Irish Immigrant Participation in the Construction of the Erie Canal

Svejda, George

Irish Immigrant Participation in the Construction of the Erie Canal (AMI-H-2, 1966) is a study of the circumstances leading to the idea of building the Erie Canal, the construction of this great lvork, and the Irish participation in it. The economic importance of the Nation's rivers and lakes was early realized by many prominent Americans, including George Washington. With the purchase of Louisiana, the United States acquired free and uninterrupted navigation of the Mississippi. The Louisiana Purchase, coupled with the introduction of steam navigation), accelerated the settlement of the Mississippi Valley and the territory bordering upon the great rivers of the West, '-he Missouri, the Ohio, and the Illinois. A Resolution adopted on February 4, 1808, in the New York House of Assembly called for the appointment of a joint committee of the Senate and the Assembly of the State of New York to explore the possibilities of opening a communication between the tide waters of the Hudson River and Lake Erie. On April ll, 1808, the New York State Legislature passed a law authorizing the Treasurer to pay to the Surveyor-General a sum not to exceed six hundred dollars for an exploration and survey of possible routes of communication between Lake Erie and the Hudson River. Surveyor General Simeon De Witt appointed James Geddes of Onondaga to carry out this survey, and on January 20, 1809, he presented to De Witt a favorable report on an inland route.