oswego, the Mohawk and the Hudson
rivers were fortified by the French or English until 1759, when
the control of these waterways passed into the hands of the
English, and from them ultimately into the control of their
colonies and of the United States.
The question of military control having been settled, the need
for the commercial improvement of these waterways became evi-
dent, and there has been a continued series of works of improve-
ment which have been enlarged and extended in attempts to keep
pace with the growth of commerce. Both the government of
Canada and the government of the State of New York have built
and enlarged these works of improvement which have all been on
too small a scale and have all been outgrown before they were
finished, so that at the present time, it seems generally agreed
that the next enlargement made should be upon a scale sufficient
to meet, not only the present but the prospective, demands of
COImmer Ce.
FORMER SURVEYS.
In the preparation of the report of 1901 and in the considera-
tion which has been given to the subject, much field work has
been done to supply needed information, and full use has also
been made of the many previous surveys and reports and of the
4 PROJECTS FOR REACHING THE GREAT LAKES.
varied information which they have contained, which reports
and surveys are enumerated in order to give an idea of the vast
amount of attention which has been given during years past, as
well as more recently, to this important subject. -
These reports and surveys were, first, for the development of a
route from the Hudson River to Lake Ontario, p. 971; second,
from Lake Ontario around the Falls of Niagara to Lake Erie,
p. 974, and third from the Hudson River to Lake Erie, p. 976.
Examinations were also made by the United States and by the
State of New York of routes of the Upper Hudson, Lake Cham-
plain and the St. Lawrence River to Lake Ontario, p. 979; while
other examinations, which are described separately at p. 983, were
made by the Canadian government on lines through Canadian
territory.
This record of the various surveys, projects and discussions is
arranged chronologically under the above-named headings, those
which treat of the subject in general being given separately at
p. 981.
FIRST PROJECTS.
Naturally the first efforts so made were along the line of the
least obstacles, and were for the improvement of the conditions
along the Mohawk River, in order that the bateaux from the Hud-
son River might reach Oneida Lake and thence have free passage
down the Oswego River to Lake Ontario. The first suggestion
toward this improvement was made by the Colonial Governor of
New York, Sir Henry Moore, in a communication to the Assem-
bly regarding the improvement of the Mohawk River, at the falls
of Canajoharie, under date of December 16, 1768. This was fol-
lowed a little later by the making of a survey in 1784 for a canal
around the Falls of Niagara, with a view of connecting the
waters of the Hudson River and those of Lake Erie by a sys-
tem of canals and slack water navigation by way of the Mohawk
River, Oneida Lake and River and Oswego River and Lake On-
tario, and thence by Niagara River and the projected canal to
Lake Erie. This system was partly completed by works on the
Mohawk River and Oneida Lake, under the first Canal Law, which
PROJECTS FOR REACHING THE GREAT LAKES. 5
was passed on March 24, 1791, and which authorized an explora-
tion for a canal from Fort Stanwix to Wood Creek (by which a
connection would be effected between the headwaters of the
Mohawk River and the headwaters of Oneida Lake, near Rome),
and also for surveys for the improvement of the Mohawk River
to the Hudson River, for which exploration and surveys an ap-
propriation of $500 was made. A commission was appointed to
superintend this work and was composed of Elkanah Watson,
General Philip Schuyler and Goldsborow Banger, who reported
that the object was feasible and that the then accepted cost
of transportation from Albany to Seneca Lake was from $75 to
$100 per ton and required about four weeks for the round trip.
On March 30, 1792, General Washington obtained passage of an
act of incorporation by the Legislature of the State of New York
of the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company for the object of
improving this route, and also of the Northern Inland Lock Navi-
gation Company with the object of improving the route from
the Hudson to Lake Champlain. The Western Company began
operations promptly and in 1796 had opened canals from Schenec-
tady to Seneca Falls on the outlet of Seneca Lake, a distance of
184 miles by the water route and 150 miles in a direct line. These
locks were first built of wood, then of brick and finally of stone,
10 feet wide by 70 feet long with two feet draft, and passed boats
carrying 16 tons. By the means of these boats the freight
charges were at once reduced to $32 per ton for the down trip, and
$16 per ton for the up trip. The natural water courses were used
throughout most of the route, the artificial channels being about
fifteen miles in length.
The Western Company expended $560,000 up to 1820, when the
rights of the Company were finally purchased by the State for
$140,000. This purchase was the first step toward the con-
struction by the State of New York of the original 4-foot Erie
canal to Lake Erie which was decided upon in 1817 and was com-
pleted in 1825, and of the Oswego canal to Lake Ontario which
was surveyed in 1825 and completed in 1828, both of which canals
were enlarged to seven feet depth during the period between 1835
6 PROJECTS FOR REACHING THE GREAT LAKES.
and 1862, and further enlarged during 1897 and 1898, as described
under the heading of “ Hudson River to Lake Erie.”
