Editing Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (section)

==Boats on the canal==
[[File:C%26O_Canal_-_4226570680.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Mules pulling loaded boat. Note the scow moored on the right (berm) side.]]
At first the board of directors discussed having boats similar to the dimensions on the [[Erie Canal]]: {{Convert|13+1/2|ft||abbr=}} wide with a draft of {{Convert|3|ft||abbr=}}, traveling at {{Convert|2+1/2|mph||abbr=}}. Later, Chief Engineer Benjamin Wright submitted a suggestion with the dimensions of the boats being {{Convert|14+1/2|ft||abbr=}} wide and {{Convert|90|ft||abbr=}} long, with a {{Convert|5|ft||abbr=|adj=on}} draft, to take advantage of the lock sizes and prism depth. That would permit boats with cargo up to 130 tons.<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 331</ref> Wright also suggested for passenger boats, having a draft of 10 inches (not including the keel) pulled by 4 horses at 7 miles per hour.

The following classifications of boats originally defined for the canal were as follows:<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 338</ref>

* [[Packet boat|Packet Boats]], for passengers
* Freight boats
* [[Scows]], especially work scows for construction and maintenance, as well as ice breaking<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 761</ref> 
* [[Gondolas]]

Rafts<ref name="Unrau P. 336"/> were, from time to time, on the canal, as well as launches and canoes. By 1835 (no doubt due to complaints about drifting rafts) the company put rates unfavorably against rafts.<ref name="Unrau p. 337">[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 337</ref> Farmers would build watercraft which were to last only one trip (to transport their wares) and then be sold in Georgetown for firewood.<ref name="Unrau p. 337"/>

Classifications were to change. In 1851, after the opening of the canal to Cumberland, the company adopted new classes of boats: A, B, C, D, E, and F, depending on dimensions and tonnage as follows:<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 349-350</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Class||Description||# of boats <br>in 1851
|-
|A||Decked boats of substantial build, carrying one hundred tons and upwards||align="right"|9
|-
|B||Boats of similar construction, carrying less than one hundred tons||align="right"|49
|-
|C||Boats not decked, of substantial build, carrying one hundred tons and up-wards||align="right"|108
|-
|D||Boats of similar construction, carrying less than one hundred tons||align="right"|41
|-
|E||Long boats and scows, decked or not decked, of substantial build||align="right"|10
|-
|F||Gondolas and other floats designed for temporary use||align="right"|6
|-
|Packets||Boats used chiefly for the transportation of passengers||align="right"|1
|}

Later years of Canal trade showed a predominance of coal carrying boats. In 1875, the register lists 283 boats owned by coal companies, and of the 108 other boats, 8 were listed as grain carrying, 1 brick, and 1 limestone carrying boat, with the other 91 being general.

During the declining years, freight boats were generally made in Cumberland.<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 357</ref> Freight boats in those years had two hulls, with 4 inches between them. There were holes (covered, when not in use) that one could put a pump in to pump out the [[bilge]].<ref>[[#hahn-boatmen|Hahn, Boatmen]], p. 29</ref>

===Double boats===
In 1875, the Canal Company announced its intention to double the lengths of the locks to allow double boats to pass through the canal, i.e. two boats, one behind the other, which could be towed, reducing freight costs by 50%. The Maryland Coal Company experimented with such boats, but the floods in the late 1870s destroyed these dreams.<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 360.</ref> The first lock to be extended to allow double boats was Edwards Ferry (Lock 25). Locks 25–32 were extended as such, as well as others, for a total of 14 extended locks on the canal.<ref>Hahn, p. 64</ref>

===Traffic regulations===
Boats were to keep to the right. Certain craft had preference over others: "boats had the right of way over rafts, descending boats over ascending craft, packets over freight boats at all times, and packets carrying the mail over all others",<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 365</ref> and later, repair boats actively involved in repair had preference over everybody else.<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 367</ref> The boat which did not have preference would slow down the mule team, the rope would sink to the bottom of the canal, and the other boat would float over it, and the mules would walk over also. The towline of the one boat would be unhitched so the lines would not tangle, but sometimes they did. There is one report of a towline snagging on the other boat, and the boatman running the boat into the towpath so as not to drag the other mules into the canal.<ref>[[#hahn-boatmen|Hahn, boatmen]] p. 40</ref>

It was forbidden to moor boats, rafts, or anything on the towpath side of the canal (which would, of course, impede any traffic at night).<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 383</ref> For that reason, boats would tie up on the berm side for the night.

