Oswego Canal

Note: Unless otherwise stated, this history comes from Whitford

Long before humans arrived on the scene, a natural line of water communication between the Great Lakes and the Hudson River could be completed by connecting the Mohawk River and Wood Creek at Rome.   By this route there would be five portages: Cohoes, Little falls, Rome, Oswego Falls and Niagara falls.   This route used the Hudson River from New York City to Waterford, the Mohawk River from Waterford to Rome, Wood Creek from Rome to Oneida Lake, the Oneida River to Three River Point and (Thee River Point), the Oswego River to Lake Ontario, and Lake Ontario and the Niagara River to Lake Erie by constructing canals and locks around these five portages an uninterrupted water communication could be secured from New York City to the Great Lakes.   The Oswego River was particularly well adapted for slackwater navigation, as it did not receive its waters from unreliable mountain streams, but was fed by a large number of lakes, that through the summer gradually discharged the waters which had accumulated during the previous winter.

On March 30, 1792, a company called the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company, was incorporated for the purpose of opening a lock navigation between the Hudson River and Lake Ontario.   This company built a canal around the falls of Little Falls, connected the Mohawk River with Wood Creek at Rome, and improved the navigation of Wood Creek, but on the April 11, 1808, the company surrendered all of its grant west of Oneida Lake.

During the early consideration of the plans for the Erie Canal, opinion was evenly divided as to whether the natural route, which was originally called the Ontario Route, or an artificial inland navigation through the centre of the state from Rome to Lake Erie, should be adopted.   On June 11, 1808, James Geddes was appointed to make a careful examination of the proposed routes, and so firmly was the idea of the Ontario Route established in the public mind that his instructions from the Surveyor General were to devote his chief endeavors toward investigating that route.   He surveyed two routes from Oneida Lake to Lake Ontario, one directly across by way of Salmon Creek, and the other by following the valleys of the Oneida and Oswego Rivers (formerly, Onondaga River).   The first route was investigated because of a recommendation which William Weston, the English engineer, had made to the Directors of the Western and Northern Inland Lock Navigation Companies, in the following words: "From hence [Oswego falls] to Oswego, where the Onondaga river disembogues itself into Ontario, is a continued rapid for twelve miles. The adjacent shores being very steep and rocky, preclude every idea of conducting a canal along the bank; as the only remedy, recourse must be had to dams and locks. – Averse as I am to this mode, yet necessity compels us (however reluctantly) to adopt it.   . . . but previous to this, or the expenditure of any money, below three river point, it will be adviseable to examine, attentively, every other line of communication with lake Ontario, that has the least appearance of practicability. For this purpose, I shall suggest to the board, the propriety of exploring the intermediate country, between Rotterdam [Constantia] and Salmon creek."

In regard to his surveys, Mr. Geddes reported: "Ever since the ‘cutting a canal on the adjacent shore’ of the Oswego river has been pronounced ‘absolutely impracticable,’ hopes have been entertained of finding a route from Oneida lake to lake Ontario, so favourable, that although ‘the distance is 22 miles, it was expected that the line of the canal would not exceed 26 miles.’   Between Rotterdam on lake Oneida, and Salmon creek on lake Ontario, I find the summit of 110 feet above the level of Oneida lake . . . Now, admitting there was water sufficient to supply the summit between Oneida and Ontario, yet 220 feet of extra lockage, added to 124 feet which Oneida lies above Ontario, makes 344 feet of lockage, an objection to the route which will most probably be considered insuperable."

Of the route following the Oneida River and the valley of the Oswego River, he reported that from Oneida Lake to Three River Point the distance was estimated at 18 miles, with a fall of 12½ feet, and from Three River Point to Oswego the distance was estimated at 24 miles, with 111½ feet fall.   From the Oswego Falls to Oswego on Lake Ontario he considered that there must be a side cut the whole way, the only practicable route being on the west side of the river.   Of the water supply for this side-cut, he says:   "The lockage water would have to be taken from the river and drawn through the whole length of the canal.   The Fish lake is a handsome natural reservoir of more than 500 acres, and 21 feet above the level of the top of the falls.   But the feeder would have to be near 2 miles long, and must enter the canal not more than that distance from its head.   A little water at all times is afforded by the Cranberry-marsh, and a few small springs along the line, which is all that can be got with any reasonable expense."   When the route of the Erie canal was finally decided upon, the commissioners adopted the inland route for the reason that by this route more of the western trade would be diverted from Canada than by the Ontario route.

In the spring of 1808, Albert Gallatin, then Secretary of the Treasury, presented to Congress a valuable report on the internal navigation of the country.   This report resulted from President Jefferson’s suggestion, in his second inaugural address, that the surplus monies in the treasury should be appropriated to the great National objects of opening canals and making turnpike roads.   One of the canals that Mr. Gallatin proposed was the connection of the Hudson River with Lake Erie by the Ontario route.   However, nothing ever resulted directly from this great plan.   The Erie Canal, as finally constructed, passed through Syracuse south of Onondaga Lake, but both during and after its construction the agitation continued for the connection of the waters of the Erie Canal and Lake Ontario at Oswego.

In the spring of 1819, upon the recommendation of the canal commissioners, a law was enacted authorizing the opening of a navigable side cut from the Erie Canal to the salt works at Salina and appropriating $6,000 for that purpose.   This side cut, 1 mile-43 chains long, was completed during that year.   This was the first step towards the Oswego Canal.   During the session of 1819, several petitions were presented to the Legislature asking for the improvement of the Oswego River so as to connect the waters of Lake Ontario with those of the great western canals.   The committee to which these petitions were referred reported that "the improvement of the Oswego river, and the other navigable communications between Lake Ontario and the navigable waters leading to the Atlantic ocean, has, from an early period, been received by the state as an object well worthy the public attention, and must now, undoubtedly, be considered as an important link in the great chain of internal navigation, which is now prosecuting under the most happy auspices, and promising the most beneficial results to the commercial and agricultural interests of the country."   On April 13, the two Houses directed, "That the canal commissioners . . . cause a survey of the Oswego river, and such other points of communication as they may think expedient, between Lake Ontario and the great western canal, to be made, with a view of ascertaining the improvements of which they are susceptible, so as to render them capable of navigation; and that they report the same, and an estimate of the expenses of such improvement, together with their opinion in the premises, to the Legislature, at their next session."