SURVEYS BY THE UNITED STATES DEEP WATERWAYS COMMISSION
OF 1897-1900.
In 1897 under the Sundry Civil Act of June 4th, the President
on July 28th, appointed a U. S. Board of Engineers on Deep
Waterways consisting of Major Chas. W. Raymond, Corps of
Engineers, U. S. A., Alfred Noble, M. Am. Soc. C. E., and George
Y. Wisner, M. Am. Soc. C. E. During this year and the three
years following, appropriations were made aggregating $485,000
which were expended by this Board in exhaustive surveys of the
waterways and routes through the Great Lakes and thence to
tide-water. The resulting report of this Board was presented to
Congress on December 1, 1900; an advance copy of this report
and copies of the drawings and maps accompanying it have been
supplied for the use of the State Engineer of New York in
connection with the survey of 1900 and report of 1901, and the
State has thus been enabled to make use of the great amount
of accurate work which has been done by this Board during the
three years of its existence.
The lines examined by this Board across New York State
were from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario; from Oswego by way of
the Oswego-Oneida-Mohawk Valley to the Hudson; and by way of
the St. Lawrence River to Lake St. Francis, and thence across
country to Lake Champlain and thence through Lake Champlain
and the upper Hudson to tide-water; estimates were made for a
21-foot and for a 30-foot depth on each of these routes and will be
referred to later under these headings.
NINE MILLION ENLARGEMENT.
In 1897, the enlargement of the Oswego and the Erie canals to
nine feet depth in the waterway and eight feet over structures
was begun by the State of New York and continued through 1898
when work upon this enlargement was suspended and has not
since been resumed.
-
PROJECTS FOR REACHING THE GREAT LAKES. 7
In March, 1899, Governor Roosevelt appointed a committee on
canals of New York State who should advise as to the future
canal policy of the State. The committee consisted of:
General Francis W. Greene, George E. Green, John N. Scatch-
erd, Major Thomas W. Symons, Frank S. Witherbee, Edward A.
Bond, State Engineer and Surveyor of New York, and John N.
Partridge, Superintendent of Public Works of New York.
This committee continued their investigations during 1899 and
reported to the Governor under date of January 15, 1900. The
report is accompanied by many maps and documents and tables
and expresses the opinion of the committee that the canals con-
necting the Hudson River with Lakes Erie, Ontario and Cham-
plain, should be maintained and enlarged. This committee
recommended a barge canal for boats of 10 feet draft and 1,000
tons capacity.
BARGE CANAL SURVEY.
The Legislature considered this report and on April 12, 1900,
chapter 411 of the Laws of 1900 became a law and is entitled as
follows:
“An act directing the State Engineer and Surveyor to cause
surveys, plans, and estimates to be made for improving the Erie
canal, the Champlain canal, and the Oswego canal and making an
appropriation therefor.” This, by action of the canal board, was
afterward made to include the survey and estimate for a canal
from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie around the falls of Niagara.
This appropriation was $200,000 and the report of 1901 gives
the results of the surveys which were made.
THE HUDSON TO LAKE, ONTARIO.
The first examinations for a line from the Hudson to Lake
Ontario were for the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company
and were made by Elkanah Watson with results which have al-
ready been described. James Geddes was the first engineer ap-
pointed by the Surveyor-General, Simeon DeWitt, on June 11,
1808.
A summary of his report is given at pages 96 of the annual re-
8 PROJECTS FOR REACHING THE GREAT LAKES.
port of the State Engineer and Surveyor for 1862, being part of a
“Documentary Sketch of the New York State Canals’’ prepared
by Deputy State Engineer S. H. Sweet and forming 370 pages of
the report for 1862.
Following this in 1817 was the construction of the original Erie
canal of four feet depth, which was completed from Albany to
Buffalo with 84 stone locks 90 feet long and 15 feet wide, in 1825.
For the Oswego canal connecting the Erie canal with Lake On-
tario, surveys and report were made by O. S. Bates, C. E., in
1820, and the canal was completed of the same size as the Erie
canal in 1828, with 18 locks 90 feet by 15 feet, and six guard locks
90 feet by 17 feet, all with 4 feet depth, and with a total lockage
of 154.8 feet.
Surveys and estimates for the enlargement of both of these
canals were made in 1835 and work was in progress until its com-
pletion in 1862, when both of these canals were seven feet deep
with locks 110 feet long and 18 feet wide.
For the further enlargement of the canal from Lake Ontario to
the Hudson, a report containing much valuable information was
made in 1873 by Wm. J. McAlpine, M. Am. Soc. C. E., former
State Engineer of New York, which considered a canal ten feet
deep, with nine feet depth in the locks, and discussed the prob-
able effect of such a canal upon commerce.
