Erie Canal Resources

"The Marriage of the Waters" by C.Y. Turner, 1905 -- A mural decoration in the DeWitt Clinton High School, N.Y.C . depicting Governor DeWitt Clinton pouring water from Lake Erie into the ocean at New York in a ceremony celebrating the "Marriage of the Waters" between Lake Erie and the Atlantic in 1825.

We will also be partaking in our own Marriage of the Waters ceremony. On the second day of the trip one student from each bus will take water from the Niagara River and empty it into Upper New York Bay at Ellis Island. The bay flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

Unfortunately, current airline restrictions prohibit water to be transported on the airline - or the students could have brought water back from New York and emptied it into the Pacific!

For the history of the Canal, please consult this site.

We will also be partaking in our own Marriage of the Waters ceremony. Please consult this site for the music that accompanies the following poem.

"Monument of Progress"

Yet it is not that wealth now enriches the scene
Where treasures of Art and of Nature convene;
It is not that this Union our coffers may fill:
Oh! No! It is something more exquisite still.
‘Tis that Genius had triumphed and Science prevailed
Where prejudice flouted and envy assailed
It is that the Vassels of Europe may see
The Progress of Mind in a Land that is free.

-- from The Meeting of the Waters of Hudson and Erie, by Samuel Woodworth, 1825; sung by Mr. Keene at the Grand Canal Celebration, respectfully dedicated to His Excellency, DeWitt Clinton.

Here's a famous song about the Erie Canal:

I've got a mule and her name is Sal
Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
She's a good ol' worker and a good ol' pal,
Fifteen years on the Erie Canal.
We've hauled some barges in our day,
Filled with lumber, coal, and hay,
And we know ev'ry inch of the way
From Albany to Buffalo.

Chorus:
Low bridge, ev'rybody down!
Low bridge, for we're comin' to a town!
And you'll always know your neighbor,
You'll always know your pal,
if you've ever navigated on the Erie Canal.

We better get on our way, old pal,
Fifteen years on the Erie Canal.
'Cause you bet your life I'd never part with Sal,
Fifteen years on the Erie Canal.
Get up there mule, here comes a lock,
We'll make Rome 'bout six o'clock,
One more trip and back we'll go,
Right back home to Buffalo.