USA > Vermont > The Lake Champlain and Lake George valleys, Vol II > Part 16
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five canal boats from Glens Falls alone, possessing a carrying capacity of from 120 to 150 tons. The cargo transported in one season by one boat alone was considerable, being about 3,000 tons.
Today the canal is extensively used. Because of constitutional provisions, navigation is free and the canal must remain State prop- erty and under State management forever. It is maintained by State appropriations. Twenty-four hour service is provided, and the canal is always open except when closed by ice. Today there are twelve locks and thirty-two bridges. From the United States government lock at Troy to lock number twelve at Whitehall, the canal is 62.86 miles long. Probably no other statistics indicate the importance of canals to New York State as accurately as does the fact that seventy per cent of its population lives within two miles of its system of water- ways.
No effort is made here to catalogue canals proposed but never finished. Canal building became a mania, and extremely wild and incredible projects were apparently given consideration everywhere. Some visionary schemes died a natural death, while others were ren- dered obsolete by the coming of the railroads. Just how far canal building would have progressed if it had not been interrupted by this new form of transportation we cannot decide. There were various schemes for constructing artificial waterways in the Adirondacks con- necting lakes and rivers. Probably the most ambitious of all inland waterway projects was the plan to construct a canal route from Bos- ton, Massachusetts, to Ogdensburg, New York. Capitalists of north- ern New York, Vermont and Boston backed this scheme to compete with the Erie Canal. If this had been constructed it would have been one of the greatest feats in the history of the world. How it could possibly have competed successfully with the Erie, if and when it was built, is something that cannot be answered. In any case the coming of the railroads put an end to the scheme.
Life on the canals was certainly not unattractive to the men and women of that era, and at times it must have been exciting. There was generally more or less rivalry between competing firms, and par- ticularly between the packet boats that carried only passengers and light freight. On these, pugilists were often employed as deck hands, it being their duty to determine, by fighting, which boat should have preference in passing a lock. The favorite canal drink, made from
C & G-37
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rum sweetened with black-strap molasses, could be purchased at each lock grocery store, and its effect on combatants was not exactly paci- fying. Not only were these packets anxious to defeat each other, but they were out to beat the stagecoaches as well. For the sake of speed they were hauled, not by mules as were the freighters, but by horses. The tow-lines were about two hundred and fifty feet long. The packets differed from freight boats mainly in cabin facilities, which occupied practically the entire hull, so that only a narrow strip of deck was left on which passengers and crew could walk. There was, however, considerable space on top of the cabin for the passengers to sit whenever the weather permitted. This, by the way, was not always an unadulterated pleasure, particularly if one fell asleep and failed to hear the steerman's cry of "low bridge," for bridges were both frequent and exceedingly low. Within the cabins, in the words of Hyde, there "was a long table used for dining purposes and at one end a small but fiery stove furnished heat when dampness or cold required. At night three rows of bunks, one through the middle and one on either side of the cabin, furnished sleeping quarters which Charles Dickens likened to bookshelves and the occupants to large folio volumes unable to move when once in place. A tiny galley from which surprisingly large meals were served and the never forgotten cubby hole of a bar completed the accommodations. Of privacy there was little, although curtains screened the bunks and women were given the better located quarters, while the men drew lots each night for their beds, with the privilege of sleeping on the long table as the prize position. Snores and conversation did not add to the comfort of the light sleeper. Each morning those whose habits dictated a wash went on deck and threw overboard a bucket attached to a chain from which the cold water of the canal was poured over the heads and hands of the passengers." Along the banks of the canal ran tow paths, well marked by the constant travel of the horses and mules. Some of the light freighters were hauled by one animal only, while the speedier packets were towed by four horses. On the Champlain Canal they worked for approximately four-hour stretches, then rested for four hours. This was about the time needed to cover the twelve miles from Fort Ann to Fort Edward. Having traveled at that amazing rate of speed the animals were led to the line barns for food and rest. It has been said that the drivers on these occasions
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left the collars on their mules so that the public could not see the raw necks of these hard working animals. Many freighters had an extra cabin forward that served as a horse stable, especially those boats privately owned. Throughout the canal season the communities along the waterway were hives of activity, and in the spring in particu- lar the wanderlust of the canal tempted the farmers from their plows. Canal-boating was a veritable fever, as contagious and as dominating as any other kind.