In 1875, full surveys and estimates were made by Major (now
General and Chief of Engineers) John M. Wilson, Corps of En-
gineers, U. S. A., which was for a canal having nine feet depth in
the locks with ten feet waterway, and which is a part of the report
for the Chief of Engineers for 1875, Part 2, pp. 534-607.
In 1892, Major Dan C. Kingman, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A.,
appeared before the railways and canals committee of Congress on
February 1st and presented a general statement of the plans and
estimates which had been made up to date, and of the present
conditions and cost. The statement, with a full discussion of the
commercial aspect of the case, was published as a part of H. R.
No. 423, Fifty-fourth Congress, 1st session 1892, and also of H. R.
No. 1023, Fifty-fifth Congress, 1st session 1896.
PROJECTS FOR REACHING THE GREAT LAKES. 9
In 1893, the Oswego board of trade published a report entitled
“An Enlarged Waterway between the Great Lakes and the At-
lantic Seaboard ” which was prepared for it under date of Jan-
uary 25, 1892, by Wm. Pierson Judson, M. Inst. C. E., and which
presented the merits of the route through the Oswego-Oneida-Mo-
hawk channels from Lake Ontario to tidewater in the Hudson
River near Albany.
In 1895, the enlargement of the canal from Lake Ontario to the
Hudson was again considered in a report by Albert J. Himes,
Assoc. M. Am. Soc. C. E., which is given in the annual report of
the State Engineer of New York for 1895, pp. 53-86, with esti-
mates for a 20-foot canal.
In 1896, the United States Deep Waterways Commission pub-
lished a report with map and sectional profile showing the most
direct line through the Oswego-Oneida-Mohawk-Valley between
Oswego and Troy, following the channels of the rivers and the
lake and showing their materials. These were made by Wm.
Pierson Judson, M. Inst. C. E. and are described in the report by
the United States Deep Waterways Commission to be “the first
map and profile adequate for the consideration for a ship canal.”
These were also published separately with title “Lake Ontario to
the Hudson River, 1896.”
During 1897-8-9 surveys were made by the United States
Board of Engineers on Deep Waterways as elsewhere described,
and of a route from the Hudson river to Lake Ontario, and
were divided into three portions which were as follows: That
portion from Oswego to Herkimer which was in charge of Albert
J. Himes, M. Am. Soc. C. E. That portion from Herkimer to the
Hudson which was in charge of David J. Howell, M. Am. Soc.
C. E. and the subject of water supply which was in charge of
George W. Rafter, M. Am. Soc. C. E. These surveys and esti-
mates were for two projects through the Mohawk valley. One
for a high-level project across the summit near Rome, and the
other for a low-level project cutting the summit down to the
regulated level of Oneida lake.
During 1900, Edward A. Bond, M. Am. Soc. C. E., State En-
10 PROJECTS FOR REACHING THE GREAT LAKES.
gineer of New York, caused to be made further surveys, borings
and investigations for water supply as were needed for the pro-
posed barge canal, upon a line between the Hudson and Lake
Ontario.
This survey was organized by appointing as consulting en-
gineers, Trevor C. Leutze, M. Am. Soc. C. E., (Division Engineer
Eastern Division, New York State Canals) and David J. Howell,
M. Am. Soc. C. E., (who had charge of the work of the Eastern
Division of the Mohawk and Oswego line of the 1897-8-9 surveys
for the United States Deep Waterways Commission) with Mr.
Howell as engineer-in-charge.
The investigations for water supply were conducted by Emil
Kuichling, M. Am. Soc. C. E., the whole forming the basis of the
report of 1901.
LAKE ONTARIO TO LAKE ERIE.
A natural sequence of the many projects for canals of various
sizes from the Hudson to Lake Ontario, was the consideration
of a canal from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie, and projects for such
a canal were made in connection with and closely following the
ones already described.
The first action was taken in 1798 when a company was char-
tered by the State of New York to construct around Niagara
Falls, a canal capable of passing boats of eighty tons; which
canal was to be completed within ten years, but which was never
begun. On the expiration of this term, the Legislature directed
the Surveyor-General of the State of New York to explore a
route for canal from the Hudson to Lake Erie and under this
direction James Geddes, C. E., made survey for a canal around
Niagara Falls from Schlossers to Lewiston. The results of this
survey were published under date of January 9, 1809, as a Senate
resolution, in which it was stated that goods were taken from
Lake Erie to Lake Ontario by a 28-mile portage for which the
charge was $10 per ton for the Niagara transfer only.
