The First Commercial Canal

During this period many efforts were made to obtain a better canal at Lachine, mainly because of the obvious inefficiency of the system then existing and also because of the discussions which were going on at the time for the building of the New York State Barge Canal system. The building of this canal was seen as a serious threat to the trade and rapidly expanding cities on the Canadian side of the border and the Government of Lower Canada decided to introduce legislation for the building of a proper canal at Lachine. This Bill had a chequered career and was subjected to much inquiry after being passed in 1815, being finally repealed in 1819. At this time a joint stock company with a capital of $600,000 was authorized but this also was repealed when in 1821 the government decided to undertake the building on its own account and to reimburse the stockholders in the joint stock company.

The construction of the canal across the southwest corner of the Island of Montreal, following fairly closely the route of the Sulpician project, was completed in 1825. The completed canal was 8 1/2 miles long with the canal prism 48 ft at the waterline and 28 ft at the bottom. Seven locks each 100 ft X 20 ft X 5 ft depth were built to overcome the lift of about 45 ft between the harbor at Montreal and the level of Lake St. Louis. The total cost of the project was $438,000 of which $50,000 was contributed by the British Government on condition that government stores were allowed to pass free of tolls (2).

A canal system around some of the worst rapids on the route was therefore in existence in 1825 and the effect on the traffic was considerable. By 1831 the average traffic per season was 700 Durham boats and 1300 bateaux bound upstream, the west-bound cargo having increased to 21,000 tons annually - almost four times as much as in 1824. Much of the downstream traffic was still being carried in lumber scows which shot the rapids, the downbound boat cargoes increasing only slightly to 66,000 tons per year.

The year 1832, however, saw a marked reduction in the number of vessels using the Cascades and Coteau canals. This was due to the opening of the canals on the Ottawa River. The Ottawa-Rideau-Kingston canal system had been projected immediately after the war of 1812 to provide an alternative route between Upper and Lower Canada in the event of any recurrence of hostilities between the United States and Canada. This system proved to be easier for westbound traffic than the shorter St. Lawrence route and the arrangements used by one company, Messrs. McPherson & Crane were typical of many. This company owned a fleet of thirteen steamers together with many bateaux and barges which were towed up the Ottawa and Rideau rivers to Kingston, returning via the St. Lawrence.

In November 1829 the first Welland canal, connecting Lake Erie with Lake Ontario was completed, thus opening a continuous waterway from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Sault Ste. Marie. The lock dimensions of this canal were 110 ft x 22 ft x 8 ft (3, 5).

Steam-powered vessels had been in use on the lower part of Lake Ontario since 1816 when the SS Frontenac (the old name for Kingston, Ontario) a three-masted side wheeler, went into service. It was, however, several years before machinery was developed which was sufficiently powerful to enable steamers to attack the rapids.

After about 1833 vessels were able to descend as far as Dickenson's Landing, named after Horace Dickenson the owner of the Cornwall stage, and were able to stem the rapids on the return trip.

The Dolphin, typical of many vessels of the period, sailed every morning from Prescott to Dickenson's Landing at the head of the Long Sault rapids, where the passengers disembarked and were taken by stage to the village of Cornwall. From there they went by steamer through Lake St. Francis to Coteau du Lac where another stage was required to by-pass the Coteau to Cascades rapids section. Another steamer plied on Lake St. Louis, the passengers finally reaching Montreal by stage coach from Lachine.

It is interesting to note that in 1838 the Dolphin descended as far as Cornwall, whether by accident or design is not known, but getting the ship back up the Long Sault to Dickenson's Landing was a mammoth task involving 4 weeks' labor with twenty yoke of oxen aided by the ship's engine and an unknown number of men and many horses (1).

Also in 1838 a large sternwheeler, the Iroquois, was built to run on the same route between Prescott and Dickenson's Landing but the vessel had so much difculty at the Rapide Plat rapids that posts had to be sunk into the bank at intervals to which the ship could be moored for "breathers" for both crew and engines.

Another ship, the Ontario was built in 1840 and was intended to be powerful enough to navigate all the rapids. However, on its first return voyage from Montreal it was unable to ascend the Long Sault rapids. The ship returned to Montreal and was eventually sold, later operating successfully on the Montreal-Quebec trade.

In 1841 the Vandalia was built at Oswego, N.Y. and fitted with an Ericsson screw propeller, the first propeller-driven ship to be built in North America. The introduction of the propeller had a marked effect on the canal trade as, for the first time, steam-powered vessels could be built to the full lock dimensions, having previously been seriously restricted in hull width by the overhang of the side paddle-wheel boxes. The Vandalia had another novel feature which is now commonplace -- the machinery was placed aft leaving a long clear hold available for cargo.

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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.