In pursuance of this resolution, the canal commissioners caused plans of such improvements to be made and estimates of their expense to be formed.   They reported the improvements to be undoubtedly practicable.   Estimates were presented on two methods of construction.   One plan provided for slackwater navigation from Oswego to the Oswego Falls, with a canal around the falls, the estimated cost being $299,519.41, while the other method provided for making all the locks inland, and a canal in the bank of the river.   The estimate for this plan amounted to $212,599.   The plans provided for improvements to within about 80 rods of sloop and schooner navigation in the harbor of Oswego.   To improve the navigation of the outlet of Onondaga Lake, Mr. David S. Bates, the engineer, proposed the lowering of the lake to the level of Seneca River.   He said: "This may be done by a canal cut in a straight direction between the lake and river, of such depth as to hold four feet water; this would give an average cutting, of six feet and fifty hundredths, and the length would be about fifty-three or fifty-four chains."   Under the first plan, that for canalizing the Oswego River, the canal around the falls was calculated for either side of the river; under the second plan, for the eastern side of the river.   If the river navigation should require a towpath on the bank, the additional expense would be about $1,000 per mile, or $12,000 in the aggregate.   The distance between Salina and Oswego by water was estimated at 36 miles and the fall, 156 feet.

At this time, New York State owned an extensive tract of land in Onondaga County, which had been set apart for the use of salt springs.   On March 30, 1820, a law was passed directing the commissioners of the land office to have this tract surveyed into lots and to sell the same, reserving for the State all salt springs and mines upon such lands.   The money arising from such sales was to be turned over to the canal fund to be used for the improvement of the navigation of the Oswego River and of the communication between the branch canal at Salina and Onondaga Lake.   On April 17, 1822, an act was passed authorizing the canal commissioners to extend the Salina side cut to the navigable waters of Onondaga Lake.   At this same session of the Legislature, the commissioners were directed to lower Onondaga Lake to the level of the Seneca River by making a cut of sufficient width and depth to permit the waters of the lake to subside with the fall of the Seneca River and to afford a good boat navigation between the lake and river.   For this purpose the commissioners were allowed to spend $4,500 of the money arising from the sale of the Onondaga salt tract.   On the completion of the work authorized under these two enactments, the passage from the Erie Canal to the Seneca River by way of Onondaga Lake was as near perfect as was required at that time.

On April 23, 1823, the Oswego Canal Company was incorporated with a capital of $10,000.   The act of incorporation gave the directors of the company the power to build a canal on a route designated by an engineer to be appointed by the canal commissioners, and to use a portion of the waters of the Oswego River, and to conduct these waters out of the Oswego River at a point above the Oswego Rapids upon the east side of the river to such point as the company might require.   It gave them the power to sell or let for a limited time, for mills and other hydraulic purposes, the water that would be conveyed in the canal.   The act provided for the adoption of this canal as a part of the contemplated improvement between Lake Ontario and the Erie Canal, if at any time such a course became expedient, saying, "the canal commissioners shall at all times have full power, in behalf of the state, to enter upon and make all necessary alterations that by them shall be deemed advisable, to take and make use of the waters therefrom, for the use and purposes of filling and supplying all locks that may be constructed to connect the said canal with Lake Ontario; and the said canal shall thereafter become the property of this state, without any payment or compensation whatever to said company: Provided, however . . . that they shall be permitted to take, make use of, and enjoy the surplus waters of said canal, not necessary for filling or supplying the locks that may be erected by the said canal commissioners."   The time for completing the canal was limited to December 1, 1825.   Soon after being incorporated the company began operations, but before much could be accomplished, the State assumed control of the work, as discussed below.

As the result of several petitions signed by a large number of people residing on the Seneca and Oswego Rivers and in the neighboring country, the canal commissioners were authorized to have a "scientific examination" made of the Oswego River from the head of the falls to Lake Ontario, and $100 was appropriated for this object.   This act was passed on the same day as the law incorporating the Oswego Canal Company.   Mr. Holmes Hutchinson, the engineer employed to make this survey, reported in the following year that he estimated the cost of the canal at $227,568.33.   By this survey and estimate it was calculated that the $25,000 appropriated in 1820 would be sufficient to construct all the works wanted between Onondaga Lake and the head of Oswego Falls, except such as might be useful in overcoming the small impediment presented by Gaston’s rift; and that $28,000 more would be sufficient for the construction of such improvements from the head to the foot of the Oswego Falls, as would admit of the passage of boats through that part of the communication.   If these last improvements were made, there would be a boat navigation all the way from the Erie Canal to Lake Ontario subject to the inconvenience during low wate, of lightening heavy loads below the Oswego Falls.   As a result of this estimate, $28,000 was appropriated in November, 1824, for this project with the understanding that the remainder of the $227,568.33 would be appropriated as soon as the condition of the canal fund would justify the expenditure.

There were many reasons advanced in favor of the contemplated improvements:   (1) The State owned over 7,000 acres of land in the vicinity, the value of which would be greatly increased, (2) this was the shortest and cheapest route by which the Erie Canal could be connected with Lake Ontario, (3) the cost of manufacturing salt would be greatly cheapened, as the proposed improvements would open very extensive timber tracts, and the salt works then demanded 30,000 cords of wood per year, (4) more salt would then be manufactured and the State would derive a larger revenue, and (5) a navigable connection would be made between the Erie Canal and over 500 miles of coast, tolerably well settled along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, and in addition Jefferson and St. Lawrence Counties would again gain access to markets which they had been shut off from by the unfriendly regulations of the Canadian Government.

With the exception of some of the inhabitants of Monroe county, every section of the state was heartily in favor of this proposed canal.   The people of Rochester, who wished to have the connection between the Erie Canal and Lake Ontario made in the Genesee Valley, declared that the Oswego route would "for many years to come greatly diminish the revenue of the State."   As a result of various petitions, the joint committee on canals and internal improvements on March 5, 1825, thus reported: "The subject has been repeatedly investigated, for years past, by successive legislatures; its importance and necessity never denied; and a determination always evinced to carry it into execution, whenever a due regard to the interests of the state would permit. In the opinion of the committee, the time has emphatically arrived when this great improvement should be no longer delayed."   They introduced a bill appropriating $160,000 for this object, which became a law on April 20, 1825.

