Editing Erie Canal (section)

===Background===
[[File:New York Relief 1.jpg|right|thumb|alt=Relief map of New York State.|The [[Mohawk Valley]], running east and west, cuts a [[Wind gap (topography)|natural path]] between the [[Catskill Mountains]] to the south and the [[Adirondack Mountains]] to the north.]]
[[File:Erie-canal 1840 map.jpg|thumb|right|Erie Canal map {{circa|1840}}]]
Before [[railroads]], [[water transport]] was the most [[cost-effective]] way to ship [[bulk goods]]. A [[mule]] can only carry about {{convert|250|lb|kg}} but can draw a [[barge]] weighing as much as {{convert|60000|lb|kg}} along a [[towpath]].<ref name="WorksOfMan">''"Works of Man"'', [[Ronald W. Clark]], {{ISBN|0-670-80483-5}} (1985), Viking Penguin, New York <br />quotation page 87: "There was little experience moving bulk loads by carts, while a packhorse would carry only an eighth of a ton [{{convert|1250|LT}}]. On a soft road, a horse might be able to draw {{fraction|5|8}}ths of a ton [({{convert|0.6250|LT}}) or 5×]. But if the load were carried by a barge on a waterway, then up to 30 tons [({{convert|30|LT}} or {{convert|60000|lb}}) or 240×] could be drawn by the same horse."</ref> In total, a canal could cut transport costs by about 95 percent.<ref>Using Clark's ''Works of Man'' figures, a mule can draw 60,000 pounds but carry only 250 pounds, which needed men to load and unload daily. Mules also need to carry grain (parasitic weight), and for the same tonnages required far more men as a labor force, drastically increasing running costs.</ref>

In the early years of the United States, transportation of goods between the coastal ports and the interior was slow and difficult. Close to the seacoast, rivers provided easy inland transport up to the [[fall line]], since floating vessels encounter much less friction than land vehicles. However, the [[Appalachian Mountains]] were a great obstacle to further transportation or settlement, stretching {{convert|1500|mi}} from [[Maine]] to [[Alabama]], with just five places where [[Mule#Mule train|mule trains]] or [[wagon road]]s could be routed.<ref name=FiveXings>The five east–west crossings of the Appalachians are: <br />{{bull
}}Plains of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi (around the bottom), <br />{{bull
}}the [[Cumberland Gap]] pass connecting [[North Carolina]]/Southern [[Virginia]] with [[Kentucky]]/[[Tennessee]], <br />{{bull
}}the [[Cumberland Narrows]] pass connecting [[Cumberland, Maryland]] (in [[Western Maryland]]) and [[Northern Virginia]] with [[West Virginia]] and [[Western Pennsylvania]] via [[Brownsville, Pennsylvania]] and the [[Monongahela River]] or the [[Youghiogheny River]] valley (both of the Ohio & Mississippi river system), <br />{{bull
}}the [[gaps of the Allegheny]] connecting the [[Susquehanna River]] Valley in central Pennsylvania with the [[Allegheny River]] valley (and again the [[Ohio Country]]), <br />{{bull
}}and lastly, the [[Mohawk River]] [[water gap]] and valley tributary of the [[Hudson River]], creating what later advertising would call the level water route westwards.
</ref> Passengers and freight bound for the western parts of the country had to travel overland, a journey made more difficult by the rough condition of the roads. In 1800, it typically took 2½ weeks to travel overland from New York to [[Cleveland, Ohio]], ({{convert|460|mi|disp=semicolon}}) and 4 weeks to [[Detroit]] ({{convert|612|mi|disp=semicolon}}).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://railroads.unl.edu/documents/view_document.php?id=rail.str.0241|title=Railroads and the Making of Modern America &#124; Search|website=railroads.unl.edu}}</ref>

The principal exportable product of the [[Ohio Valley]] was grain, which was a high-volume, low-priced commodity, bolstered by supplies from the coast. Frequently it was not worth the cost of transporting it to far-away population centers. This was a factor leading to farmers in the west turning their grains into [[whiskey]] for easier transport and higher sales, and later the [[Whiskey Rebellion]]. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, it became clear to coastal residents that the city or state that succeeded in developing a cheap, reliable route to the West would enjoy economic success, and the port at the seaward end of such a route would see business increase greatly.<ref>Joel Achenbach, "America's River; From [[George Washington|Washington]] and [[Thomas Jefferson|Jefferson]] to the Army Corps of Engineers, everyone had grandiose plans to tame the [[Potomac River|Potomac]]. Fortunately for us, they all failed". ''[[The Washington Post]]'', May 5, 2002; p. W.12.</ref> In time, projects were devised in [[Patowmack Canal|Virginia]], [[Chesapeake and Ohio Canal|Maryland]], [[Main Line of Public Works|Pennsylvania]], and relatively deep into the coastal states.<!---mention South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company???--->{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

====Topography====
The [[Mohawk River]] (a tributary of the [[Hudson River]]) rises near [[Lake Ontario]] and runs in a [[Quaternary glaciation|glacial meltwater]] channel just north of the [[Catskills|Catskill range]] of the [[Appalachian Mountains]], separating them from the geologically distinct [[Adirondacks]] to the north. The Mohawk and Hudson valleys form the only cut across the Appalachians north of [[Alabama]]. A navigable canal through the Mohawk Valley would allow an almost complete water route from [[New York City]] in the south to Lake Ontario and [[Lake Erie]] in the west. Via the canal and these lakes, other Great Lakes, and to a lesser degree, related rivers, a large part of the continent's interior (and many settlements) would be made well connected to the Eastern seaboard.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

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{{anchor|Proposal and logistics}}