In 1826 another and more accurate survey was made by pri-
vate individuals, where the matter rested until 1835, when Cap-
tain Wm. G. Williams, of the United States Topographical En-
PROJECTS FOR REACHING THE GREAT LAKES. 11
gineers, was detailed to make survey for a ship canal to connect.
Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Surveys were then made of five
different routes, the results of which are published in seven large
sheets, with report and estimates showing a canal with 10 feet
depth of water. These are published as Doc. 214, H. R. 24th Con-
gress, 1st session, 1836. This matter was again published as
H. R. No. 201, 24th Congress, 2nd session, 1837, and also again
published as part of H. R. Rep. 1430, 51st Congress, 1st session,
1890.
No further action was taken until 1853 when surveys, maps
and estimates for a canal with 14 feet depth of water were made
under New York State Commission by Chas. B. Stuart, C. E., and
Edward W. Serrell, C. E.
In 1863 President Lincoln appointed Chas. B. Stuart, C. E.,
to make report and estimates for a gunboat canal of 12 feet
depth and this report was published as H. R. Doc. No. 51, 38th
Congress, 1st session, 1864. No action was taken until 1867,
when surveys were made for the United States during that year
by James S. Lawrence, C. E., and Stephen S. Gooding, C. E. Six
different lines were surveyed; three from Lewiston on the Niagara
River, and three from Lake Ontario; all being for a depth of 14
feet. These were published, with maps and profiles in report of
the Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., pages 217 to 287, 1868, and again
as part of H. R. Rep. 1430, 51st Congress, 1st session, 1890.
In 1889 a revision of former estimates and surveys was made
by Captain Carl F. Palfrey, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., for a
21-foot canal on two routes from Lake Ontario to Niagara river.
These were published, with profiles and estimates, in the annual
report of the Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., for 1889, at page 2434.
In 1889 a bill was introduced in Congress by Representative
Sereno E. Payne, as H. R. 582, 51st Congress, 1st session, under
date of December 18th, providing for a Commission to select one
of these routes and appropriating $1,000,000 for construction
upon it. No action was taken by Congress.
In 1890 a report, with maps, profiles and revised estimates,
were made by Wm. Pierson Judson, M. Am. Soc. C. E., and were
12 PROJECTS FOR REACHING THE GREAT LAKES.
published as part of H. R. No. 283, 52nd Congress, 1st session,
1892, and as part of Senate resolution of the 54th Congress, 1st
session, 1896, and were also published separately under title of
“From the West and Northwest to the Sea by Way of the
Niagara Ship Canal.” These estimates were for two routes from
Lake Ontario to Niagara River and for 21 feet depth of water.
Reports were also made to Congress in 1890 by Representative
Sereno E. Payne, and in 1892 by Representative C. A. Bentley
and in 1896 by Representative C. A. Chickering and by Senator
Calvin S. Brice, in each of which the commercial and engineering
aspects of the case were fully presented and favorably discussed.
In 1895, under Senate resolution 130, which became a law on
March 2, 1895, the President, in November, 1895, appointed a
United States Deep Waterways Commission, consisting of James
Angell, John E. Russell and Lyman E. Cooley, M. Am. Soc. C. E.
The report made to the Commission by Mr. Cooley contains a
large amount of valuable information on this subject and is ac-
companied by profiles of all the routes, giving information not
before published. The report of the Commission was published
under date of 1897 as H. R. Doc. 192, 54th Congress, 2nd session.
In 1898 the United States Board of Engineers on Deep Water-
ways elsewhere referred to, caused Charles L. Harrison, M. Am.
Soc. C. E., to make surveys and estimates for canals 21 feet
and 30 feet deep, connecting the waters of Lake Ontario and
Lake Erie; the results of which surveys form a part of the re-
port of this Board which was submitted to Congress on December
1, 1900.
In 1900 the State Engineer of New York, Edward A. Bond,
M. Am. Soc. C. E., caused estimates to be made for canals around
Niagara Falls as a part of the barge canal project on the basis
of 11 feet depth in the locks and 12 feet depth in the waterways
as given in the report of 1901.
HUDSON RIVER TO LAKE ERIE.
The first project for the improvement of a line directly through
the State of New York from the Hudson at Albany to Lake Erie
PROJECTS FOR REACHING THE GREAT LAKES. 13
at Buffalo, was of a later date than the first projects for the
routes to Lake Ontario and thence to Lake Erie, which have
already been described.
In 1803 the project of a canal from the Hudson to Lake Erie
was first suggested by Governor Morris, but was not seriously
entertained.
In 1811 Governor Tompkins appointed as a commission to con-
sider inland navigation of the State, Governor Morris, S. Van
Rensselaer, DeWitt Clinton, William North, Thomas Eddy, Peter
B. Porter and Robert R. Livingston and this commission reported
in 1812 outlining a project upon which was based the action of
canal commissioners who were appointed in 1819 “To open com-
munication between the Hudson River, Mohawk River, Seneca
River and Lake Erie.”