Contracts were let very soon after this bill was passed and by the close of the year 1826 the canal was completed from the outlet of Onondaga Lake to the Three River rift, a distance of about ten miles.   Gaston’s rift, a rapid of half a mile in length, which consisted of rock, was cut through to such a depth as to reduce the water above it to the level below, and to form one continuous level from the outlet of the lake.   This section was opened to navigation in the spring of 1827.   Throughout the entire length of this canal, the river was used in all places where it afforded a sufficient depth of water and was not obstructed by rapids.   The towpath was built on the bank or in a few instances in the middle of the stream so as to be near deep water.   Where the river was obstructed by rapids, the canal was built independently of the river and the descent was overcome by locks.   For several miles between Oswego Falls and Oswego, where the high lands approached the bank, the canal was constructed in the border of the river, and a sloping wall of cobblestone was raised on the outside of the canal to protect the embankment.   The locks were modeled after those on the Erie and were made of cut stone.

In the spring of 1827, over half of the work from the falls to Oswego harbor was performed and all of the contracts were progressing rapidly.   The law ordering the construction of the Oswego Canal did not authorize its connection with the Erie Canal at Salina, and in 1827 the canal commissioners reported to the Legislature that the intervening lake navigation would always be inconvenient and at times dangerous for canal boats: the water of the lake broke with too great violence upon the shore to admit of the construction of a towpath upon it, and without this accommodation, or a canal along its borders and beyond the reach of the surf, boats would be dependent upon the winds and the weather for a passage from one canal to the other.   They reported further that the northern shore of the lake presented "ground remarkably favorable for the construction of a canal, five or six miles long, which would form the desired connection."   To carry out these plans they accordingly advised an appropriation of $210,000, which was made on April 12, 1827.

It was expected that the Oswego Canal would be entirely finished by the time of opening navigation in 1828, but in the middle of the summer a severe epidemic of malignant fever broke out at several places on the work and continued until late in the fall before and after which period the weather was wet and stormy and added greatly to the difficulty of executing the work.   This illness not only lessened the number of effective laborers but also raised the price of labor beyond the ability of many of the contractors to pay, and several of them were discouraged and gave up their contracts.   The contractor who was to build the locks was himself taken ill and died in October, an effort being made to complete the work after his death, but without success.   Work was greatly delayed in the following summer by this same malady and by frequent and continued rains, but on the return of cool weather in autumn the illness abated and the work was completed in December, 1828.

As completed, the Oswego canal was about 38 miles in length.   Of this distance, 19.7 miles consisted of independent canals connected with the Oswego River by locks and dams.   The other 18.56 miles was a slackwater navigation in the river, accommodated with a convenient towpath along its bank.   Its structures of timber and stone consisted of 22 towpath and other bridges, 7 culverts, 1 aqueduct, 2 spillways and 8 dams built across the river, 13 locks of stone masonry and 1 of stone and timber, having an aggregate lift of 123 feet, which was the difference of elevation between the marsh lands at the village of Salina and the surface of the water on Lake Ontario.   In January, 1829, $505,115.37 had been paid for the construction of this canal, and it was estimated that $20,000 further would be required to settle all claims against the canal board.   On April 28, 1829, the Oswego canal was opened to navigation throughout its whole extent.   The canal bank along the shore of Onondaga Lake was composed of so loose a soil, and was so much abraded by the water of the lake on the one side and of the canal on the other, that it was found necessary to secure it on both sides with a facing of timber.

The Oswego Canal Company, soon after its incorporation in 1823, commenced the projected work.   After the company had expended from $3,000 to $4,000 on improvements, the law was passed authorizing the construction of the Oswego Canal; therefore, the canal commissioners assumed control of the work that had already been done and let contracts for the completion of the work in accordance with plans for the Oswego Canal.   The Oswego Canal Company being the lowest bidders on section No. 13, which embraced all that portion of the company’s work which was included in the location of the Oswego canal, received the contract.   The work partially completed by the company was changed and enlarged so as to conform to other portions of the canal and the company as contractor was paid by the State the sum of $15,300 for finishing the work.   When completed, this section was owned in common by the State and the canal company, and was paid for by both State and company, the one having a right to an uninterrupted navigation and the use of the towpath, and the other having a right, according to its charter, to the surplus water for hydraulic purposes.

Almost the only repairs required on this canal during the next few years consisted in raising the towpath along the Seneca and Oswego Rivers where the water would overflow it in the spring.   For the season of 1830, the tolls on the Oswego canal amounted to only $12,335.18, but a large proportion of the wood that was used in the manufacture of salt was brought upon this canal free of charge.   Had the usual charges been made on this article it would have added about $3,000 to the collections.

In 1836, the canal commissioners were authorized to rebuild the lock known as Mud Lock of such size and dimensions as in their judgment the public interest and convenience required.   This lock was originally built of wood, but under this act it was rebuilt of stone, and it was moved a little east of the former lock.   This alteration in the line improved the navigation by rendering the access to and from the river safer and easier and by avoiding a bar that was forming at the foot of the old lock.

In 1839, when the enlargement of the Erie Canal was in progress, a strong feeling was aroused among the inhabitants of Oneida County and of Syracuse towards extending these improvements so as to cover the Oswego Canal.   The State annually derived a large revenue from the manufacture of salt on the public lands in Onondaga County, and one of the principal arguments advanced in favor of the enlargement was the fact that the proposed improvements would cheapen the cost of fuel, practically all of which came by way of the Oswego Canal, and thereby would diminish the expense of manufacturing the salt.   Furthermore, the cost of transportation would be materially reduced, so that the output would be increased, and it would be carried to markets which were at that time supplied from other sources.   As originally constructed, this canal was 40 feet wide at the water surface and 4 feet deep, while the locks were 90 feet long by 15 feet wide, and the guard locks were 90 feet long by 17 feet wide.   As a result of several petitions of the inhabitants of the locality interested, the canal board reported that the enlargement of the Oswego Canal would undoubtedly be to the material advantage of the State and that by already having constructed one lock on the Oswego Canal of a size adapted to the contemplated enlargement, the Legislature had to some extent indicated the policy of the State in regard to this canal.   They reported, however, that in consideration of the great amount of canal work going on at that time, of the consequent vast expenditures thereby demanded, and of the scarcity of engineers and laborers for undertaking new work and the resulting high price of labor, the immediate enlargement was impracticable, but that the policy of the State in regard to its future enlargement should be known, so as to guide the commissioners in making repairs in such a way that future enlargement would not render them useless   . They also recommended that surveys and examinations be made to ascertain the best means and the probable expense of enlarging the Oswego Canal.

