Canal Mania in Indiana

Home , Fort Washington (Ohio), History of Indiana, Miami and Erie Canal, Packet boat, Wabash and Erie Canal, Whitewater Canal

A Magazine Exploring Indiana History IndianaThe Historian

Canal Mania in Indiana This issue and the next— Whitewater Canal boat captain— September 1997—focus on Indi- who played an important part in Focus ana canals of the nineteenth the economy—demonstrates also century. This issue provides the enthusiasm and spirit of the general background about canals canal era. and internal improvements. It The spirit of that era is focuses on what travel on a canal continued in the present-day boat was like and the economic organizations and people who effects of canals. The September study and commemorate canals. issue will focus on how canals The Canal Society of Indiana has were constructed. been helpful in our quest for On page 3 is a map demon- materials. Paul Baudendistel, a strating the long interest in canal resident of Metamora on the building in Indiana, from 1805 Whitewater Canal, has been through 1915. invaluable. Baudendistel’s long On pages 4 and 5, there are involvement with the canal is the brief overviews of Indiana’s inter- subject of “Behind the Scenes” on nal improvements efforts and page 14. canals in Indiana and nationally. As usual, a selection of Space has limited coverage to the resources is available on page 15. Wabash and Erie Canal and the We hope that this issue will Whitewater Canal. help to interest more people in the Two personal narratives are canal heritage of Indiana. Stu- then used (pages 6-9) to demon- dents and others should investi- strate what it was like to travel by gate the effect of canals in their Cover illustration: A canal wedding, canal boat in Indiana in 1851. own areas. They should then add May 16, 1872, at Attica on the Wabash Both accounts describe travel on and Erie Canal. this information to the resources Indiana Historical Society Library the Wabash and Erie Canal, but available at both the local and (Negative No. A131). travel on other canals would have state level as a result of those been similar. investigations. There is still much The Indiana Historian June 1997 The economic impact of to be learned about canals in ISSN 1071-3301 canals is then discussed (pages Indiana, and every reader can Editor Pamela J. Bennett 10-13). The interview of a contribute. Lead Researcher Paula A. Bongen Designer Dani B. Pfaff Contributing Editors Carole M. Allen, Janine Beckley, Alan Conant, Dani B. Pfaff, You be the historian Virginia Terpening • Examine the map on page 3. Are acquiring a marker through the In- The Indiana Historian provides re- any of the canals near your loca- diana Historical Bureau. sources and models for the study of local history to encourage Indiana’s citizens of tion? What is the closest canal—or • Railroads took the place of canals all ages to become engaged with the his- proposed canal—to you? See what as the best means of transporta- tory of their communities and the state of Indiana. you can find in local history sources tion. Are railroads still the primary The Indiana Historian (formerly The about the canal in your area. means of transportation? What has Indiana Junior Historian) is issued quar- terly from September through June. • Investigate the Central Canal. How taken their place and why? What It is a membership benefit of the Indi- has that canal been used in the water transportation is an impor- ana Junior Historical Society. One compli- mentary subscription is provided to Indi- recent past? tant economic factor in Indiana to- ana libraries, school media centers, and • The eight projects of the 1836 In- day? cultural and historical organizations. Annual subscriptions are available for ternal Improvements Act (listed on • Throughout this issue, there are $5.00 plus tax. Back issues are available page 4) reached all areas of Indi- illustrations from a newspaper, the at individual and bulk pricing. This material is available to visually ana. What was planned for your Brookville Indiana American from impaired patrons in audio format, cour- area? Was the project ever com- the 1840s. Does your area have a tesy of the Indiana History Project of the Indiana Historical Society. Tapes are avail- pleted? What results of this act can newspaper that goes back to the able through the Talking Books Program of be located on an Indiana map to- nineteenth century? What was go- the Indiana State Library; contact the Talk- ing Books Program, 317-232-3702. day? ing on in your area at that time? The Indiana Historian is copyrighted. • There are many historical markers What subjects were frequently cov- Educators may reproduce items for class use, but no part of the publication may be in Indiana about the canals and ered? What sorts of advertisements reproduced in any way for profit without transportation. Locate any near appeared? written permission of the Indiana Histori- cal Bureau. you. If there are none, investigate

