Allen County, Indiana - Chapter 8: Wabash and Erie Canal, 1880

The ultimate practicability of a canal along the Maumee Valley, through Fort Wayne to the Wabash River, thus creating a passage by water from Lake Erie to the Mississippi, was, perhaps, first; suggested by the French voyageurs while they were traversing the portage from the waters of the Maumee and St. Mary's to Little River, to the Wabash, in the latter part of the seventeenth cen¬ tury. However this may be, it is true that Capt. Riley appears to have been the first Surveyor that was sufficiently attracted by the surroundings to test the question.

After the treaty of St. Mary's in 1818, and its subsequent ratification, when the lands ceded by the Indians had come into the possession of the United States, and it was necessary to have them surveyed preliminary to settlement, Capt. James Riley, a Deputy United States Surveyor, having in contemplation a con¬ tract for surveying these lands, visited Fort Wayne for the purpose of reconnaisance. From his impressions at the time, it would seem that Gen. Wayne, also, must have considered the commercial as well as the military value of the situa¬ tion, since " by occupying Fort Wayne, the communication between Lake Eric and the Ohio, through the channels of the Maumee and the Wabash (which is the shortest and most direct water route from Buffalo to the Mississippi River), was cut: off, or completely commanded." He, at the same time, suggested the importance of a canal from St. Mary's to Little River, and that such a channel might very easily be cut six miles long, uniting the Wabash with the St. Mary's, a little above its junction, giving it as his opinion that the swamp might afford water sufficient for the purposes of navigation. So strongly was he impressed with the practicability of the matter that, when he was here the following season, for the purpose of surveying the public lands in the vicinity, he ran a line of levels across the portage, from the St. Mary's to Little River, the result of which was still favorable, and the information thus acquired, with the information accompanying, came to be of much consequence in the subsequent surveys made for the location of the Wabash and Erie Canal.

commanding and healthy, and here will arise a town of great importance, which must become a depot of immense trade. The fort is now only a small stockade ; no troops are stationed here, and less than thirty dwelling-houses, occupied by French and American families, form the settlement. But, soon as the land shall be surveyed and offered for sale, inhabitants will pour in from all quarters to this future thoroughfare between the East and the Mississippi River. * * This is a central point, combining more natural advantages to build up and sup¬ port a town of importance, as a place of deposit and trade, and a thoroughfare, than any I have seen in the Western country."

These opinions of a practical man were communicated to Hon. Edward Tiffin, Surveyor General, and through him, no doubt, to the attention of Con¬ gress, for, at the session of 1828-24, an act was passed authorizing the State of Indiana to " survey and mark through the public lands of the United States, the route of a canal by which to connect the navigation of the rivers Wabash and Miami and Lake Erie ; and ninety feet of land on each side of said canal shall be reserved from sale on the part of the United States, and the use thereof, for¬ ever, be vested in the State aforesaid, for a canal, and for no other purpose what¬ ever." This, perhaps, was the first official action taken preliminary to the building of the canal, by which the ideal of uniting the waters qf Lake Erie with those of the Mississippi River was subsequently realized.

Further action was taken by Congress, at the session of 1826-27, in the passage of an act granting " to the State of Indiana, for the purpose of aiding the said State in opening a canal to unite, at navigable points, the waters of the Wabash River with those of Lake Erie, a quantity of land equal to one-half of five sections in width on each side of said canal, and reserving each alternate sec¬ tion to the United States, to be selected by the Commissioner of the Land Office, under the direction of the President of the United Slates, from one side thereof to the other ; and the said lands shall be subject to the disposal of the Legisla¬ ture of said State, for the purpose aforesaid and no other." This proposition was accepted by the State of Indiana, in the terms of an act of the Legislature, approved January 5, 1828, the second section of which provided "that a Board of Commissioners be organized, to be known and designated as the Board of Com¬ missioners of the Wabash and Miami Canal, and to consist of three Commission¬ ers, who shall be elected by joint ballot of the Senate and House of Representa¬ tives, and shall serve two years, and until their successors shall be elected and qualified - unless superseded," etc., " any two of whom shall compose a Board of Commissioners, and have full power and authority to act as such."

