Hats Off to “Merritt’s Ditch”:

he region’s earliest settlers and market forces compelled shale that comprise the body Empire Loyalist was not alone canal flowed down the Niagara all knew that a journey British North America to find of the Niagara Escarpment in petitioning the House of River before entering the from the St Lawrence a more permanent solution beneath its hard dolomitic Assembly for the Province of River at Chippawa. River system and Lake – one that linked the centre limestone capstone. It also Upper to receive a Moving upstream, it wended A Portrait of the TOntario over the Escarpment of the continent with the contends with two distinct charter for the construction its way to Allanburg and via a and into Lake Erie and the other Atlantic Ocean and climbed the geographic terrains, above and of a canal in 1818, but it was “Deep Cut” to Port Robinson Great Lakes involved a perilous “mountain.” below the mountain. ultimately down to Merritt’s before beginning its descent portage around the geologic Upon reflection, it is simple But two centuries ago, such acumen and financing that of the Escarpment at Thorold. feature’s most iconic aspect: to appreciate the Welland an undertaking was considered the did indeed From Thorold, it passed through . Canal’s accomplishment to be too audacious and risky become a reality. Merritton into St. Catharines and Welland Canal It was not until the end of compared to other canals for governments, let alone an Ever the pragmatist, Merritt along Twelve Mile Creek, exiting Written & photographed by Sarah King Head except where noted. the American Revolutionary worldwide. Indeed, one has individual, to undertake. realized that success would be at Port Dalhousie into Lake Wars at the end of the 18th only to look at the impressive Enter William Hamilton achieved in following natural . Take a simple engineering challenge. How do you use gravity to raise a ship? century, however, that a geology it overcomes – the Merritt in the early 1800s. water courses as closely as With lots of water, that’s how – especially if that ship is climbing combination of geopolitics nearly 100 metres of Silurian The American-born, United possible. From Lake Erie, his the Niagara Escarpment on the Welland Canal. ▶

▲ View towards St. Catharines Skyway from Lock 6. Photo by Sean Young.

20 Summer 2013 21 Summer 2013 Welland Canal ▶

Construction began on Four Canals ship channel through to Port November 30, 1824, with In spite of this success, Colborne on Lake Erie. the first sod being turned at construction had been Both the second and third Allanburg by Merritt’s business fraught with financial crises iterations of the Welland partner and president of the and controversy. Indeed, it Canal, opened in 1845 and Welland Canal Company, became immediately clear that 1887, responded to ever larger George Keefer. the canal’s 40 wooden locks vessels and the demands And, five years to the day were neither large nor robust of emerging domestic and later, the Welland Canal would enough to accommodate much international markets by carving see Merritt standing proudly maritime traffic. In response, an increasingly direct route on the deck of one of the the Government of Upper between the lakes, reducing the two vessels to make that first Canada assumed ownership number of locks and enlarging upbound journey, the schooner and financing of the canal, and their capacities. called Ann and Jane. plans were drawn up for its By 1932, the canal’s course reconstruction with stone-faced ran from Port Colborne, skirting locks and by cutting a direct eastward of Welland and St.

▲ Captain John Carlson, M.V. Cuyahoga, wearing top ▲ From left: RCMP Constable Yolande MacArthur, Marine hat at the launch of the 2013 navigation season. Security Operation Centre, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Captain John Carlson, M.V. Cuyahoga, First Engineer George Lundrigan, M.V. Cuyahoga, and RCMP Staff Serjeant Steve Brown, Marine Security Operation Centre, Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Catharines, to Port Weller by 42.5 metres, Locks 4, 5 and linked Port Colborne and Port who first settled the Niagara means of just eight locks. Of 6 make it possible for vessels Robinson more directly. Peninsula. these, its world-class engineering to pass in opposite directions This remarkable achievement credentials were established with simultaneously. Annual Top Hat Ceremony is celebrated in many ways a series of three twinned flight The first phase of an What began as “Merritt’s ditch” each year, not least with the locks between St. Catharines unrealized fifth canal was in 1829 is today regarded as a opening of the canal’s navigation and Thorold. Stretching nearly construction of a bypass around testament to the engineering 1.25 km over an incline of Welland in 1973, which ingenuity of the pioneers Continued on page 36 ▶

▲ The M.V. Rt Hon Paul J Martin upbound to Lake Erie at Lock 4. Photo by Sean Young.