For several years, practically no work had been required on the Oswego Canal to keep it in repair beyond removing a few troublesome bars in the Liverpool and Phoenix levels.   In 1842, it was found necessary to make some rather extensive repairs in the neighborhood of Liverpool.   A short distance north of this town there was a low marsh and swamp on the east side of the canal.   At this point, the berme bank of the canal was entirely washed away, permitting the water from the canal to cover a considerable tract of these low grounds to an elevation corresponding with that of the water in the canal.   This circumstance was thought to be the cause of a severe epidemic of illness with which the people in the vicinity were afflicted, and it was found necessary to raise an embankment on the east side of the canal of sufficient solidity and elevation to retain the water, and also to construct a ditch on the outer side, extending to a culvert about a mile from the head of the swamp, of sufficient size to carry off the waters from the marsh, which had been obstructed in their natural course to Onondaga Lake by the construction of the canal.

Before the Oswego canal was constructed, an artificial outlet was cut in a direct line from the north end of Onondaga Lake to the Seneca river, a distance of about 5300 feet.   This channel was about five feet deep and was designed to lower the lake and prevent inundations in the vicinity of the salt springs at Salina and Liverpool, and also for the purpose of navigation, previous to the construction of the Liverpool level of the Oswego Canal.   On the completion of that level, this cut was abandoned as a navigable channel, but as no pier nor breakwater had been raised in the lake to protect the entrance of the new channel, marl and other light substances, driven in by southerly winds, had obstructed the flow of water that the surface of the lake had nearly attained its former elevation.   By the fourth section of an act entitled, "An act in relation to the Onondaga and Montezuma salt springs," passed May 10, 1841, the canal commissioners were authorized to excavate this outlet so as to reduce the level of the lake nearly to that of the Seneca River, and it was also provided that the expense of the work, not exceeding $1,000, should be paid by the superintendent of the salt springs, upon the order of the acting commissioner on that section of the canals.   By 1842, this channel had been reopened to the depth of about five feet and the lake had receded very nearly to the level of the Seneca River.   The total cost of the work amounted to $949.04.   The commissioners were "also authorized to take the waters of the Onondaga Creek below the sawmill of the late Henry Seymour in the village of Salina into the Liverpool level of the Oswego Canal, for the purpose of furnishing sufficient surplus water to propel the public pumps at Liverpool."   This work was executed in a substantial manner and at a moderate expense to obtain an ample supply of water for propelling the public pumps and maintaining the navigation on that level of the canal.

By the "Stop law" passed in 1842, all work on the canals was stopped except such as was absolutely necessary for the preservation of work already completed or in process of construction.   This law did not materially affect the Oswego Canal as but little work had been in progress for several years.

In 1845, numerous citizens of western New York petitioned for a discrimination of tolls in favor of the western section of the Erie Canal, claiming that the agricultural products of the upper or western lakes were being introduced to the markets of New York State through the Welland Canal, Lake Ontario and the Oswego Canal, cheaper than by the route available to the inhabitants of western New York.   Besides, by this route, boats passing from Buffalo to Albany would avoid traversing and paying toll on 155 miles of New York State canals.   To overcome this, it was proposed to make the tolls on the Oswego Canal high enough to equalize this advantage over the other route.   This, however, appeared to the State Legislators to be a very narrow policy, as was forcibly expressed in the language of the State paper of Columbus, Ohio, addressed to the movers of this project: "You may drive this trade from you – you may force one part through the Pennsylvania improvements – you may force another part through the Canadian improvements to Montreal – a third down the Ohio to New Orleans – and anon, another across the Alleghanies by the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, but you cannot force it against its interest through your 155 miles of canal."   Accordingly this project was given up.

In 1845, the canal commissioners were authorized to take charge of the side cut canals in the village of Liverpool connected with the Oswego Canal and to keep them in repair as a part of that canal.   In this year, it was discovered that the dams in the Oswego River had been weakened considerably by the operations of a species of insect very prevalent in the bed of the river.   These insects perforated the timber of which the dams were composed and did a great deal of damage, which necessitated large expenditures for repairs.   The rebuilding of the road and towpath bridge at Three River Point and of the aqueduct at Waterhouse Creek was begun in 1845, but the season was so unfavorable that the work was abandoned and was not fully completed until 1847.

The demand for hydraulic power on the Oswego River increased very rapidly and while it was desirable to permit its use at as many of the dams as was practicable without improperly encumbering the canal or affecting the water required for purposes of navigation, it was found that during the extreme low stages of the river, which usually occurred in the latter part of August or September, the large quantity of water drawn for milling and other purposes, together with that used by the canal and lost by leakage at the dams, frequently reduced the supply below that required for good navigation.   As a remedy for this, it was required that spillways be built in front of all the flumes, through which water passed to the machinery, located at the various dams on the Oswego river, to prevent the water from being so drawn as improperly to depress the surface of the canal.

After the adoption of the new State Constitution in 1846, the Oswego Canal began a new era in its history.   This Constitution permitted appropriations for the canals under certain restrictions.   In the year 1847, $100,000 was appropriated towards the improvement and enlargement of the locks upon the Oswego Canal.   The canal commissioners were, however, placed under heavy restrictions in the use of this money.   Whenever it should be found necessary to rebuild a lock, the commissioners were directed to enlarge it so as to correspond in length and width with the enlarged locks on the Erie Canal, but this fund of $100,000 should only be used to defray the difference in expense of constructing the enlarged lock and the cost of reproducing the original lock.   The balance of the cost was to be paid from the ordinary repair fund.   Further conditions were thus stated: "But in no event shall all such locks be enlarged until one tier of enlarged locks on the Erie canal shall be completed from Syracuse to Buffalo, nor shall any of the locks upon the Oswego Canal be rebuilt until such rebuilding shall be rendered necessary by the failure of those now in use."

