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nnsylvania；〃 and a little nearer swings the magnificent double…tracked bed of the railroad of today。 Between these lines of travel may be read the history of the past two centuries of American commerce； for the vital factors in the development of the nation have been the evolution of transportation and its manifold and far…reaching influence upon the expansion of population and commerce and upon the rise of new industries。
Thus all the rivals in the great contest for the trade of the West speedily reached their goal； New York with the Erie and the New York Central； and Pennsylvania and Maryland with the Pennsylvania and the Baltimore and Ohio。 But what of this West for whose commerce the great struggle was being waged？ When the railheads of these eager Atlantic promoters were laid down at Buffalo on Lake Erie and at Pittsburgh on the Ohio they looked out on a new world。 The centaurs of the Western rivers were no less things of the far past than the tinkling bells borne by the ancient ponies of the pack…horse trade。 The sons of this new West had their eyes riveted on the commerce of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi Valley。 With road； canal； steamboat； and railway； they were renewing the struggle of their fathers but for prizes greater than their fathers ever knew。
New York again proved the favored State。 Her Mohawk pathway gave her easiest access to the West and here； at her back door on the Niagara frontier； lay her path by way of the Great Lakes to the North and the Northwest。
CHAPTER X。 cv As one stands in imagination at the early railheads of the West on the Ohio River at the end of the Cumberland Road； or at Buffalo； the terminus of the Erie Canalthe vision which Washington caught breaks upon him and the dream of a nation made strong by trans…Alleghany routes of commerce。 Link by link the great interior is being connected with the sea。 Behind him all lines of transportation lead eastward to the cities of the coast。 Before him lies the giant valley where the Father of Waters throws out his two splendid arms； the Ohio and the Missouri； one reaching to the Alleghanies and the other to the Rockies。 Northward； at the end of the Erie Canal； lies the empire of the Great Lakes； inland seas that wash the shores of a Northland having a coastline longer than that of the Atlantic from Maine to Mexico。
Ships and conditions of navigation were much the same on the lakes as on the ocean。 It was therefore possible to imagine the rise of a coasting trade between Illinois and Ohio as profitable as that between Massachusetts and New York。 Yet the older colonies on the Atlantic had an outlet for trade； whereas the Great Lakes had none for craft of any size； since their northern shores lay beyond the international boundary。 If there had been danger from Spain in the Southwest； what of the danger of Canada's control of the St。 Lawrence River and of the trade of the Northwest through the Welland Canal which was to join Lake Ontario to Lake Erie？ But in those days the possibility of Canadian rivalry was not treated with great seriousness； and many men failed to see that the West was soon to contain a very large population。 The editor of a newspaper at Munroe； New York； commenting in 1827 on a proposed canal to connect Lake Erie with the Mississippi by way of the Ohio； believed that the rate of Western development was such that this waterway could be expected only 〃some hundred of years hence。〃 Even so gifted a man as Henry Clay spoke of the proposed canal between Lake Michigan and Lake Superior in 1825 as one relating to a region beyond the pale of civilization 〃if not in the moon。〃 Yet in twenty…five years Michigan； which had numbered one thousand inhabitants in 1812； had gained two hundredfold； and Ohio； Indiana； and Illinois had their hundreds of thousands who were clamoring for ways and means of sending their surplus products to market。
Early in the century representatives of the Fulton…Livingston monopoly were at the shores of Lake Ontario to prove that their steamboats could master the waves of the inland sea and serve commerce there as well as in tidewater rivers。 True； the luckless Ontario； built in 1817 at Sackett's Harbor； proved unseaworthy when the waves lifted the shaft of her paddle wheels off their bearings and caused them to demolish the wooden covering built for their protection； but the Walk…in…the…Water； completed at Black Rock （Buffalo） in August； 1818； plied successfully as far as Mackinac Island until her destruction three years later。 Her engines were then inherited by the Superior of stronger build； and with the launching of such boats as the Niagara； the Henry Clay； and the Pioneer； the fleet builders of Buffalo； Cleveland； and Detroit proved themselves not unworthy fellow…countrymen of the old seafarers of Salem and Philadelphia。