2 The Indiana Historian, June 1997 © Copyright Indiana Historical Bureau 1997 St. Joseph River (of the Lake) Lagrange Steuben Indiana Elkhart Michigan 6b City South Gary La Porte Bend Goshen Canals St. Joseph Dekalb Lake Elkhart Rome 1805 - 1915 Kosciusko City Porter Noble River 6 Maumee River 1 Ohio Falls Canal—to Allen Kankakee 6c Whitley provide passage around Starke Marshall the Falls of the Ohio, 1805, Pulaski 1816. Jasper 6a 6d Fort Wayne Newton Wabash 2 Wabash and Erie Fulton Canal—to connect Lake Miami Huntington Erie with the Ohio River ppecanoeRiver Ti Wabash through the Wabash Valley, Logansport Peru 1827. White Benton Wells Adams 3 Whitewater Canal—to Huntington

connect Whitewater Valley Mississinewa with the Ohio River, 1833, Delphi Cass Marion 1836. Tippecanoe River Jay 3a , 3b . Surveys, 1825, 1837 of Blackford Warren Carroll Howard proposed routes for Whitewater Canal. Grant Tipton Madison Delaware 3a 4 Richmond and Lafayette Clinton Brookville Canal—to Attica Randolph connect Richmond to Hamilton Muncie Whitewater Canal, 1837. Covington

5 Central Canal—to 2 Noblesville Boone Anderson ermillion

connect Wabash River with V Fountain Montgomery Wayne Ohio River at Evansville, Henry 3b Hagerstown 1836. Hendricks Richmond Montezuma Cambridge City 6 Erie and Michigan 5 Indianapolis 4 Canal—linking Wabash and Hancock Erie Canal with Lake Connersville Union abash River Marion Rush Michigan, 1836. W Parke River Shelby 3 Fayette 6a - 6d . Surveys completed to link Clay Morgan Putnam Laurel Lake Michigan and Wabash Valley, White Terre Haute Franklin 1829, 1830, 1876, 1915. Johnson Metamora Owen Martinsville Decatur Brookville West Fork Whitewater

Vigo Spencer River

Brown Cincinnati Bartholomew Dearborn Sullivan Worthington Monroe Lawrenceburg Jennings Bloomfield

Greene Ripley River Ohio Martin Jefferson hite Jackson W Switzerland East Fork

Lawrence Washington Washington Knox Scott Ohio River

Daviess White River Clark Petersburg Orange

Oakland City Jeffersonville Crawford Floyd Gibson Pike Canal construction completed Dubois New Albany Posey Warrick 1 Some construction, Vanderburgh but never completed Perry Evansville Harrison Surveys made, no other action Spencer

Complete documentation for this map is available from the Indiana Historical Bureau.