The third section provided that: "Whenever the chief of the brigade of the United States Engineers, employed in making the survey of the line of the canal * * * shall make his report, it shall be the duly of the

Governor of this State to furnish the Board of Commissioners with a copy of the report, and all the information in his possession on the subject." Then, " It shall be the duty of the Board of Commissioners, immediately * * * to

|,te. 'he canal^pon suck point on the Wabash River, to suoh point on the Miami of Lake Erie, and within the State of Indiana, as mav by them according to said report, be selected." y a nem ceoIdlnS

Tort W aync In this first attempt to make thb survey, there was little pro-ress because of he great amount of sickness prevailing at the time, from the efforts Tf which nearly the whole corps was prostrated, and Col. Shriver died - hence the fcr7 Ea?lv'inPTnded t>IflthCFSnaS0-n' htivins ad',a"cetl »o farther than to thedireetioi'of C |yA? t"' °V'h° ffT"S year- thf work was resumed under the diiec® of Col. Asa Moore, formerly the assistant of the Engineer-in-chief the

I oit Wayne, David Burr, of Jackson County, and Robert. John, of Franklin County, were selected to constitute that Board. Among other things they were

Boaid at hot Wayne was during the summer of 1828, when the question of sufficient and available " feeders ' for the proposed canal was generally discussed and it became apparent that there was no engineer present, and none of the' nee' cssaiy instruments to enable them to gauge with accuracy the relative or a-greoate capacity of the several rivers named. As an ultimatum, Judge Hanna'nroposed and was authorized to procure the requisite apparatus. Havin'- procured these, with the assistance of John Smyth, of Miamisburg, Ohio, the Board somec"1? par4, of S,epfflbl;r' proceeded to examine and determine the onPthe 26thSnfWP^ Wh'fm,'-aS foun<J t0 be sufficient, and they so reported savs +hl« -i f mwr- This rcport was eeecuired in, and from that day " says the writer (Fort Wayne Times, of December 16, 1858), " went on a work which has proved so great a benefit, to Indiana. In this capacity, Jud-e Hanna gp ®Lthe aet .ofCongress of March 2, 1827, to which reference has already "ad"'Sran.tI"SJ oveiy alternate section of land, equal to five miles in width " on both sides of theline of the canal, it. was further provided, as a condition of said grant, that the work of construction should commence within five years from that date, and to be completed within twenty years. To make the appropriations

°nq.iaVa,abe',heref0re- 14 7" essential tbat the work should be put under conti act and actually commenced, prior to the 2d day of March, 1832 Accord sntln't? ofthe Wabash aad Erie Canal," says the Cuss County Times, of March 2 1832, met at Fort Wayne on the 22d ult., for the purpose of carrying into effect the requisition of the late law of the Legislature of the btate, providing for the commencement of said work, prior to the 2d day of ereupon, the Commissioners appointed the anniversary of the hl n, 1 16 F.?'er "S "?nt,,y> " the day on which the first excavation should be made on said canal, and, by an older of the Board, J. Vigos, Esq., was authorized to procure the necessary tools and assistance, and repair to the most convenpo"e aforesaid."10 & at 2 °'°lock °" said day> for tha pur-

" The intention of tile Commissioners having been made known, a lar»e number of citizens of the town of Fort Wayne and its vicinity, together witha number of gentlemen from the valley of the Wabash, convened at the Masonic ria l, tor the purpose of making arrangements for the celebration of this inipor-

" The proeession, having theii famed agreeably to order, proceeded across t ic bt. Mary s River to the point selected, when a circle was formed, in which Hie Commissioner and orator took their stand. Charles W. Ewing, Esq., then ose, and, in lus usual happy, eloquent manner, delivered an appropriate address, which was received with acclamation. J. Vigus, Esq, one of the Canal Com¬ missioners, and the only one present, addressed the company ; explained the rea¬ son wiiy his colleagues were absent; adverted to the difficulties and embarrassents Which the liaends-of the canal had encountered and overcome ; noticed the importance of the work and the advantages which would ultimately be realized, an then concluded by saying, ' 1 am now nbout to commence the Wabash and in « ,m, the "amc and hi1 rim authority of the State of Indiana.' Hav- company hailed the event with three cheers. Judge Ilauna and Capt. Murray, two ot the able and consistent advocates of the canal in the counoils of thb Stale, approaohed and excavated the earth, and then commenced an indiscriminate sin, r rtd j"d put U,ndor oontract- Un<lc'' the first contracts for the eon' |0tJ°^eted' and honce' was re-let y in tne spnn0 ot 1835, when it progressed with such active enertrv that it was completed about the 1st of July, when, the water being let in on the 3d he first boats went through on the 4th. '

. " Tha Principal incident of the times was the progress of the WiL,h k Erie Canal, the first letting whereof was a division of fifteen mil's, inciudfo lit

IrSJ-i rro"eS °e jh° ffder "o'1 teU "'ilra west' wl,ich ilad b"ii Fet in June, 183. the St. Joe feeder dam and four more miles of the canal in the forks of 1 w w yTTthf ncxt Pa,t of rile fust division, extending it to the oiks of the Wabash thirty-two miles, was let in May, 1833 - and the whole fW.l °1 COmp et,cd ",rly W» summcr »f 18:ds This event was the inci¬ dent of the times, and the 4th of July of that year was cousecratcd, also, to a cele¬ bration of the union of the waters of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi A canal-boat called Indiana, commanded by Capt. Asa Fairfield, loaded with a large number of people, passed through the canal to Huntington, where lived only a few per® - the Helvys, Capt. Elias Murray, George 0. Fate, W 8 Mo", Put McCarty and Samuel Moore. To that date, the place was better tnown as the Flint Springs,' taking its name from some largo and very valuable springs, which then, as now, gush from the north bank of Little River) at which many a pioneer slaked Ins thirst.