The commissioners proceeded to make plans and estimates for the rebuilding of the locks and also considered suggestions relative to alterations in the line of the existing canal.   It was thought that it would be for the best interest of the State to make changes in the location and lift of some of the locks and in the line of the canal.   The result of this investigation was the adoption of a plan for the portion at Fulton, which, when fully completed, would dispense with one dam and two guard locks, and for the portion at Oswego Canal, which would dispense with one dam and two change bridges, and would make an entire separation of the canal from the river at Fulton by constructing an independent canal through the pond and at Oswego by an independent canal from the "High dam" down, crossing the Oswego Company’s millrace and the existing canal by an aqueduct.   Contracts were let as soon as possible and work was progressing rapidly when, by a legislative enactment in 1850, those portions of the law of 1847 which gave the commissioners power to change the location of the locks were repealed.   Under this new law, the canal commissioners were directed to discontinue, without delay, all work on the Oswego Canal that had been commenced or put under contract under the provisions of the act of 1847.   This was a heavy setback to the progress of the Oswego Canal, but it seemed to be the only way of preventing a great reduction in the revenues of the State.

When it was first proposed to improve the navigation of the Oswego River, sagacious statesmen at that period foresaw that the new route would essentially diminish the revenues of the Erie Canal, and provision was made to charge the same amount of tolls upon the Oswego Canal as would be derived upon produce and merchandise transported upon the entire length of the canal west of Syracuse, and the work was authorized by law with this understanding.   However, in 1850, the same rates of toll per mile were charged upon the Oswego and the Erie Canals and the result justified the prediction of the statesmen.

When the Constitutional Convention had under consideration the project to enlarge the Erie Canal and pay the debt of the State, legislators determined that the Oswego Canal should not be enlarged until after the enlargement of the Erie Canal throughout its entire length.   For the purpose of understanding the effect of enlarging the Oswego Canal, before the completion of the Erie canal enlargement, it is interesting to note that the tolls on eastward-bound freight in 1837 amounted to $128,570 at Buffalo and $31,546 at Oswego, and in 1847 they amounted to $1,216,701 at Buffalo and $233,296 at Oswego, while in 1850 they amounted to $703,498.19 at Buffalo and $310,135.39 at Oswego.   In the spring of 1851, legislators took a different view of this subject as a result of representations that by far the larger proportion of the revenue from the Oswego Canal was derived from property coming from the borders of Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River, and the interior of Canada, rather than through the Welland Canal as had been supposed.   The principal part of this trade would have been lost to the citizens of New York State had it not been for the Oswego Canal.   In view of the growing importance of the trade of this region and in the belief that the enlargement of the Erie Canal would soon be completed, a law was passed in 1851 appropriating $200,000 to be available in 1851, and a like amount for the following year, towards the enlargement of the locks of the Oswego Canal, any surplus to be used in enlarging the canal prism itself.   Surveys for the location of locks were made immediately and contracts were let on December 30, 1851, to be completed April 15, 1854.   The enlarged lift locks were generally located a short distance below the old ones for the purpose of building them during the season of navigation.   The guard locks in the old locations were to be built during the suspension of navigation.

The location of the new work at Salina did not materially change the route of the old canal.   The new location was made with reference to continuing the connection with the salt slips, which had become of considerable importance.   The plan as adopted proposed to dispense with one lock on the canal, but to construct a connecting lock with the slips.   This was thought to be better economy than to maintain the connection by reconstructing the four locks on the canal.   Much difficulty would have been found in locating the four enlarged locks to accommodate the salt slips and at the same time to make a good pound reach between them.   Three locks at Fulton and one at Oswego were completed in 1851.

The Assembly committee on canals in 1853 made an interesting report of the relative importance of the Oswego and Champlain canals.   They said in part: "This [Oswego] canal, although but 38 miles in length, and apparently the third canal in productiveness in the State, is in reality second only to the Erie canal in contributing to the general revenues.   The trade of the Oswego canal amounts to about 700,000 tons; that of the Champlain canal 513,000 tons.   The distance from the junction of the Oswego and Erie to Albany is 171 miles; from the junction of the Champlain and Erie, 9 miles.   If we were to suppose all the freight passing through each of those canals to be through freight, we should have 700,000 tons of Oswego canal trade passing over 209 miles of canal, against 500,000 tons of Champlain canal trade passing over 73 miles.   This is not all through freight.   But the relative proportion of through freight to the whole amount transported is largely in favor of the Oswego canal.   The number of tons shipped from other States and Canada, by Oswego in 1852, was 381,104; from the same on the Champlain canal, 107,941.   Probably the same disparity would be preserved in the up freight.   This enables us to approximate to the contribution of each canal to the general revenues.   A large portion of the trade of this [Oswego] canal is derived from Canada.   This trade is rapidly increasing and there are measures now in embryo which will undoubtedly remove some of those restrictions which tend to prevent a more through system of exchanges with our Canadian neighbors . . .   The growing importance of the trade of this canal, its present productiveness as a source of revenue, and the belief that the expense of an increase of its capacity will be amply remunerated, lead the committee to recommend the application of this money so as to admit boats of 150 tons burthen."

In 1853, $50,000 was appropriated towards enlarging the section work on the Oswego Canal, and a little later in the same year $150,000 was set apart to supply the deficiency for rebuilding the locks on this canal during the year commencing October 1, 1852, and $100,000 for the year beginning October 1, 1853.   In 1854, $10,000 was appropriated to bottom out the narrow and crooked portions of the Oswego Canal.   During the same year $348,000 was allotted to this canal towards its enlargement to the general dimensions of 70 feet in width at the water surface, 52½ feet at the bottom by 7 feet in depth of water, the constitutional amendment of 1854 having provided a financial plan for speedily prosecuting this work.   During this year, the walls of the remaining locks under contract were completed, surveys and estimates were made and plans prepared for enlarging and completing this canal, and the larger portion of the work was put under contract.   In 1855, all the locks on the Oswego Canal with the exception of guard lock No. 2 had been completed and were in use.   Guard lock No. 2 had been temporarily lengthened to permit the use of the large class of boats and was under contract to be rebuilt of stone.   The work of enlargement was under way on 47 contracts and there were only 14 on which work had not been begun.   During the next four years, heavy appropriations were made to complete the enlargement, amounting in all to $1,325,023.58.   The original estimates for this canal did not include the rebuilding of the towpath, much of which had to be renewed.