In the early nineteenth treaty with the Principal Canals century, in Indiana—as in the rest Miamis and Built by 1860 of the existing United States— Potawatomis in travel was accomplished on foot or 1826. horseback, in wagons pulled by Passage by the 1 animals, or by water. Since road- General Assembly Buffalo Albany Chicago ways were quite primitive, water in 1836 of “An Act 10 Toledo Fort Wayne was the preferred means of travel to provide for a 7 Pittsburgh New York City 6 5 2 when possible. general system of Philadelphia 8 3 Baltimore As early as 1805, there was Internal Improve- C St. Louis incinnati Louisville interest in improving water trans- ments” marks the 9 portation in the Indiana Territory. state’s further 4 Adapted from: The territorial legislature char- commitment to Richmond Taylor, 35. tered a company to build a canal opening Indiana for 1 Erie Canal, 2 Pennsylvania Main Line Canal, 3 Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 4 James River and Kanawha Canal, 5 Ohio and Erie Canal, 6 Miami and Erie Canal, 7 Wabash and Erie Canal, around the falls in the Ohio River expanded trade and 8 Whitewater Canal, 9 Louisville and Portland Canal, 10 Illinois and Michigan Canal near Jeffersonville. No Indiana travel. canal was built there. Kentucky The 1836 law provided for their mental balance; every later built a canal on its side of eight projects to construct roads, neighborhood became so intoxicated with the idea that a railroad or canal the falls. canals, and railroads throughout was to pass near it, that the people New York’s very successful the state. See the chart on this became mad, as it were, and were Erie Canal was started in 1817 page. unable to judge. Report of the Debates and Proceedings of the and finished in 1825. It provided This 1836 law resulted in Convention for the Revision of the the impetus and the model for financial disaster for Indiana. Constitution of the State of Indiana, canal building that erupted in the Construction on projects was 1850 (Indianapolis, 1850), 677. nineteenth century from the east stopped in 1839; the state was As James H. Madison con- coast to Illinois. unable to pay interest on its debt cludes, “Simultaneous construc- Indiana’s canal building in 1841. Paul Fatout has asserted tion . . . began on many dispersed started with the Wabash and Erie that the system “was conceived in segments: when it was halted the Canal at Fort Wayne in 1832. This madness and nourished by state was left with bits and pieces canal was enabled by a federal delusion” (76). The many reasons of ‘scatteration,’ rather than any grant of land in 1827 following a for the failures are too complex to single completed project” (86). discuss here. The fact remains that Indi- As a result of the experience, ana committed in 1836 to Projects and Appropriations Indiana’s 1851 Constitution projects that would connect it, its in Indiana’s 1836 Internal prohibits the state from going into people, and its products to the Improvements Bill debt. During the debates at the rest of the country and the world. (see map on page 3 for canals) 1850 constitutional convention, Remnants of those projects are part of Indiana’s landscape today. 1. The Whitewater Canal, $1,400,000 Judge David Kilgore, who voted 2. The Central Canal, $3,500,000 for the 1836 bill in the legislature, Madison has a kinder as- 3. Wabash and Erie Canal, $1,300,000 noted in part what went wrong: sessment of those early pioneers: 4. Madison to Lafayette Railroad, It never entered into the minds of The generation that appropriated ten $1,300,000 those who voted for the bill directing million dollars to revolutionize 5. New Albany to Vincennes macad- those surveys that all the public works . . . transportation at a time when the amized road, $1,150,000 should be carried on simultaneously. state’s annual revenues averaged 6. Jeffersonville to Crawfordsville rail- We sent out engineers, chain-bearers, less than $75,000 took a risk. They road or macadamized turnpike, and workers, to get useful information lost, and looked foolish in the end, but $1,300,000 of different routes and localities upon only in the end. At the outset one 7. Removal of obstructions in Wabash which to base a good and practical must appreciate the forward-looking River, $50,000 system of internal improvements. But, optimism, the belief in progress, the 8. Survey for Fort Wayne to Michigan sir, the very fact that those surveys intense desire to lift Indiana out of the City canal or railroad, no appropriation were made . . . made the people lose mud and leave behind the isolation of pioneer life (85).

4 The Indiana Historian, June 1997 © Copyright Indiana Historical Bureau 1997 Indiana’s canals

Most references to Indiana’s vandalism, and railroads (which (seventy miles) and Massachusetts canal era emphasize the failures. were built along the canal routes) (three miles) had built railroads. The canal era and canals, how- finally caused closure of the canal By 1840 in all states, the complete ever, need to be studied as “a once in 1874. mileage of canals was nearly equal vital dimension in the growth of The Whitewater Canal in the to the complete miles of railroads. the Old Northwest.” Canals con- Whitewater Valley of southeastern By 1850, the complete railroad tributed “agricultural expansion Indiana eventually extended from miles were roughly two and one- and the export of agricultural Cincinnati, Ohio to Hagerstown, half times the canals. By 1860, surpluses, the import of eastern Indiana. The canal was proposed the complete railroad miles were merchandise, and economic in 1825. Progress was first made roughly eight times the canals. diversification towards manufac- with the incorporation of the The canal era had given way to turing and commerce” (Shaw, 107, Whitewater Canal Company in railroads (Taylor, 79-80). 105). 1826. Much of the canal was Canals were expensive. Most In Indiana, completed through the efforts of were possible only with govern- the two . . . canals which were private citizens who organized into mental support from states. Many completed and in operation for some construction companies. Explore were possible only because the twenty to forty years—the Whitewater the timeline in this issue for U.S. Congress granted public land and the Wabash and Erie canals—had a positive impact upon their regions, events of its progress. that could be sold to support served to stimulate agricultural and After the Whitewater Canal construction. The concept of such urban growth, and helped develop the ceased operations in 1865, public support for internal im- towns, the millsites, the population, and the trade which the railroads of a later . . . it continued to serve a number provements has continued to the time dominated so completely. Gray, of mills and, on the section between present day, for example, with the 129. Milton and Connersville, to develop interstate highway system. The 468-mile-long Wabash hydro-electric power for almost a century thereafter. . . . the canal had a and Erie Canal was the longest long history and a long term of canal in the country. It connected spasmodic usefulness. . . . Among the Lake Erie at Toledo with the Ohio earliest in Indiana, they [canal supporters of the Whitewater Valley] River at Evansville in 1853. It was were also foremost in determination, in begun in 1832 at Fort Wayne, and tenacity, and in blind courage. Fatout, , August 2, 1844. crossed through Peru (1837), 156. Lafayette (1843), and Terre Haute The map on page 4 demon- (1849). It cost approximately strates that canals were an impor-

