—
In the 19th century, the Erie Canal carried hundreds of thousands of European immigrants into the heartland of America. This new connection to the western territories served as a lifeline as it pumped new blood into the frontier and gave it strength. This time period helped forge our nation’s motto: E Pluribus Unum, from many, one.
Every port of call along the canal received the newcomers in large numbers, and while there was some discrimination and snobbery shown toward the people from the old world, they were still received gladly because their talents were needed.
It was a time of growth and development that begged for craftsmen and laborers, alike, to help in the basic jobs that had to be done. While history does have its examples of help-wanted advertisements that proclaimed, “No Irish need apply,” for the most part, there were jobs to be completed, and it did not matter who applied to do them.
Many of the settlers who came in the first wave of immigration into Western New York had made their stay only temporary. Having divested themselves of their old homesteads to the east of the Hudson River, it was easy to pick up once again and follow the trails that were spreading, beyond Buffalo’s gateway to the West. Many estimates show that several hundred people each day arrived in Buffalo and looked to continue their pilgrimage into America’s heartland. The homes and farms previously left empty were eagerly filled by new immigrant families, and so, the chain of immigration and resettlement would remain unbroken.
The primitive conditions of the period are suggested in an eyewitness account of the Buffalo waterfront that appeared in a publication called the “Genesee Farmer” on June 9, 1832: “Canal boats filled with emigrants, and covered with goods and furniture, are almost hourly arriving. ... Several steamboats and vessels daily depart for the far west, literally crammed with masses of living beings to people those regions. Some days, near a thousand thus depart. Hundreds and hundreds of horse wagons arrive every spring and fall with emigrants from our own state.”
The same publication added to this observation, a year later: “Never before has there been such a crowd of emigration to the great west as during this spring. It seems as though the whole eastern country was pouring out its millions for Ohio and Michigan. ... I have this spring seen great numbers of good substantial people from Ontario, Seneca, Livingston, and the central countries of Western New-York, who are emigrating to the West with their families-more than I have ever known before. They say that they find no difficulty in selling their farms, and at good prices, too.”
One feature of the inland-bound canal trip that probably appealed most to the immigrants was the relative lack of danger. For a typical new immigrant family, it was a tremendous relief, following the long journey across the stormy Atlantic in a leaky wooden tub, to be on a boat that was so close to land that a passenger could reach out and grab the branches of overhanging trees. There was further comfort in the knowledge that the craft rode on only 4 feet of water. No matter how wildly the wind blew, even the most cautious landlubber knew it was difficult to drown in a 4-foot ditch.
Doug Farley is the director of the Erie Canal Discovery Center and his column runs every Saturday. The Discovery Center is closed for the season and will reopen May 1.
Canal Discovery w/ Doug Farley
Related Photos
-
Doug Farley is the director of the Erie Canal Discovery Center and his column runs every Saturday. The Discovery Center is closed for the season and will reopen May 1.
CANAL DISCOVERY: Canal a route for mass migration
- Canal Discovery w/ Doug Farley
-
-
CANAL DISCOVERY: Charles Dickens’ NY travelogue
The British had a great deal of interest in America and its early Yankee culture, and that interest certainly extended to stories about the Erie Canal.
-
CANAL DISCOVERY: Canal a route for mass migration
In the 19th century, the Erie Canal carried hundreds of thousands of European immigrants into the heartland of America.
-
CANAL DISCOVERY: Canal line boat a rare specimen
The era of heavy commerce on the original Erie Canal began before 1825 and continued onward through the 20th century and the Barge Canal conversion.
-
CANAL DISCOVERY: Facelift for Buffalo’s Inner Harbor
The Erie Canal Harbor in Buffalo received a “facelift” and is celebrating its new rebirth.
-
CANAL DISCOVERY: Fighting along the Erie Canal
Some of the most interesting stories of the Erie Canal tell of the hand-to-hand combat that took place along the canal.
-
CANAL DISCOVERY: Story of ‘Fat Man in a Berth’
“I awoke in the night with a dreadful feeling of suffocation. Cold perspiration stood on my forehead, and I could hardly draw my breath; there was a weight-like lead on my stomach and chest."
-
Child labor on the canal
Life on the Erie Canal represented a way of life, all its own. Its unique culture included its own vocabulary, its own laws, its own dangers and its own beauty. In the view of some, it was a hard, demanding life, and no doubt it was for many of the 50,000 or more folks whose livelihoods depended on it during the canal’s peak years
-
CANAL DISCOVERY: Railroads along the canal — part one
Very different, yet still very similar, the Erie Canal and the American railroads carved their own path through history.
-
CANAL DISCOVERY: Garrity, Cook — Part 2
We have learned much about life on the Erie Canal from one of its best friends, Richard Garrity of the Tonawandas.
-
CANAL DISCOVERY: Garrity, cook — part two
We have learned much about life on the Erie Canal from one of its best friends, Richard Garrity of the Tonawandas. His remembrances of growing up on the canal help us to picture the scene in our minds eye. The following narrative about cooking on the canal is graciously attributed to Garrity and is continued from last week’s edition of Discovery.
- More Canal Discovery w/ Doug Farley Headlines
-
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
Raw Video: Fight Erupts in Ukrainian Parliament
Texan Ranchers Remain Wary of Drought
Raw Video: Soldiers Plant Flags at Arlington
Police: Man Arrested in Etan Patz Disappearance
NYC Protests: the Revolution Will Be Scripted
Chicago U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald Resigns
Neighbors of Etan Patz's Suspect: It's Shocking
Gulf Fishermen Reel From Seafood Troubles
Stuntman Makes Skydive Without Parachute in UK