Much of the work under contract in 1856 was of a very difficult nature.   The two sections at Gascon’s Rapids, having a descent of 15 inches, had to be enclosed by a cofferdam for ¾ of a mile.   Merely keeping the cofferdam in repair was an item of great expense.   The improvement of navigation at "Gascon" presented many difficulties.   It was feared that the effect of enlarging and deepening the channel there would lower the surface of the water above that point.   This, however, could not be allowed, and still maintain 7 feet of water at Mud Lock at the head of the level.   Nothing short of a lock and the widening of the remaining channel of the river to compensate for shutting off the canal portion would perfect it, and this improvement was estimated to cost $46,152.   This portion of the canal is a part of the river level between Phœnix and Mud Lock.   After the enlargement was completed and cofferdams were allowed to remain and have since been strengthened with stone filling and riprap so as to form dikes between the canal and river channels.   It was known that the inhabitants along the river and its tributaries were bitterly opposed to the construction of this lock.   The contract for enlarging the prism through Gascon’s Rapids was completed in 1858, and during the following winter and spring freshets, daily observations were made to ascertain the effect of this improvement upon the elevation of the river surface and to determine whether it would be necessary to lower Mud Lock to the level of Phœnix.   The results of these observations were deemed conclusive as to the necessity of lowering the miter sill of Mud lock and plans and estimates were presented to the canal board for lowering the miter sill of Mud Lock one foot.

Under the laws of 1860, $194,117 was appropriated toward the enlargement, one of the requirements of the law being that the bevels at the bottom of lock walls should be cut away so as to give a width of 18 feet at the bottom.   In 1862, $35,000 was appropriated to complete the enlargement, which was accomplished during the year.

Navigation was greatly hindered at Syracuse on account of the inadequacy of facilities for weighing the boats and their cargoes.   There was only one weigh lock at Syracuse and all boats coming from the western division of the Erie Canal or from the Oswego Canal had to be weighed on this one lock.   The rule adopted at Syracuse was to weigh two boats on the Erie Canal to one on the Oswego.   Very frequently boats were as numerous from Oswego as from the west and the delay arising from this source, and the consequent loss to boatmen was growing more and more serious as the tonnage of the canal increased.   In order to remedy this condition of affairs, the construction of a weigh lock at Oswego was advocated.   The locks on the Oswego Canal had all been constructed with a view of doubling them at some future time, so it was proposed to double the guard lock at Oswego, using the new structure as a weigh lock, which at the same time would become one of a second tier of locks.   The subject of the Oswego weigh lock dragged along for two or three years until 1863, when the Legislature set apart $30,000 for its construction.

In 1864, the canal board in a report to the Assembly stated that the Erie and Oswego Canals had nearly reached their maximum capacity for the transportation of property seeking tidewater.   The prisms of these canals seemed capable of sustaining the pressure of a large and steady accumulation of trade for many years, but the locks did not give proportionate facilities for transportation.   By reason of the large number of boats necessarily employed upon the canal, great delays were occasioned at the locks, the time of passage and consequent cost of transportation being thereby increased.   The only remedy for this appeared to lie in increasing the size of the locks.   Another argument of national importance in favor of enlarging the locks was the fact that by the construction of the Rideau, the St. Lawrence and the Welland Canals with gunboat capacity, Great Britain had opened a channel by which, in event of war with the United States, she could bring a fleet of gunboats of the most effective construction and size from Montreal to Lake Ontario within 24 hours.   In such an event, all the cities of the United States situated on the shores of the Great Lakes would lie at its mercy, and there was no means by which our government could bring a fleet to meet it.   By enlarging one of the double locks, where double locks existed, or by constructing a new lock, where single locks only were in use, of a capacity suitable to pass boats 210 feet in length and 25 feet in breadth, and by bottoming out these canals at all points so as to obtain a depth of 7 feet of water, the canal board thought that they could overcome both of these disadvantages.   As this measure was thought to be essential for the protection and defense of the nation at large, and not to be purely a local work, it was considered that New York State could not undertake the task alone, but that it belonged more properly to the Federal Government.   For two years, the Representatives of the State at Washington urged that the Federal Government should undertake this great work, but on account of the exhausted financial condition of the country their efforts were unavailing, and later when improvements of this character were made they were undertaken and completed by the Empire State alone.

Navigation on the Oswego canal was entirely dependent on eight dams.   As constructed in 1827, these dams were all of wood and at this time they had nearly outlived their usefulness.   In enlarging the canal, only one of the dams had been rebuilt, the one at Oswego.   In 1856, part of the dam at Fulton gave way and the breach was repaired by constructing it of masonry.   When this dam was examined with the water off, the timber was found to be so decayed and the whole structure so weak that subsequently the entire dam was rebuilt of stone.   In 1865, six of these old wooden dams remained which at low water were exposed to the constant abrasion of 130,000 cubic feet of water per minute.   The timber of these dams was entirely submerged only at high water, and such portions as were alternately wet and dry had necessarily been in constant process of decay for 38 years.   In 1864, the canal commissioners were authorized to rebuild the Phœnix and Horseshoe dams of masonry at a height that would give no more than 7 feet of water in the levels above these dams and in the following year they were directed to rebuild all the remaining dams of stone and in such manner as to make them permanent as soon as they gave signs of giving out.

In 1865, the Oswego Canal suffered greatly as the result of a freshet.   The towpath was seriously damaged for over five miles on the northern border of Onondaga Lake and the protecting wall along the lake had to be relaid throughout nearly its entire length.   A breach 210 feet long occurred in the High dam and the canal bank below the dam was carried away for a distance of 750 feet.   The Minetto, Van Buren, and Oswego Falls dams were also seriously injured.