Due to problems, on April 1, 1851, the company printed a 47-page booklet with new traffic regulations on the canal, detailing every aspect of operation, as well as fines for violations, and were printed in great numbers and distributed to boatmen and company officials.<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 808</ref>

The typical boating season ran from April until late November or December when the canal froze over.<ref>[[#hahn-boatmen|Hahn, Boatmen]] p. 76</ref> There were some occasions, for instance, during the Civil War, where the company tried to keep the canal open all year round.<ref name="Unrau724">[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 724</ref>

===Boat repairs===
{{multiple image
   | width     = 150
   | image1    = Lock 47 Historical C and O Canal.jpg
   | alt1      = Drydock
   | caption1  = Drydock for repairing boats at Lock 47 (Four Locks).
   | image2    = Lock_35_Drydock_on_C_and_O_Canal.jpg
   | alt2      = Drydock
   | caption2  = Abandoned drydock at Lock 35 (today). Note the concrete beams that the boat would rest upon. 
  }}

Boats carried [[oakum]] and chisels to patch leaks.<ref>[[#Kytle|Kytle]] p. 221</ref> There were also boat repair areas, for instance, beside Lock 35 and at Lock 47 (Four Locks), to repair boats. The boat would settle on raised beams (at lock 35, they were made of concrete), as the [[drydock]] was drained, and the men could make the necessary repairs,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whilbr.org/itemdetail.aspx?idEntry=5772&dtPointer=8 |title=Western Maryland Historical Library |publisher=Whilbr |access-date=2016-08-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918172518/http://www.whilbr.org/itemdetail.aspx?idEntry=5772&dtPointer=8 |archive-date=2016-09-18 }}</ref> using tin and tar.<ref>[[#hahn-towpath|Hahn, Towpath Guide]] p. 112</ref> Originally, the canal plans did not have provisions for drydocks or repairs of boats, but by 1838 there were frequent complaints about drifting rafts and wrecks obstructing navigation. The company made provisions for drydocks to help the situation.<ref name="Unrau p. 337"/> In the mid-1800s the Canal Company authorized at least 6 drydocks, documented at the following locations: Locks 45–46, Lock 47 (Four Locks), Lock 44 (Shepherdstown), above Lock 14 (near Carderock), Edwards Ferry (Lock 25), and in the rear of Lock 10 (Seven Locks).<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 360-361</ref>

===Icebreakers===
[[Icebreaker#Earliest icebreakers|Icebreakers]] were used on the canal, for instance, at the end of the boating season when winter froze the canal, so that the last group of boats could go home. The icebreaker was typically a company scow filled with [[pig iron]]. Mules would pull the boat onto the ice, and the weight would break the ice.<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 820</ref> During the Civil war, the canal company attempted to keep the canal open during the winters of 1861–1862, despite the fact that winters were usually for repairs. Icebreaker boats were used to keep the channel free of ice, so that the military could move supplies.<ref name="Unrau724"/>

===Mules===
[[Image:Mules and Canallers on C and O.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Mules being fed.]]
Most boats were drawn by [[mule]]s. Mules lasted about 15 years. Mules were often changed at locks, over [[Gangway (nautical)|gangplanks]]. Some boatmen would change teams by making the mules swim to the shore to change teams, leading to mules drowning as a result. Mules were bought, at {{Frac|2|1|2}} years, often from Kentucky, and were broken in by having them drag logs.<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 219-220</ref> The command to stop mules was not "whoa" but "ye–yip–ye".<ref>[[#hahn-pathway|Hahn Pathway]] p. 40</ref>

Getting a fully loaded boat moving was not easy for the mules, and overdriving them, especially at the basin in Cumberland where there was no water current to help them move the boat, was common, resulting in many [[wiktionary:spavin|spavined]] mules.<ref name="Kytle p. 25"/> To get a loaded boat going, the mules would have to walk until the line was taut, then put their weight into it, and step once the boat had moved, and repeat this process. Within 25 feet, the boat would be moving.<ref name="Kytle P. 173">[[#Kytle|Kytle]] p. 173</ref>

Mules were [[shod]] every other trip in Cumberland, although sometimes they had to be shod every trip.<ref>[[#hahn-boatmen|Hahn, Boatmen]] p. 14</ref> Mules were harnessed, one behind the other, slantwise, which (for some reason) pulled the boat straighter, than if they were abreast.<ref>[[#Kytle|Kytle]] p. 155</ref>

"Drivers" were the people (often children) who drove the mules on the towpaths: on the C&O they were not called "muleskinners" nor "hoggees" (the latter term was used on the [[Erie Canal]])<ref>[[#Kytle|Kytle]] p. 171 Footnote</ref>