In 1816 a law was enacted calling for an estimate for the pro-
posed canal, and on July 4, 1817, the first work of construction
was actually begun at Rome. The operations for the construc-
tion of the whole canal were under the direction of the Canal
Commissioners appointed “to open communication between the
Hudson River, Mohawk River, Seneca River and Lake Erie.” The
canal thus described was completed on October 25, 1825, being
363 miles long and having a depth of four feet, with 84 locks 90
feet by 15 feet, capable of passing boats of 80 tons capacity al-
though the boats which first used it were of only 30 tons capacity.
In 1835 the Canal Commissioners were empowered to enlarge
this canal to seven feet depth and during this enlargement the
line was straightened and shortened so that when this
enlargement to 7 feet depth was completed on September 1, 1862,
the canal was then 350+ miles long, with 72 locks 110 feet by 18
feet, of which 57 were double and 15 were single. The building
of double locks was continued and was completed in 1875 and
since that date the subject of further enlargement has been
several times proposed.
During 1863 Wm. B. Taylor, State Engineer of New York,
caused surveys and estimates to be made for the construction
of gunboat locks upon the Erie and Oswego canals; the locks to
14 PROJECTS FOR REACHING THE GREAT LAKES.
be 26 feet wide and 225 feet long with a depth of seven feet.
In making this project the State Engineer conferred with
Charles B. Stuart, C. E., who during the same year made for
the United States Government, surveys and estimates for a 12
feet gunboat canal around Niagara Falls, as elsewhere men-
tioned under the head of “Lake Ontario to Lake Erie.”
The subject of a further enlargement of the canal from Lakes
Erie and Ontario to the Hudson was considered in the report
of the State Engineer, Horatio Seymour, Jr., for 1878, who
formulated what has since been known as the “Seymour Plan,”
which was to “increase the depth in the canal to eight feet by
lowering the bottom in some places and raising the banks in
Others.”
In 1884 Mr. Elnathan Sweet, State Engineer and Surveyor of
New York, M. Am. Soc. C. E., in a paper read before the Ameri-
can Society of Civil Engineers, presented a project for a ship
canal across the State of New York which should follow the
general route of the Erie canal, but with radical changes in parts
of the route and in the profile. These changes were so ar-
ranged as to give a continuously descending canal from Lake
Erie to the Hudson River, thus avoiding all difficulties of water
supply, the suggested depth being 18 feet. This paper induced
a great amount of valuable discussion, and was published in
the transactions of the Am. Soc. C. E. for February 1885 with
discussions by the following named members: E. L. Corthell,
Edward P. North, Willard S. Pope, O. M. Poe, A. P. Boller, E. S.
Chesborough, W. W. Evans, T. C. Clarke, N. M. Edwards, W. E.
Merrill, John D. Van Buren, Jr., D. Farrand Henry, O. Chaunte,
Clemens Herschel, J. Nelson Tubbs, T. C. Keefer, Robert L. Har-
ris, Theodore Cooper, F. Collingwood, E. Sweet, and also by M.
M. Drake, Simon Stevens and E. H. Walker, Statistician of the
New York Produce Exchange.
In 1892 the subject was considered by Congress and Major
Dan. C. Kingman, Corps of Engineers, United States Army, was
summoned before the Railways and Canals Committee on Feb-
ruary 1, and presented a general statement of the subject up to
PROJECTS FOR REACHING THE GREAT LAKES. 15
date. This statement, with the resulting discussion was pub-
lished as a part of H. R. No. 423, Fifth-fourth Congress, first
session, 1896, and also of H. R. No. 1023, Fifty-fifth Congress,
first session.
In September, 1895, Mr. Thomas C. Clarke, M. Am. Soc. C. E.,
presented a paper entitled “New York and Deep Water to the
Great Lakes,” which was published in the proceedings of the
International Deep Waterways Association at page 273; Mr.
Clarke also presented a paper entitled “Effect of Depth upon
Artificial Waterways,” which was read before the American So-
ciety of Civil Engineers and which was published at page 243
of the proceedings just referred to. This paper was discussed
by Chauncey N. Dutton, M. E., in a paper published at page 345
same proceedings. The subject was further discussed in a paper
by Alexander R. Smith of New York, entitled “An Existing Out-
let to the Sea,” which was published at page 384 of the same
proceedings.
In 1896 Campbell W. Adams, State Engineer of New York,
caused surveys to be made for the enlargement of the existing
canal from the Hudson to Lake Erie for the purpose of making
8 feet depth in the structures and 9 feet depth in the waterway
excepting over structures, and work under this project was in
progress during 1897 and 1898, when it was suspended without
being completed. This subject is also mentioned under the head
of “Former Surveys.”