In 1866, work was in progress on the dams at Oswego Falls, Braddock’s Rapids, and Phœnix.   The rebuilding of Horseshoe Dam presented many difficulties, for unlike the other dams upon the river, there was no rock foundation upon which to locate it.   It was finally decided to build a berme bank extending from the lock at Horseshoe Dam to the lock at Hinmansville, a distance of a little more than a mile, thereby doing away with the necessity of rebuilding Horseshoe Dam.   On account of the velocity of the current, this was a difficult undertaking, but for the same reason the reconstruction of the dam would have presented equal difficulties, and even if built of stone, without a rock foundation its permanency could not have been assured.

The weigh lock at Oswego was finished in the year 1866, thereby greatly facilitating navigation.

In 1867, the stone dams at Oswego Falls and Phœnix were completed and work was progressing on those at Braddock’s Rapids and Minetto.   In 1868, the dam at Braddock’s Rapids was completed and an appropriation of $50,000 was made for reconstructing High Dam with stone.   Maps, plans and estimates were made and presented to the canal board and work was begun in the following year after a new location was decided upon.

In 1869, the berme bank in the river below Phœnix, which had dispensed with Horseshoe dam, was completed.   Several appropriations were made for the Oswego Canal during this year:   $13,000 was allotted for deepening the Oswego River to compensate for encroachments made on this waterway by enlarging the canal, $25,000 additional was set apart for raising protection banks and for otherwise improving the canal, and $4,000 was for building a vertical wall near Bradley’s Creek to protect the berme bank from being washed away.

A great deal of work was necessitated at Salina by the erection of salt blocks, brine vats and piles of coal too close to the edges of the slips, which were already narrow and were narrowed still more by any slight yielding of the banks.   An appropriation of $15,000 was made for building docks on the north and south side cuts of the canal at Salina, which were rendered necessary by the deepening of the channel.

In 1870, the dam at Minetto was practically completed.   Then all the original timber dams had been replaced by permanent stone structures except Horseshoe Dam, which had been dispensed with, and the High Dam, the contract for which had been let.   At one time, this old dam was found to be so leaky that all of the water of the Oswego River went through it and none over it, thus stopping navigation temporarily.   However, the contractors were hurried along and by making slight repairs navigation was resumed.   In 1871, $22,000 was appropriated towards the reconstruction of High Dam and $15,000 for raising the low banks along the river levels.   In the following year, $88,000 was added to the fund for the completion of High Dam.   The repairs to old work on the canal were very insignificant for several years.   In the spring of 1873, the greater portion of High Ddam had been completed, including its connections with the west shore of the river.   The main part of the old dam, together with its foundation, was left undisturbed and the space between the old and the new dams was filled with stone.   During this year, $60,000 was appropriated to complete this structure and $10,000 for building vertical walls along the berme bank.

During the great freshets of April, 1873, the Oswego Canal was submerged throughout its entire length.   Works that had been built under the supposition that they were high enough to escape the highest floods were swept by the waters of the Seneca and Oswego Rivers, which in some places broke into the canal, and after following its course for a while broke out again, sweeping away the banks, either forming large breaches or scouring the top and sides many feet in depth.   The mechanical structures suffered severely and were saved from total destruction only by timely suggestions from the engineering department and through the persistent efforts of those in charge.

In the fall of 1873, High Dam was completed and brought into use.   This was the last of the old wooden dams on the Oswego River, but as finally built it was a magnificent stone structure.   All of the stone dams were built on a rock foundation and had aprons of timber bolted to the rock.   During 1874, some retaining wall was built and the berme bank below High Dam was protected.

In 1876, $35,000 was appropriated towards deepening the Oswego River in Oswego and for repairing the walls of the canal basin in order to increase the capacity of the waterway.   As a thorough examination by the State Engineer’s department showed that the improvements provided for by this appropriation would not accomplish the purpose sought by the proposers of the act, the work was not done.   During the next few years, some of the dams were protected by building sloping aprons, but all other expenses came under the head of ordinary repairs.   In the report of the Superintendent of Public Works in 1883, most of the dams on the Oswego River were reported as needing no repairs for several years.

High Dam required watching, as its foundations were not of the best.   In 1884, new bulkheads were built in most of the dams but otherwise repairs were normal.   In 1886, the sloping crib aprons were completed on all but the Oswego Dam.   These crib aprons were expensive structures, but were necessary by the wearing away of the soft rock on which the dams were founded.

The agitation for enlarging the locks of the Oswego, which started away back in the early ’sixties, did not attain its object until 1886 when the Legislature appropriated $60,000 for lengthening three locks, Nos. 5 and 6, and guard lock No. 1, making them 220 feet long by 18 feet wide.   In the winter of 1884-5 , an experiment was made in lengthening one of the Erie locks, and during the next few years most of the Erie locks and many of those on the Oswego were lengthened.   During the winter of 1886-7 the three locks just mentioned were lengthened, and these were followed by others: No. 7 and guard lock No. 4 in 1887-8, No. 11 and guard lock No. 3 in 1888-9, Nos. 9 and 10 in 1889-90, and Nos. 8 and 12 in 1890-1.   During the "nine million" improvement, lock No. 18 was also lengthened.

In 1887, work progressed on the contracts for lengthening locks.   Lock No. 1 was lengthened at the foot and as it was built on a rock foundation, little trouble was experienced.   But lock No. 5 (Mud Lock) always had given a great amount of trouble, and here quicksand was encountered.   However, after the expenditure of a great deal of time and money all obstacles were overcome and the lock was completed in the spring of 1887.   Lock No. 6 was lengthened at the foot.   Great care was taken with the foundations of all the locks, concrete being used under foundations and all sand and cement used in this concrete being first subjected to thorough quality tests.   The experience of the contractor of lock No. 4 showed the inexpediency of building the masonry of locks directly on a foundation of solid rock without an intervening timber foundation.   On letting in water at lock No. 4, it was discovered that the apparently solid rock had been completely shattered by the blasting formerly done in enlarging the canal.   The force of the water tore up the rock in the chamber for some 15 feet in length, about two feet in depth and nearly the whole width of the chamber.   This was repaired by constructing a timber apron, but thereafter provisions were made that under like conditions full timber foundations and concrete should always be provided.