"Tha hote.1 "fri'f Pla" the 'Flint Spring,' kept by Joel and Champion llelvy a long double log, one-story house, on the bank near the springs This was afterward raised another story, and was the place, and hard enough at that ®ame house now stands, and is the venerable residence of Squire Lewis Hatfield, a German of large proportions, who dispenses justice a la ' Von Twiller ' - we suppose.

" The incidents of this canal celebration, en route, were dancing on the boat and drinking good whisky - even getting funny - a tiling to which our venerable friends who yet live were no strangers, especially on great occasions. The oration was delivered by Hugh McCulloch, Esq.

The estimated cost of the canal from Fort Wayne to the Slate line us shown or Ort! jiliH °a rile engineer in charge was an average of 87,952. 17 per mile, oi 5104,113.13, lor the whole distance of nineteeu miles and thirty chains. This division was let and in process of construction early in the same year f 1835 i and was completed in 1843. k

Mr. Williams, principal engineer,' ip his report of December 10,1835 to the Board of Canal Commissioners, makes the following showing as to the division first completed : on L " total cost of this dtrision of the canal, including all repairs up to the 30th of November last, and including, also, the sum of 82,000 for graveling the towing-path, and for other small items of work not yet completed, may be stated as follows, to-wit : llie St. Joseph's feeder, (5 miles and 34 chains, including dam....? 70,067 57 Main line from mouth of feeder to lower end of Section 50, near the mouth of Little Itiver, 25 miles and 25 chains . [ 142.410 27

On the 4th of July, 1843, the canal having been opened from Toledo to a point on the Wabash River, below La Fayette, at which time the meeting of the waters of Lake Erie and of the Mississippi, anticipated by the early projectors of the enter¬ prise had been consummated, the event was appropriately celebrated. On this occasion, Gen. Lewis Cass, one of the firm friends of the improvement, was the orator of the day. An extract from that address will not be out of place here :

" conie here to join in another commemoration, to witness the union of the Lakes and of the Mississippi, to survey one of the noblest works of man in the improvement of that great highway of nature, extending from Now York to New Orleans, whose full moral effects it were vain to seek even to conjecture.

"And fitly chosen is the day of this celebration. This work Is another ligament which binds together this great confederated republic. Providence has given us union and many motives to preserve it. The sun never shone upon a country abounding more than ours does, in all the elements of prosperity. It were needless to enumerate the advantages we enjoy, which give us so distinguished a position among the nations of the world. I shall not enter into the comparison.

" Our railroads and canals are penetrating every section of our territory. They are annihilating time and space. They arc embracing in their folds the Ocean and the Lake frontier, and the great region extending from the Alleghany to the Rocky Mountains, through which the mighty Mississippi and the countless tributaries find their way to the Gulf of Mexico. Once let thb work be com¬ pleted and we are bound together by cords which no strength can sunder. ********

" But I have found the oanal-boat a more comfortable conveyance than the ha k canoe; and this change is not the least improvement which has accom¬ panied the march of the white man. Your valley was 'then thinly occupied,

The stock of the county in this road having greatly depreciated at a meetin- of the Board, on the 25th of October, 1802, it wins determined to sell such Stock at the best price the same will command in market, and Byron D. Minor and William W. Carson were appointed 'Special Agents to execute the purpose of the Commissioners in said order prescribed, and for the best interests of the county ; also to invest such proceeds of said sale in the bonds of the county then outstanding, issued in 1851 and falling due in 1866, if they could do so. On the -1th of March, 1863, Messrs. Minor and Carson, Agents as aforesaid reported that they had sold S30.S0O worth of railroad stock, in accordance with instruc¬ tions for $24 830.75, leaving tile county still tile owner of 8100,000, which they did not feel themselves authorized to put on the market without further instruc¬ tions, the price ranging from 55 to 673 per cent. Subsequently, on the 11th of March, 1863, on a proposition submitted by Mr. Hanna, the county sold to linn the remainin- 8100,000 stock, and the proceeds of the interest-stock, in consider¬ ation of eighty-seven of the outstanding bonds of the county, calling for $87,000, leaving outstanding bonds to the amount of $13,000.