Dogs were useful to a boat captain on the canal to drive mules<ref name="boatmen64">[[#hahn-boatmen|Hahn, Boatmen]] p. 64</ref> and also to swim to take the towline to hitch the mules.<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 220</ref> Joe Sandblower had a dog which would hunt [[muskrat]]s along the canal, and he would sell the [[pelts]] and collect the bounty on muskrats.<ref name="boatmen64"/> There is a documented cat on the canal boat, as well as a [[raccoon]].<ref name="boatmen64"/>

===Horses===
Horses were occasionally used to pull boats, but they did not last as long as mules.<ref name="Kytle P. 173"/> In the 1900s, a large white horse was used in Cumberland basin like a switching engine, to pull coal cars so that the coal could be loaded into the canal boats.<ref>[[#hahn-boatmen|Hahn, Boatmen]] p. 15</ref>

===Steamboats on the canal===
[[Image:Steamboat On Cheasapeake and Ohio Canal.jpg|thumb|150px|A steamboat on the C&O Canal. Note the steering wheel and the smokestack on this boat]] There were occasionally steam boats, one being authorized in 1824.<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 344</ref> In 1850, the N S Denny company operated some steam driven [[tugboats]] on the Canal.<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 345</ref> The board of directors discussed having steamboats for Big Slackwater, but that was abandoned in favor of a towpath along the side. Records indicate that in the 1879, a single steamboat could go {{Convert|3+1/4|mph||abbr=}} loaded downstream, {{Convert|4+1/2|mph||abbr=}} unloaded going upstream, and took 5 to 7 minutes to lock through whether going upstream or downstream (respectively) and used about a ton of coal per day for operation.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://candocanal.org/histdocs/Double_Boat_Report.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-11-27 |archive-date=2016-03-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305061356/http://candocanal.org/histdocs/Double_Boat_Report.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Boatmen and boat families===
The boatmen (usually with their families) were a rough independent lot, forming a class within themselves, and intermarrying within their own group. They frequently fought amongst each other for any reason, be it racial slurs (real or perceived), precedence at a lock, or for exercise. They fought with lockkeepers over company rules, or even with the company for changes in toll rates. During winter when the boats were tied up, they often lived in their own communities away from others.<ref name="Unrau p. 806">[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 806</ref> One boat captain observed that on the canal, women and children were as good as the men, and if it weren't for the children, the canal wouldn't run one day.<ref name="Unrau p. 818">[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 818</ref>

On April 2, 1831, Daniel Van Slyke reported:

<blockquote>it is with great difficulty we have been able to preserve order among the boatmen, who in striving to push forward for a preference in passing the several locks are sometimes dis-posed to injure each other's boats as a means of carrying their point. An unfortunate in-stance of this kind happened on Wednesday last at the locks on the 9th section. A strongly constructed boat ran her bow against a gondola loaded with flour, and so much injured her as to render it necessary to transship the load. But no damage was done to the cargo.<ref name="Unrau p. 806"/></blockquote>

One notorious incident occurred in May 1874 when George Reed of the ''Mayfield and Heison'' was fined $20 for mooring his boat illegally in the Cumberland Basin. He refused to pay the fine. At Lock 74, he forced his way past the lockkeepers who tried to prevent him from continuing, and he was given an additional fine of $50. He continued (without paying), forced his way through the locks at Harpers Ferry and Lock 5, until Georgetown, where he was served notice for $120 in fees plus $4.08 for the waybill. When he got back to Cumberland, his boat was confiscated until he paid the whole $124.08.<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 810</ref>

Recklessness among the boatmen was common. Many accidents were due to excessive speed. Aqueduct #3 (Catoctin) had a sharp bend at the upstream end, had been the site of a number of collisions from boatmen going too fast. In July 1855, a freight boat collided with a packet boat which sank. One of the most frequent problems was careless boatmen in their rush to lock through, hitting lock gates.<ref name="Unrau p. 811"/>

Many of the men, particularly boat captains, said they knew nothing else [except boating]. One woman said, "The children are brought up on the boat and don't know nothin' else, and that is the only reason they take up 'boating'. Boys work for their fathers until they are big enough to get a boat of their own, and it's always easy to get a boat."<ref>Springer, Ethel M. Canal Boat Children. U.S. Department of Labor, 1923. {{cite web|url=http://www.whilbr.org/assets/uploads/CanalBoatChildren.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-07-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605051643/http://www.whilbr.org/assets/uploads/CanalBoatChildren.pdf |archive-date=2014-06-05 }} p.5</ref>