The history of steamboats on Lake Champlain and Lake George is also a decidedly interesting story. The next year after Fulton's dramatic success with the "Clermont" on the Hudson in 1807, John and James Winans built at Burlington another steamboat, called the "Vermont." She was larger than the "Clermont," weighing one hun- dred and sixty-seven tons, and became the second successful steamboat in the world, making her first regular trip in June, 1809. She was launched sideways and became stuck in the sand for a time. The engine was a second hand affair, with only twenty horsepower. She was sched- uled to go from Whitehall to St. Johns in twenty-four hours, but nearly a week was generally needed for a round trip. Her normal speed was five miles an hour, but in stormy weather King's sailing ships could pass her easily. At such times the "Vermont" was the target of much ridicule, as was also the case when her engine broke down, which happened fre- quently. Finally, in 1815, her connecting rod became detached from the crank and was forced through the bottom of the steamer, causing her to sink in the Richelieu River. In spite of all the difficulties that arose to plague her existence, however, the "Vermont" had convinced various business men that steam navigation was practicable, and in 1813 the Lake Champlain Steamboat Company was organized with capital stock of $100,000. Even before the sinking of the "Ver- mont," the "Phoenix" was built, under the direction of Captain Sher- man, of Albany, while other boats were soon constructed as well.
The part that John Winans played in the beginning of steam navigation on Lake Champlain he was now to duplicate on Lake George. He enlisted the support of James Caldwell, the founder of the township of the same name at the head of the lake, and other interested citizens, and started building the first boat in 1816. The "Lake George steam boat company" came into being at this time and was incorporated by the New York Legislature in April, 1817.
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The boat was named "James Caldwell," in honor of its leading patron. She was undoubtedly one of the most interesting steamers ever built. To begin with, her engine was the same that had been used by the "Vermont," at which time it was second hand. After it had been salvaged from the bottom of the Richelieu it had been used on another steamer, the "Champlain." When installed in the "James Caldwell" it was therefore providing power for its third ship in this area. The boat also had two long boilers. The most unique feature, however, was the brick smokestack. Certainly no other boat on either Lake Champlain or Lake George was so equipped. It has been said that the "James Caldwell" could travel about four miles per hour, when not hindered by breakdowns. These, however, must have been frequent. In any case, she could travel only as fast as a man could row and required a day to make her trip down the lake. Many of the early settlers looked upon this strange craft with sus- picion and regarded it as the work of the devil. Stoddard correctly interpreted this feeling when he wrote that "this stupendous achieve- ment of engineering skill could never have been attained without the connivance of the evil one, so it was very properly struck by light- ning." This failed, however, to teach the "stiff necked" owners not to delve into the realm of the supernatural and they rebuilt the boat. The "James Caldwell" was operated for four years, although no one became wealthy as a result. Finally, in 1821, she burned up "mys- teriously," while tied at her dock at Caldwell, "from over-insurance, it is thought." Two years then elapsed before another steamboat was built on Lake George. This delay is not so surprising as that another boat was built at all in those early days. In addition to the antipathy of part of the population toward steamboats, there was little business in any case. The only settlements down the lake were Bolton and Hague, and much of the traffic was dependent upon hotels and summer camps.