Action taken upon this subject in 1899-1900 is fully stated
under the same heading.
CHAMPLAIN CANAL.
The construction of the Champlain canal from the Hudson to
Lake Champlain was first proposed by commissioners in a report
to the Legislature on the 8th of March 1814.
On July 15, 1817, the depth of the proposed Champlain canal
was fixed by the commissioners to be 3 feet; the proposed locks
being 75 feet long and 10 feet wide.
In 1818 it was decided to make these dimensions the same as
16 PROJECTS FOR REACHING THE GREAT LAKES.
the Erie canal, or 4 feet depth with locks 90 feet long and 15
feet wide. On this basis the Champlain canal was completed on
November 24, 1819. Statements regarding this canal are to be
found in the reports of the State Engineer and Surveyor for the
years named and are also summarized in an important document
of 370 pages, forming part of the report of William B. Taylor,
State Engineer of New York for 1862 and entitled “Document-
ary Sketch of the New York State Canals,” by S. H. Sweet,
Deputy State Engineer and Surveyor.
In 1860 it was decided that the Champlain canal should be en-
larged to have a depth of 5 feet with locks 110 feet long and 18
feet wide. This depth was completed in 1871, and this is still the
governing depth in 1901.
In 1867 under date of January 1, Samuel McElroy, C. E., re-
ported to J. P. Goodsell, State Engineer of New York, upon the
enlargement of the Champlain canal to 7 feet depth, with gun-
boat locks of 225 feet in length and 25 feet in width. This
report, with its map, is at page 28 of the annual report of the
State Engineer for 1867.
In 1870 estimate was made for the enlargement of the canal
to 7 feet depth and report upon it is found at page 27 of the
annual report of Van Rensselaer Richmond, State Engineer and
Surveyor for 1870.
In 1874 S. H. Sweet, State Engineer and Surveyor, reported
upon the enlargement of the Champlain canal to 7 feet depth.
This report appears at page 72 of the annual report of the State
Engineer for 1874, accompanied by a large map and profile.
In 1875 full surveys and estimates were made by Major (now
General and Chief of Engineers) John M. Wilson, Corps of En-
gineers, U. S. A., which provided for a radical enlargement of the
Champlain canal with a connection thereof to the St. Lawrence
river; said enlargement having a depth of 9 feet in the locks.
This report is a part of the report of the Chief of Engineers for
1875, pages 534 to 607.
Surveys for a further enlargement of the Champlain canal were
made in 1896 under the direction of Campbell W. Adams, State
PROJECTS FOR REACHING THE GREAT LAKEs. 17
Engineer, with the object of making the canal 7 feet in depth.
Operations under this project were in progress during 1897 and
1898 when they were suspended without being completed.
The subject of a ship canal having depth of 21 feet and 30 feet
was examined by the United States Deep Waterways Commis-
sion, whose report, dated December 1, 1900, is elsewhere referred
to.
DISCUSSIONS OF THE GENERAL SUBJECT OF NEW YORK STATE
CANALS.
Several of the papers already referred to, might be considered
as coming more or less under this heading. The subject up to
1862 is most completely covered in a “ Documentary Sketch of the
New York State Canals,” by S. H. Sweet, Deputy State Engineer
and Surveyor, which forms 370 pages of the annual report of
William B. Taylor, State Engineer of New York for 1862.
In 1891, Mr. E. L. Corthell, M. Am. Soc. C. E., on April 8th,
read before the Western Soc. Civ. Engrs. at Chicago, a paper
entitled “An Enlarged Waterway Between the Great Lakes and
the Atlantic Seaboard,” in which was given a summary of the
routes and projects. This was published in the Journal of the
Association of Engineering Societies for April, 1891, and was
discussed at length in the same issue by Mr. Onward Bates, M.
Am. Soc. C. E., by Mr. St. John W. Day, M. W. Soc. C. E., and
by Mr. Charles D. Marx, M. Am. Soc. C. E., and by Mr. Benzette
Williams, M. W. Soc. C. E., and also in the December issue by
Wm. Pierson Judson, J. M. Goodwin and Samuel McElroy.
The publication which contains the most general discussion is
that of the Proceedings of the International Deep Waterways
Association which met at Cleveland, Ohio, on September 24th
and 26th, 1895. The proceedings of this convention were pub-
lished in a book of 460 pages, which contains a vast amount of
valuable discussion on the general subject, including articles by
Thomas Curtin Clarke, M. Am. Soc. C. E. and by Lyman E.
Cooley, M. Am. Soc. C. E., and by Chauncey N. Dutton, M. E.,
and by S. A. Thompson of Duluth and by others.