====Hours and wages====
Fifteen hours a day was the minimum, 18 hours were the most frequently reported, according to the [[United States Department of Labor|U.S. Department of Labor]]. Boatman said, "It never rains, snows, or blows for a boatman, and a boatman never has no Sundays." and, "We don't know it's Sunday, till we see some folks along the way, dressed up and a-gin' to Sunday School."<ref name="Springer p. 6">Springer p. 6</ref>

Captains were paid per trip, receiving $70 to $80 per trip in the 1920s, and receiving less than $1,250 per year. Deck hands were paid $12 to $20 per trip, sometimes receiving clothes in lieu of wages or for part of their wages.<ref>Springer p. 8</ref>

The boating season ran from approximately March until December, with the canal drained during winter months to prevent damage from ice<ref>Springer p. 4</ref> and also for repairs.

====Women====
Women attended to household chores, steered boats, and gave birth on the boats, although if possible, a midwife would be secured if they were near a town. After birth, the journey would resume, with the man handling the chores including cooking. Often if the husband died, the widow would continue managing and operating the boat.<ref name="Unrau p. 819">[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 819</ref> Women often served as lock tenders also.<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 765</ref> One mother had 14 children, all born on boats, and never had a physician attending.<ref name="Springer p. 11">Springer p. 11</ref>

====Children====
[[Image:Children on C and O Canal Boat in Cumberland.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Children tethered to canal boat. This photo was probably taken in one of the Cumberland basins.]]
The U.S. Department of Labor stated that only the limitations of physical strength prevented the children from performing all operations connected with handling boats.<ref name="Springer p. 6"/> Otho Swain reported he saw a ten-year-old girl put a boat through a lock (i.e. snubbing the boat so it would stop), but that would have been a child who grew up on the canal.<ref>[[#Kytle|Kytle]] p. 133</ref>

Children generally did the mule driving, except perhaps at night when the captain might do so. In wet weather, the towpath was muddy and slippery and shoes wore out quickly. One man thought himself to be a good father because he provided his boys with rubber boots.<ref name="Springer p. 6"/>

One boatman said, "A boat is a poor place for little children, for all they can do is go in and out of the cabin." His son attended school 94 days out of a possible 178, and the father regretted it, but needed the family to help boat as he could not afford otherwise.<ref>Springer p. 7</ref>

====Medical care====
For boat families, there was very little medical care. One father stated, "We never need a doctor. We just stay sick until we get well." It was practically impossible to get a doctor in the mountains at the upper end of the canal or on the long levels.<ref name="Springer p. 11"/>

====Food====

Canned food was sometimes brought. Bean soup, made with beans, [[ham hock]]s, and an onion, was common. Other items included corn bread, eggs and bacon, ham, potatoes, and other vegetables. A reported canal custom was the first few rows of corn from farms along the canal could be used by the boatmen. Berries along the towpath were also picked. [[Molasses]] also was common. Bread and many groceries could be bought along the canal. Muskrats were sometimes eaten, as well as chickens and ducks either bought or even stolen along the way. Rabbits were snared. Crew members sometimes had a shotgun to shoot rabbits, groundhogs, or other game. Turtles were eaten as well as eels that the lock tenders caught in [[eel pot]]s in the rivers or the bypass [[flume]]s. Fish included sunfish, catfish, bigmouth bass, and black bass.<ref>[[#hahn-boatmen|Hahn, Boatmen]] p. 21-22</ref>

====Living quarters====
[[Image:Boat interior Diorama at Cumberland C and O Canal NPS museum.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Model interior of a C&O Canal freight boat]]Cabins were 10 feet by 12 feet, and housed two bunks, each 36 inches wide, supposedly for one person, but often occupied by two. While most cabin floors were bare, in one survey, 14 had linoleum covering. The cabins were divided between sleeping quarters and the "stateroom" by a diagonal wall. The feed box, 4 feet by 4 feet, in the center boat, often doubled as sleeping quarters with a blanket thrown over the feed. Occasionally the deck was used for sleeping<ref>Unrau p. 817</ref>

Cooking was done on a stove, burning corncobs (from the mule feed) or sometimes coal. Washing clothes and children was typically done at night by moonlight, after tying up the boat, along the side of the canal.<ref name="Unrau p. 819"/> Food and provisions for the trip (e.g. flour, sugar, coffee, salt pork, smoked meat, etc.) were bought in Cumberland on Wineow street, from stores such as Coulehan's, Dennis Murphy's, or John McGrinnis's.<ref name="Unrau p. 818"/> Some boatmen carried chickens or pigs on the boats. Fish caught in the canal also served as food, as well as turtles. Additional supplies could be bought along the way from lockkeepers and at towns.<ref name="Unrau p. 819"/>