The second boat on Lake George was the "Mountaineer," which in her turn was an interesting affair. She was one hundred feet long, twenty feet more than the "James Caldwell," but only sixteen feet wide, four feet narrower than the other. We can readily believe early accounts that in rough weather she would "bend and twist like an eel." Her speed was only two miles per hour greater than that of her predecessor, but she made much better time because her skipper
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disliked intensely to stop the boat for passengers. He might occa- sionally slow down for a lady, especially if she were attractive, but mere man was apparently beneath his dignity. To board the "Moun- taineer," it was customary to be rowed out from shore in a small boat and, while in motion, to be transferred to the yawl which was always towed astern the steamer. The yawl was then hauled alongside the "Mountaineer" and the passenger then was forced to make his second transfer without the steamboat halting. Certainly the emphasis was more on speed than on public service. This boat made trips for thir- teen years, being dismantled in 1837. In general this era of steam navigation on Lake George was comparatively quiet and uneventful. Lack of business prevented cut-throat competition, and there was never more than one company operating boats at one time.
To return to Lake Champlain, we find an astounding contrast. For a period of many years, competition on the northern waterway was extremely fierce. Particularly after the completion of the Cham- plain Canal, there were immense and rapidly growing quantities of products to be shipped to and fro. The early Lake George steam- boats looked like the work of amateurs when compared with the fine steam packets in the north. Charles Dickens could find little in our country that pleased him, but he went out of his way to praise the "Burlington," a one hundred and ninety foot steamer built in 1837. She had a speed of fifteen miles per hour. In the words of Dickens : "There is one American boat-the vessel which carried us on Lake Champlain from St. Johns to Whitehall-which I praise very highly, but no more than it deserves, when I say that it is superior even to that on which we went from Queenstown to Toronto or to that on which we traveled from the latter place to Kingston, or I have no doubt I may add, to any other in the world. This steamboat, which is called the Burlington, is a perfectly exquisite achievement of neat- ness, elegance, and order. The decks are drawing rooms; the cabins are boudoirs, choicely furnished and adorned with prints, pictures, and musical instruments; every nook and corner of the vessel is a perfect curiosity of graceful comfort and beautiful contrivance. Cap- tain Sherman, her commander, to whose ingenuity and excellent taste these results are solely attributable, has bravely and worthily distin- guished himself on more than one trying occasion; not least among them in having the moral courage to carry British troops at a time
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(during the Canadian Rebellion) when no other convenience was open to them. He and his vessel are held in universal respect, both by his own countrymen and ours; and no man ever enjoyed the popular esteem, who, in his sphere of action, won and wore it better than this gentleman. By means of this floating palace we were soon in the United States again, and called that evening at Burlington, a pretty town, where we lay an hour or so. We reached Whitehall, where we were to disembark, at six next morning; and might have done so earlier, but that these steamboats lie for some hours in the night, in consequence of the lake becoming very narrow at that part of the journey, and difficult of navigation in the dark. Its width is so con- tracted at one point, indeed, that they are obliged to warp round by means of a rope." Coming from Dickens this is certainly a wonder- ful tribute to Lake Champlain steamboats.
The steamships used on Lake Champlain were built in various places, all the way from Whitehall to St. Albans Bay. Most famous of all the shipyards, however, was and is Shelburne Harbor, south of Burlington. Here were constructed the largest and best ships, and here today we have the graveyard of many of the lake's most famous steamers of bygone days. The first companies were the Lake Cham- plain Steamboat Company (which operated the "Phenix"), the Cham- plain Ferry Company and Ross and McNeil's Essex-Charlotte Ferry. Later many others appeared. Of these the most important was the Champlain Transportation Company, which has the reputation of being the oldest commercial steamboat company in the world. This was formed in 1826. Gradually it bought out its rivals and by 1835 was the only company on the lake. Trade on this important watery thoroughfare was too great a prize to go unchallenged however, and other companies sprang up from time to time. Much has been writ- ten concerning the rivalry between the Champlain Transportation Company's boat, the "Saranac," and the "Saltus," which was built by Comstock at Whitehall and which began her trips in 1845. They were scheduled to leave Whitehall at exactly the same time. Some- times one would win and sometimes the other; but regardless of the outcome the races were always exciting. All varieties of inflam- mable materials, including pine pitch and barrels of tar, were emptied into the furnaces in order to win victory, regardless of the safety of passengers. The latter were, as a rule, as excited over the race as the crews, and wild was the cheering when one ship passed the other.