But how were cargoes to reach these vessels from the vast regions beyond the Great Lakes？ Those thousands of settlers who poured into the Northwest had cargoes ready to fill every manner of craft in so short a space of time that it seems as if they must have resorted to arts of necromancy。 It was not magic； however； but perseverance that had triumphed。 The story of the creating of the main lakeward…reaching canals is long and involved。 A period of agitation and campaigning preceded every such undertaking； and when construction was once begun； financial woes usually brought disappointing delays。 When a canal was completed after many vicissitudes and doubts； traffic overwhelmed every method provided to handle it： locks proved altogether too small； boats were inadequate； wharfs became congested； blockades which occurred at locks entailed long delay。 In the end only lines and double lines of steel rails could solve the problem of rapid and adequate transportation； but the story of the railroad builders is told elsewhere。*
* See 〃The Railroad Builders；〃 by John Moody （in 〃The Chronicles of America〃）。
Ohio and Illinois caught the canal fever even before the Erie Canal was completed； and the Ohio Canal and the Illinois…Michigan Canal saw preliminary surveying done in 1822 and 1824 respectively。 Ohio particularly had cause to seek a northern outlet to Eastern markets by way of Lake Erie。 The valleys of the Muskingum； Scioto； and Miami rivers were producing wheat in large quantities as early as 1802； when Ohio was admitted to the Union。 Flour which brought 3。50 a barrel in Cincinnati was worth 8 in New York。 There were difficulties in the way of transportation。 Sometimes ice prevented produce and merchandise from descending the Ohio to Cincinnati。 At other times merchants of that city had as many as a hundred thousand barrels awaiting a rise in the river which would make it possible for boats to go over the falls at Louisville。 As these conditions involved a delay which often seemed intolerable； the project to build canals to Lake Erie met with generous acclaim。 A northward route； though it might be blocked by ice for a few months each winter； had an additional value in the eyes of numerous merchants whose wheat； sent in bulk to New Orleans； had soured either in the long delay at Louisville or in the semi…tropical heat of the Southern port。
The Ohio Legislature in 1822 authorized the survey of all possible routes for canals which would give Ohio an outlet for its produce on Lake Erie。 The three wheat zones which have been mentioned were favored in the proposed construction of two canals which； together； should satisfy the need of increased transportation： the Ohio Canal to connect Portsmouth on the Ohio River with Cleveland on Lake Erie and to traverse the richest parts of the Scioto and Muskingum valleys； and to the west the Miami Canal to pierce the fruitful Miami and Maumee valleys and join Cincinnati with Toledo。 De Witt Clinton； the presiding genius of the Erie Canal； was invited to Ohio to play godfather to these northward arteries which should ultimately swell the profits of the commission merchants of New York City； and amid the cheers of thousands he lifted the first spadefuls of earth in each undertaking。
The Ohio Canal； which was opened in 1833； had a marked effect upon the commerce of Lake Erie。 Before that date the largest amount of wheat obtained from Cleveland by a Buffalo firm had been a thousand bushels； but in the first year of its operation the Ohio Canal brought to the village of Cleveland over a quarter of a million bushels of wheat； fifty thousand barrels of flour； and over a million pounds of butter and lard。 In return； the markets of the world sent into Ohio by canal in this same year thirty thousand barrels of salt and above five million pounds of general merchandise。
Ever since the time when the Erie Canal was begun； Canadian statesmen had been alive to the strong bid New York was making for the trade of the Great Lakes。 Their answer to the Erie Canal was the Welland Canal； built between 1824 and 1832 and connecting Lake Erie with Lake Ontario by a series of twenty…seven locks with a drop of three hundred feet in twenty…six miles。 This undertaking prepared the way for the subsequent opening of the St。 Lawrence canal system （183 miles） and of the Rideau system by way of the Ottawa River （246 miles）。 There was thus provided an ocean outlet to the n