The Military Canals

No real progress in improving navigation was made until the United States War of Independence (1775-1783) made better transport along the river a military necessity for the British Government who were by then in control of Canada. The building of canals and other improvement works were undertaken by the Royal Engineers during the period 1779-1783.

At this time the main type of boat in use was the bateau which had displaced the canoe. The bateau was a fairly heavily built boat much stronger than a canoe and having a shape somewhat similar to the present East Coast dory although a good deal larger. The common type of bateau was about 35 to 40 ft long with a relatively narrow beam of about 5 ft 6 in. The boat had a flat bottom and heavily raked stem and stern with flared sides. Construction was quite simple and the boats were built with whatever lumber came to hand, tamarack being a common material. Thwarts were provided for the crew of about 12. These boats were rugged and could run the rapids quite successfully and being of simple construction were easy to replace if lost. Going upstream a bateau was rowed and portaged and had a deadweight of about 3 1/2 tons, with a slightly greater load for downstream passages.

The canals and channels, channels being distinct from canals in that they were part of the existing waterways deepened and bounded by rock walls, built by the engineers were designed to accommodate these bateaux and were 6 to 7 ft wide with a depth of about 2 1/2 ft. The first series of channels was built along the north shoreline of the Lachine Rapids but did not appear to have been too successful as records show that many voyages were started from Lachine, cargoes being taken overland from Montreal. Figures given in an old record (1) show that in 1782, shortly after the channels were opened, the total receipts for the season were:
263 bateaux at 10 shillings
2 canoes at 5 shillings
1 "boat" at 5 shillings
with a total revenue of £132/5/0 or about $530.00 (U.S.) at the rate of exchange at that time.3

For convenience many of the cost figures, referred to prior to 1850, have been converted to U.S. dollars, using the rate of exchange reported current during the particular period.

Having obtained access into Lake St. Louis, the next barrier was the series of rapids extending over about 12 miles of the river in three groups: Split Rock, Cedar and Coteau Rapids. The first series at the entrance to the river from the lake was overcome by the construction of three small canals. The first, the "La Faucille" canal was 410 ft long with one lock. The second, "Trou du Moulin" was close to the first and 120 ft long without locks. "Split Rock" canal was completed from 1782-1783 and had one lock.

Cedar Rapids, about 4 miles upstream from Split Rock, was navigable for boats but Coteau Rapids required the construction of a fourth canal, completed in 1782, across the point of land at the mouth of the Delisle River (2, 3).

In the late 1790's the movement of grain from Upper Canada to the Montreal area began and it is interesting to note that the usual method of transport was to build a large raft or ark of logs which was loaded with grain and floated downstream. On arrival in Montreal the rafts were broken up and the lumber sold. No records have been found to show what proportion of the grain survived the journey but it is presumed that these ventures were limited to periods when water conditions on the river were favorable.

A few years later, in 1800, the need for improvement became urgent and, in addition, the "La Faucille" and "Trou du Moulin" canals had proved to be prone to severe damage by ice each spring. A survey was undertaken by Colonel Mann and in 1804 reconstruction was begun.

The old shoreline channel at Lachine was improved, enlarged and made continuous along the length of the rapids. The "La Faucille" and "Trou du Moulin" were abandoned and a new canal, the "Cascades," was built across Cascades Point. This canal was about 1500 ft long and had two locks each 100 ft by 20 ft at the lower entrance and guard gates at the upper entrance. This canal lay in a north-south direction crossing the line of the present Soulanges canal at about lock No. 2. During the same period the Split Rock and Coteau canals were enlarged and the main construction was completed in 1805 (2, 3).

Fig. 3 Durham Boats, about 1810 by G. A. Cuthbertson

With the enlargement of the canals, trade rapidly increased but even after the improvement, transporting a cargo from Montreal to Kingston was a major undertaking. The bateaux and Durham boats, a later type of boat, illustrated in Fig. 3 were usually taken upstream in "brigades" of five or more so that, when the occasion arose, the crews would be able to assist each other. The brigades were sometimes assembled at Lachine, their cargoes having been brought from Montreal by road and at other times towed and rowed through the Lachine channel. At Cascades Point about three quarters of the cargo of a Durham boat was unloaded and carted to the head of the Cedars rapids. The boat was then locked through the Cascades and Split Rock canals and dragged up the Cedars rapids where the cargo was reloaded. The boat then passed through the Coteau lock and into Lake St. Francis. At the Long Sault rapids above Cornwall the process was repeated after which the boat could be sailed to Kingston. After 1818 a steam towboat was used in this section but unfortunately no details of this vessel can be found. On the average it took 12 days to transport the 8-ton cargo of a Durham boat from Montreal to Kingston and the following items show this expensive process:

These costs were, for their day, very high and were of course reflected in the price of all goods used in Upper Canada which had to be brought from the Gulf and Europe and were the prime reason for the continuous pressure by the settlers in Upper Canada for improvements in the system.

In spite of the high costs, large numbers of Durham boats and bateaux used the canals as can be seen from the following Coteau lock records:

In addition, about one boat in eight stemmed the rapids at Coteau so the total number of boats going upstream was quite considerable and about 5000 long tons were transported annually.

Proceeding downstream the going was much easier and the voyage from Kingston to Montreal averaged about 4 days and cost only about $25.00, the cargoes being mainly grain and averaging about 15,000 tons per year. The drop in the number of passages from 1821-1824 was mainly the result of a premature trade act introduced by the British Government which had an adverse effect on trade, and also two poor crop years in 1823-1824 (1).

During the War of 1812 traffic along the canal was heavy, most of the military stores for the lakes region being shipped via the canals. Being so close to the border, vessels in the canals were in constant danger of attack from the U.S. side and a convoy system was adopted. Armed luggers were stationed at various points along the river, Lake St. Francis in particular, and the Durham boats were escorted through the various sections in convoys of fifteen to twenty.

During 1814 and 1815 naval building was going on at a furious pace on both sides. All the guns and rigging equipment for the vessels built for the Royal Navy at Kingston were transported by barge and Durham boat from Montreal and complete sets of frames for the 32-gun frigates were made in England and shipped via the canals from Montreal to Kingston. The transportation of these unwieldy items was a difficult and enormously expensive undertaking costing over $50,000 per ship set (4).

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This paper was presented at a meeting of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers and is reproduced with permission.