From 1887 to 1890, appropriations were made amounting in all to $270,000, which was spent in carrying on the work of enlarging the locks and of dredging and deepening the Oswego Canal to a uniform depth of 7 feet.   During the same period, $20,000 was granted by the Legislature for the purpose of rebuilding the canal wall between the Oswego Canal and the Oswego River in Oswego.

In his annual report to the Legislature in 1890, the State Engineer and Surveyor called attention to the fact that on nearly all the independent canal levels of the Oswego Canal, the bottom as well as the sides of the prism was covered to a depth of six inches or a foot, rendering it necessary to carry the water surface higher to that extent than was originally intended in order to pass loaded boats.   The harbor below lock No. 18, being on the level of Lake Ontario, was subject to the fluctuations in the water surface of that body.   It had become filled with sediment and rubbish until, at ordinary low water, loaded boats could not go outside the main channel and could only pass with difficulty in the deepest portions.   This condition also reduced the clearance under bridges and the relative height of the banks, which increased the danger of collision of light boats with the bridges and of flooding the banks, both by swells from steamers and by excessive feeding.   The Oswego Canal was navigated quite extensively by fast pleasure yachts, passing to and from Lake Ontario, as well as by numerous excursion boats, so the danger from swells was greater, aside from the condition of the prism, than on other canals, making the improvement more imperative.   The State Engineer suggested that it should be dredged so as to make the whole area available for loaded boats at extreme low water.

In 1893, the State Engineer and Surveyor in his annual report advised the Legislature that no further expenditures be made in lengthening the locks on the Oswego Canal, as the traffic on this canal was comparatively light and as, owing to the swiftness of the current, it was doubtful whether the system of moving boats in fleets could be economically applied there.   In that same year, there was a measure pending before Congress appropriating $100,000 for the purpose of making a survey for a ship canal to connect the Hudson River with the Great Lakes.   The two prime reasons for undertaking this gigantic work were, first, the necessity for a channel through which war vessels might be sent through United States territory from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, and second, that grain might be sent from Duluth to Europe without breaking bulk.   Also, in that year, laws appropriated $10,000 for improving the Oswego Canal and a retaining wall was constructed at lock No. 13 at Minetto.   The same chapter appropriated $5,000 for cleaning and repairing the State ditch at Liverpool. The laws of 1894 appropriated $30,000 for the improvement of the Oswego Canal.   This sum, together with that appropriated in 1893, was expended in restoring aprons to dams on the Oswego River.   A stone apron was constructed at Oswego dam and a steel apron at Braddock’s dam.

In his report of 1895, the State Engineer and Surveyor recommended that the Erie and Oswego Canals should be deepened to 9 feet "whenever and however possible without radical changes in existing structures," and that all single locks on the Oswego canal which had not already been lengthened so as to accommodate two boats at a time and which would "permit of this change without undue or unwarranted cost, should be so lengthened and be also equipped with proper hydraulic machinery, not only for drawing boats in and out of locks but also for operating lock gates."

The constitution of 1894 had prepared the way for improving the canals, and the Legislature passed an act on March 6, 1895 making provision for issuing bonds to the amount of $9,000,000 for the improvement of the Erie, Champlain and Oswego Canals, making this act a referendum for the next general election.   This act authorized all the improvements recommended in the report of the State Engineer of that year.   It was referred to the people on November 5, 1895, and was ratified by a majority of 276,886.   The act authorizing enlargement stated that this canal should be deepened to a depth of not less than 9 feet of water, except over aqueducts, miter sills, culverts and other permanent structures, where the depth of at least 8 feet should be obtained.   The deepening might be done by lowering the bottom, raising the banks or by a combination of both methods. The law also provided for lengthening such of the locks as had not already been lengthened.

This appropriation of $9,000,000 was not applied as an appropriation for an enlargement only, but rather as one to be used in putting these canals into as perfect condition as was possible.   For many years, the canals had been permitted to become gradually filled with silt and as a result the speed and consequent number of trips of a canal boat per year had been greatly decreased.   It was necessary that extensive surveys should be made before any work could be prepared for letting, so actual improvements did not begin for several months.   During 1896, contracts were let for raising Braddock’s, High, Minetto and Oswego dams, for rebuilding and lengthening lock No. 18, and several contracts for improving the canal prism.   The contracts let in 1897 under the provisions of the acts for the "nine million" improvement included those for raising the dam at Oswego Falls, for raising about 3½ miles of towpath, and for deepening the canal prism.   The contracts for improving the Lake Ontario level in the Oswego harbor and for improving about 2½ miles of canal were completed in 1897, and in the following year the contracts for rebuilding lock No. 18 and for raising 3½ miles of towpath were completed.   During 1899, the contract for raising the Oswego Falls dam was completed.

On account of the insufficiency of the appropriation, all of the contracts on this canal, except those just mentioned as having been completed, were suspended on May 14, 1898, and afterward settled.   While the final cost of this work greatly exceeded the preliminary estimates, the work done very greatly improved the navigation of the Oswego Canal, and if it could have been completed upon the plans laid out, the annual repairs would have been reduced to a minimum.

After the stoppage of work on this nine-foot improvement there is little to record that has not already been told in the account of the Erie.   In 1900, this route was included in the preliminary Barge Canal surveys, and estimates were made for constructing that canal by this route and through Lake Ontario, as well as by continuing westward along the Seneca River.   However, when the measure came before the people in the referendum of 1903, the main canal was authorized to follow the Seneca River and the Oswego Branch to begin at the junction of the Oswego, Seneca and Oneida Rivers and to run northward to a junction with Lake Ontario at Oswego, following the canalized Oswego River and the present Oswego Canal.   The law requires that the minimum dimensions shall be 75 feet, bottom width; 12 feet, depth; and 1128 square feet, cross-section of water, except at aqueducts and through cities and villages, where the dimensions may be reduced as deemed necessary by the State Engineer and approved by the canal board.   In rivers, the minimum dimensions must be 200, bottom width; 12 feet, depth; and 2400 square feet, cross-section of water.   As amended by the law of 1905, the locks are to have a minimum length of 328 feet between hollow quoins, a minimum width of 28 feet and a minimum depth of 11 feet in lock chamber and on miter sills.   328 and 28 by 45 by 12 feet have been adopted.