18 PROJECTS FOR REACHING THE GREAT LAKES.
*
In 1895, as is stated under the heading “Lake Ontario to Lake -
Erie,” Senate Resolution 130 became a law on March 2d, and
the President in November, 1895, appointed a United States Deep
Waterways Commission, consisting of James Angell, John A.
Russell and Lyman E. Cooley, M. Am. Soc. C. E. The report made
to the Commission by Mr. Cooley contains a large amount of
new and valuable information on the general subject and is ac-
companied by original profiles of all the routes. The report of
the Commission was published in 1897 as H. R. Doc. 192, Fifty-
fourth Congress, second session.
In 1896 the River and Harbor Act under date of June 3d, di-
rected the Secretary of War to cause to be made accurate ex-
aminations and estimates of the cost for a ship canal for the
most practicable route, wholly within the United States from
the Great Lakes to the navigable waters of the Hudson River,
of sufficient capacity to transport tonnage of the lakes to the
sea. The Secretary of War detailed Major T. W. Symons, Corps
of Engineers, U. S. Army, M. Am. Soc. C. E., to prepare this
report. It contains discussions of the general proposition of the
various routes and of the class of vessels adapted for their navi-
gation.
In its conclusions this report states that the route considered
best for a ship canal is by the Niagara river, Lake Ontario, OS-
wego, Oneida lake and the Mohawk and Hudson rivers:
That the Erie canal improved and enlarged and modified to
give a continuously descending canal from Lake Erie to the Hud-
son and canalizing the Mohawk River will give better results than
a ship canal and at one-quarter the cost.
This report was submitted under date of June 23, 1897, and
is published as a part of the annual report of the Chief of En-
gineers for 1897, at pages 3131 to 3237.
In 1898, this report of Major Symons was discussed at length
on April 1st, before the Rivers and Harbors House Committee
of the Fifty-fifth Congress, by Mr. S. A. Thompson of Duluth,
who is now the secretary of the board of trade of Wheeling, West
Virginia. This discussion contained a great amount of valuable
PROJECTs For REACHING THE GREAT LAKES. 19
information and was published by the Government Printing
Office in 1900 under the title of “Proposed Ship Canal Con-
necting the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean.”
In 1900, Mr. Joseph Mayer, M. Am. Soc. C. E., presented a
paper which was published in the October proceedings of the
Am. Soc. C. E., and was entitled “Canals Between the Lakes and
New York,” and at the same time Mr. George Y. Wisner, M. Am.
Soc. C. E., presented a paper entitled “The Economic Dimen-
sions for a Waterway from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic,”
which was also published in the October proceedings of the Am.
Soc. C. E.
These papers treated the subject very fully and were discussed
at length in the proceedings of November and December, 1900,
by Major T. W. Symons, Mr. Archibald A. Schenck, Mr. Thomas
Curtis Clarke, Mr. Edward P. North, Mr. Thomas Monro, Mr.
Frank A. Hinds, Mr. Elnathan Sweet, Mr. W. Henry Hunter,
Mr. Theodor G. Hoech, Mr. Alfred Noble and Mr. Lewis M. Haupt,
all of whom were members of the Am. Soc. C. E.
The subject was further discussed in the proceedings of Feb-
ruary, 1901, by the following named members: Rudolph Hering,
George Y. Wisner, R. P. J. Tutein-Nolthenius, Joseph Mayer and
George W. Rafter.
The surveys made by the United States Board of Engineers
on Deep Waterways of 1897-1900 are elsewhere referred to, as
are those made by the State Engineer during 1900, which con-
stitute the report of 1901.
IMPROVEMENT OF THE ST. LAWRENCE RIVER BY THE CANADIAN
GoverNMENT.
Improvement of the St. Lawrence by the Canadian govern-
ment has been in progress since the first occupation of the coun-
try. In its original condition, passage of boats from the tidal
waters of the St. Lawrence, eighty-six miles below Montreal, to
the deep waters of the St. Lawrence at the head of the rapids,
was barred by eight rapids by which the St. Lawrence descends
from the level of Lake Ontario 223 feet, in the distance of 113
/ 47 ° 47.
20 PROJECTS FOR REACHING THE GREAT LAKES.
miles which intervenes between the head of the rapids six miles
below Ogdensburg, or sixty-six miles below Cape Vincent on
Lake Ontario, and the foot of the rapids at Montreal.
By the treaty of Paris in 1783, the navigation of the Gulf of
St. Lawrence was made free to the commerce of both nations,
Great Britain and the United States.
By the treaty of Washington in 1871, navigation of the St.
Lawrence was also opened on equal terms to the subjects of both
countries, and by this treaty the Government of Her Britannic
Majesty urged upon the Government of the Dominion of Canada
to secure to the citizens of the United States the use of the
Welland, St. Lawrence and other canals in the Dominion, on
terms of equality with the inhabitants of the Dominion.