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In the meantime, a certain amount of progress had been achieved on Lake George. Beginning in 1838, the "William Caldwell," so named for the son of James Caldwell, transported passengers up and down the lake. She was twice as long as the first boat, and had a speed of twelve miles per hour. More thought was now being given to the portage between the two lakes. Horses and carriages were provided, and after a time Captain William Baldwin was conducting a regular stage line-the predecessor of the railroad branch which was later to connect the southern terminus of the Champlain Transportation Com- pany at Montcalm Landing with the northern terminus of the Lake George boats at Baldwin.
The 1840s saw ultimate domination of Lake Champlain naviga- tion by the Champlain Transportation Company. The rate war fought with Comstock, and dramatized by the rivalry between the "Saltus" and the "Saranac," had become dangerous to everyone con- cerned. Finally, in 1847, the company launched the "United States," and that figuratively broke the back of the opposition. It was 240 feet long, had two hundred and fifty horsepower engines, and pos- sessed a tonnage of six hundred and forty-eight. Of more impor- tance, it had a speed of nineteen miles per hour, whereas fifteen had been the best previous record. In 1848 the Champlain Transporta- tion Company ran two day boats and two night boats. The following year it became a part of the so-called North and South Through Line, which managed not only the Lake Champlain steamers, but also Hud- son River boats and the railroad from Whitehall to Troy. 1851 marked Rouses Point's displacement of St. Johns as the northern terminus of lake transportation, due to the construction of railroads. In 1852, the Rutland and Burlington Railroad Company bought all the property of the Champlain Transportation Company, and steam- boat service was arranged to suit the railroad schedules, but this did not work out satisfactorily and this tie-up was dissolved in 1853. After this no great change took place until 1868, when the company passed into the complete control of railroads.
In the meantime, the "Lake George steam boat company" of 1817 had passed out of existence and in its place was the "Lake George Steam boat Company" of 1854, which should not be confused with the other. It operated the unfortunate "John Jay," which burned on July 29, 1856, the hull sinking near the beach south of the Island
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Harbor House at Hague. Six lives were lost as a result of the mis- hap. To replace her, the "Minne-Ha-Ha" was completed in 1857- the first vessel on Lake George to, in general, resemble our modern steamboats. At the time of the Civil War the rate for a round trip through the lake was twelve shillings. One of the most interesting facts concerning the "Minne-Ha-Ha" is that in 1878 she became a floating hotel in the bay north of Black Mountain Point. Her owner originally planned to place her in Paradise Bay, but he found that the expense would be prohibitive. She served as a hotel for several years until she sank in the bay, doubtless of old age.
Prior to the Civil War, there was little correlation between navi- gation on Lake Champlain and Lake George. The larger portion of the business on the northern waterway had to do with freight; while on Lake George passenger service was the prime considera- tion. The Champlain Transportation Company was so absorbed in the navigation of the northern lake that it had no inclination to extend its jurisdiction. In the 1860's, however, all this was changed. The members of the Champlain Transportation Company began to buy up stock belonging to the Lake George Steam boat Company and secured control in 1866. Soon the business on Lake George went completely over to the northern company, and beginning in 1869 all operations were conducted under the name and the management of the Cham- plain Transportation Company. To further complicate this con- solidation, complete control of the latter corporation had passed to the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad in 1868. Only three years later, in 1871, this railroad leased all its property, including both steamboat companies, to the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company.
Now, for the first time in history, with the "Ganouskie" being built to supplement the "Minne-Ha-Ha," it became possible to inaugurate service on Lake George in both directions at once. The new boat was commanded by a man who was extremely fond of bragging. According to the records of The Lake George Steamboat Company : "One day he gathered a group of interested passengers and after tell- ing his nautical experiences he exclaimed, 'There is not a single rock or reef in the waters of Lake George that I' don't know.' No sooner had he finished his remark than the 'Ganouskie,' bumped into and scraped over a reef. The captain was equal to the occasion. 'There's one of them now,' he said, quickly."
