From Albany to Buffalo, and from 1825 into the 21st
Century, the Erie Canal has made American history. Tom Grasso, President
of the NY State Canal Society, takes us on a tour of the Canal, past and
present, in this videotape.
Before the railroads spanned the continent, waterways were the best way to
travel. At Fort Edward on the upper Hudson, and at Whitehall, the southernmost
end of Lake Champlain, Tom explains the crucial role of waterways in developing
the American continent. A quick map lesson graphically clarifies the importance
of the Mohawk river valley, the only water route through the coastal mountains
between Canada and Alabama. Overlooking the "Noses" of the Mohawk, we can see
for ourselves why the Erie Canal became the Gateway to the West, and so made
New York the Empire State.
With Tom, we visit the Ft. Hunter guard lock on the Original Erie, then the
Cohoes, Macedon, and Yankee Hill locks and the Schoharie Creek aqueduct on
the Enlarged Erie. As Ted Curtis pilots the Sam Patch tour barge, Pete Seeger
sings "15 Miles on the Erie Canal." Musician George Ward acompanies Peter Spier's
delightful drawings of life on the Enlarged Erie, and we see the only mule-drawn
barge on the system, Miss Apple Grove.
Starting with the magnificent Lock 17 at Little Falls, Tom visits tug boats
and tour boats along the Barge Canal - the third enlargement of the Canal,
completed in 1918. With Peter Wiles on his 1920's yacht Trident, and with
Dan Wiles on the Emita II tour boat, Tom tours the Great Embankment and
Lockport. As we explore the beauty and history of this great artifical river,
we share a vision of its rebirth as a timeless attraction for visitors from
around the world. |
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