Before the enactment of the treaty of Paris, above referred to,
the first canals were constructed on the St. Lawrence to overcome
the Coteau, the Cedar, the Split Rock and the Cascade rapids.
These canals were begun in 1779 by Captain Twiss of the Royal
Engineers and were finished by him in 1781; the locks were of
cut stone with a width of 6 feet, a depth of 24 feet on the sills and
a length of about 30 feet. The remains of one of them are still
to be seen on the southern bank of the St. Lawrence at Point au
Buisson.
This series of canals and locks were for bateaux only, which
were flat-bottomed boats, sharp at both ends like a whale boat,
of less than 1 foot draught and having an average capacity of 30
barrels of flour, or three tons, and carrying a crew of four or
five men. The toll fixed by Captain Twiss, R. E., and accepted
by the merchants was 25 shillings per bateau, or about $2 per ton.
In 1781, these locks were used by 263 bateaux, two canoes
and one boat, the traffic being limited by the fact that none ex-
cept the King's vessels were allowed to navigate the Great Lakes,
although merchants in vain offered to put their vessels under the
command of royal officers and to pay their salaries.
These canals were enlarged in 1804 on plans made by Colonel
Gother Mann, R. E., with locks 10 feet wide, 110 feet long and
PROJECTS FOR REACHING THE GREAT LAKES. 21
4 feet deep, and were navigated after the war of 1812 by Durham
boats, which were flat-bottomed, round-bowed boats propelled by
poling and carrying 35 tons of cargo. The locks were again en-
larged in 1817 to 12 feet width and were abandoned in 1845.
The Lachine canal, at Montreal, was the next one improved;
this work being begun in 1821 and completed in 1825, with a
depth of 5 feet in the locks, which were 108 feet long and 20 feet
wide.
The Cornwall canal was next built, being begun in 1834 and
finished in 1843. The other canals on the St. Lawrence were
built between 1844 and 1847, and at this latter date all had a
depth of 9 feet, except at certain periods of exceptionally low
water, when this depth could not be maintained.
In 1855, John B. Jervis, civil engineer, reported to the Cana-
dian government on the subject of a canal having 10 feet in the
locks and 11 feet in the waterway, to connect the Canadian canals
on the St. Lawrence with Lake Champlain.
In 1869, John B. Mills, civil engineer, reported to the Cana-
dian Government on the subject of a canal having 12 feet depth
on the sills and 13 feet depth in the waterway to connect the
Canadian canals on the St. Lawrence with Lake Champlain.
In 1871 it was decided to enlarge the canals on the St. Law-
rence to a navigable depth of 12 feet throughout, and subse-
quently it was decided that this depth should be increased to
accommodate vessels of 14 feet draft. The latter is the present
basis of the improvement on the St. Lawrence, which is now
nearly completed with locks which are 270 feet long between the
gates, 45 feet in width, with a clear depth of 14 feet of water on
the sills and in the water ways.
The canals of Canada are fully described by Thomas C. Keefer,
M. Am. Soc. C. E., in a paper published under that title at Ottawa,
and also at page 161 of 1895 Proceedings of the International
Deep Waterways Association. At page 164 of the same publi-
cation, George Johnson, Dominion Statistician, gives particulars
of their cost and traffic.
22 PROJECTS FOR REACHING THE GREAT LAKES.
The engineers most prominent in these latest works of im-
provement above and below Montreal are Mr. Thomas Monro,
M. Inst. C. E., and Mr. John Kennedy, M. Inst. C. E.
In addition to these locks and canals above Montreal, there is
also a submerged canal 394 miles long between Montreal and
Quebec. In 1851, this channel had a governing depth of 104
feet at low water, and this was gradually increased so that in
1888 there was a depth of 273 feet for a minimum width of 300
feet with a maximum width of 550 feet on the curves. These
depths and widths are maintained by the Canadian Government
for a distance of 108 miles from Montreal down stream to tidal
deep water of the lower St. Lawrence where navigation opens
about the last of April.
By this means Montreal, which is 1,000 miles inland from the
Atlantic, is made a port for ocean steamers, and steamers which
draw not more than 14 feet and are not more than 255 feet in
length will now be able to pass up the St. Lawrence into Lake
Ontario and thence through the Welland canal to Lake Erie and
thence to the Upper Lakes.
--
I
NEW YORK STATE CANALS
to be constructed under
Chapter 147 Laws of 1903
MAP
SHOwing PRESENT AND PROPOSED
(CANAL SYSTEM
To accompany REPORT OF
EDWARD A.BOND
State Engineer & Surveyor of N.Y.
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