H.M.C.S. Ojibwa upbound to Port Colborne. Photo by Sean Young. ▼

22 Summer 2013 23 Summer 2013 She notes that the original hat the beginning of this century. is in the St. Catharines Museum Legislation like this has actually collection along with other made the Great Lakes St. artifacts from the First Canal, Lawrence Seaway system fleet including an original shovel and superior to other transportation Welland Canal 23 ▶ a model of the Ann and Jane. modalities, specifically trains Continued from page On March 22, Powell and trucks, in terms of presented this top hat to Captain greenhouse gas emissions and John Carlson of Phelpson, fuel efficiency. In the same way, Ontario, the master of the M.V. bilge management regulations Cuyahoga, the first upbound control the discharge of vessel for the 2013 navigation harmful waste and ballast into season. the marine environment. The comparison between Over the course of its the transit of the M.V. history, it is easy to see how the Cuyahoga and that of the Welland Canal has been able Ann and Jane in 1829 is to respond and adapt to new striking. Not only in terms economic, social, political and of size, comparing the self- technological realities. It is also unloading, bulk carrier with possible to see it as a barometer that of a schooner, but also lock of change, a reflection of ▲ This map of the Welland Canal shows the location of the eight locks needed to sail between capacity. While a total of about the people who shaped, and Lakes Erie and Ontario, which is at a much lower elevation. Note the closeness of Locks 4, 5, 6 one million litres of water were continue to shape, the Niagara and 7 at the Niagara Escarpment. Niagara Falls, which goes over the Escarpment, is the reason displaced between all 40 locks Peninsula. nev that the needs to be bypassed. Map by Agyle courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. in 1829, a modern vessel today will displace an astonishing 91 Sarah King Head M.A., Phil.M. is season at the annual Top Hat Museum: “We decided to have million litres of water at each a freelance journalist, editor and ceremony during which a the hat made of materials that one of the eight locks. historian based in the Niagara ceremonial top hat is presented better reflect those used during Moreover, modern ships Region. She earned her graduate to the first upbound ship captain. the era of Merritt. Back in are regulated by increasingly degrees at the University of Toronto Inaugurated in 1947, the 1829, beaver pelts were used strict environmental controls. and has worked in the education ceremony is on to its third top to construct top hats because of The M.V. Cuyahoga, for industry and for cultural institutions hat – and one that is no longer their distinctive water repellant instance, was the first vessel in western Canada, silk but fashioned of beaver felt. properties. And today, they serve on the Great Lakes to be and England. She can be reached at Explains Kathleen Powell, to remind us of Canada’s early repowered with a tier-1 [email protected]. the curator of the St. Catharines fur-trading history.” emissions-compliant engine at

Welland Canal, Ontario, Canada Feet (meters) above Lake sea level Lock 7 Lock 8 Erie 574 (175) Lock 6 528 (161) Lock 5 476 (145) Lock 4 433 (132) Lake Lock 3 Ontario 384 (117) Lock 2 338 (103) Lock 1 292 (89) 246 (75)

0 2.0 3.7 6.3 7.8 8.6 Miles 24.4 27.0 (0) (3.1) (5.9) (10.2) (12.6) (13.9) (kilometers) (39.3) (43.5)

▲ This profile drawing of the Welland Canal shows the length of the of the eight locks are listed on the right side. The centre of the drawing canal with distances marked along the bottom. Differences in elevation shows the distinctive edge of the Niagara Escarpment. Drawing by are given between , left, and Lake Erie, right. Elevations Daniel M. Short courtesy Creative Commons, Wikimedia Commons.

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