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In 1871 it was decided to revive the separate corporation on Lake George and in 1872 we note the beginning of "The Lake George Steamboat Company," which should not be confused with either the "Lake George steam boat company" of 1817, or the "Lake George Steam boat Company" of 1854. Transportation was much improved in 1874 by the construction of the Baldwin-Fort Ticonderoga branch of the Delaware and Hudson, so that the two lakes were con- nected by rail. Baldwin now came to be the northern terminus of the Lake George boats rather than Cook's Landing a mile to the south. Another decided impetus to the navigation of Lake George came from the opening up of a branch railroad connecting Caldwell and Fort Edward, which was on the main line. Also as a result of railroad building, Plattsburgh succeeded Rouses Point as the northern terminus of passenger traffic on Lake Champlain, in 1878.
Most of the steamships on both lakes were equipped with paddle- wheels instead of propellers. According to The Lake George Steam- boat Company, "The propeller-type of steamboat has never been the practice on either Lake George or Lake Champlain, apparently for the following reasons-first, the propeller-type steamboat was usually too narrow in beam to afford opportunity for lofty construction, grand saloons and imposing cabins which meant so much in steamboat design of the day and which undoubtedly helped to make the steamboat the popular instrument of transportation which it was in the middle and latter half of the nineteenth century; second-the propeller-type requires a deeper draft than the paddle-wheel and, while there is ample water for propellers in both lakes some distance from shore, the water is shallow near the various landings." The first steel- hulled ship in this area was the "Chateaugay," which was built in Shelburne Harbor in 1888, while the first on Lake George was the "Sagamore," which was completed in 1902. Although constructed in general like the "Chateaugay," additional head room was allowed between decks with the result that the "Sagamore" was slightly top- heavy. Finally the ship was cut in half amidships and twenty feet was added to her length and a set of ballast tanks was installed, remedying that defect.
The largest of all steamboats on Lake Champlain was the "Ver- mont," built in 1903 at a cost of $201,000. She had a capacity of 1,800 persons and her speed was twenty-three miles per hour. She
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was two hundred and sixty-two feet long. Largest of all Lake George boats was the "Horicon," built in 1911 at a cost of $210,000. She was originally authorized to carry 1,700 passengers.
In addition to regular schedules, excursion trips came into vogue. Passengers began to demand a spot to disembark and spend the day. To obtain this lucrative business, the Lake George company, in 1888, purchased Fourteen Mile Island. For a time this was an exceed- ingly popular place for the passengers, but proved to be only a fad, and the island was ultimately sold in 1905. Beginning in 1910, small auxiliary boats were purchased to supplement the large steam- boats on Lake George. Perhaps the most extreme measure taken to keep one of the larger boats in operation was the conversion of the "Horicon" into a showboat. She was changed into a dance hall, music was furnished by well-known orchestras, and a cruise was scheduled each evening. A particular effort was made to cater to the Saratoga horse racing followers. Even this project failed, and in 1939 she was sold for junk.
Many decades have passed since the construction of the "Ver- mont" of 1808 and the "James Caldwell" of 1816. Great changes have taken place; but none have been greater than those in the realm of steam navigation. The brilliantly lighted "Horicon" slowly mak- ing her way through the darkness, with dance music bursting from her sides, belongs in an era far removed from the day of brick smoke- stacks. We live in a rapidly changing world, and though it makes us sad to say it, the age of large steamers now seems to be over. No longer will those stately craft, crowded with happy tourists, glide through the islands of Lake George, or sweep majestically up and down the broad bosom of Lake Champlain. Because of competition from the automobile, the railroad, and other factors, the Champlain Transportation Company was forced to discontinue its through service after 1932. Since then it has confined its efforts to transporting auto- mobiles, freight and passengers between Burlington and Port Kent on the "Chateaugay" and the "Ticonderoga." The only steamer operat- ing a regular schedule on Lake George is the "Mohican," the small- est of the three modern ships. The steamboats on this smaller lake alone have carried at least six million passengers, and in this entire period only six lives have been lost-these resulting from the wreck of the "John Jay." It is impossible to estimate accurately or even vaguely
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