$8,200,000. tant step in the process of con- Indiana American After 1841, Indiana could not necting the areas of the United pay the interest on its canal and States. As Shaw notes, “the cost of

Brookville internal improvements bonds— transportation fell dramatically many of which had been pur- from more than ten cents per ton chased by people in foreign coun- mile to as little as a cent; a canal tries. Work on the Wabash and network of 3,326 miles was built Erie Canal continued because of by 1840 at a cost of more than more grants from the federal $125 million, and the way was government of land to sell. Bond- opened for the railroad to follow” holders, under the leadership of (100). attorney Charles Butler, sup- Indiana’s late entry into the ported continued operation and canal era, in hindsight, doomed Rochester, later Cedar Grove, Franklin its efforts. New York, Pennsylva- County, is typical of towns that prospered or completion of the canal under were founded because of canal construction. trustees to recoup some of their nia, and Ohio had built over 1,000 Carefully read the advertisement. What other total miles of successful canals by transportation advantage did the town offer? money. There were periods when What were some of the canal-related the canal was profitable. Floods, 1830. In 1830, only Pennsylvania businesses?

Indiana author Maurice Thompson in his 1898 work Stories of Indiana, noted that “Many old people now living remember the peculiar experiences of voyaging on board a canal boat” (217). Thompson presented the following summary: The canal boat was a long, low, narrow structure built for carrying both passengers and freight. Its cabin and sleeping berths were of the most Canal boat William primitive description, ill-ventilated and Speece of Delphi on the dimly lighted. The boat looked like an Wabash and Erie Canal. elongated floating house, the height of Indiana Historical Society Library (Negative No. C5626). Fatout, following which had been decreased by some page 92. great pressure. It was drawn by one or two horses hitched to a long rope attached to the bow of the boat. The ent reactions to the speed— thus compared with the expense of the horses walked on a path, called the reports vary from three to eight trip by stage, causing the loss of four towpath, at the side of the canal, and days on account of them only running were driven by a man or boy, who miles per hour—and the comfort. tri-weekly, and occasioning the sometimes rode, sometimes walked. Overall, however, following items of expense: Passage to The boat had a rudder with which a Compared to stage or wagon, canal Cincinnati and back, $6; dinner on road pilot kept it in its proper place while it boat travel was smooth, seemed going and coming, seventy-five cents; crept along like a great lazy turtle on effortless, and the close banks or forest fare at ordinary house for three nights the still water. Surely there never was enhanced the sense of speed. Day and and two days, $5; four days lost sleepier mode of travel. Thompson, night travel changed the concept of (worth), $4; total $15.75; making a Stories of Indiana (New York: American distance. Shaw, 106. saving of $10.25 for one trip. Henry Book Company, 1898), 217-18. Clay Fox, editor, Memoirs of Wayne A 1912 source provides the As the boat diagrams County . . . (Madison, WI: Western comparison below to prove that Historical Association, 1912), 125. throughout this issue illustrate, canal boats were a great benefit The travel accounts on the the construction of canal boats over stagecoaches to the traveler following pages give two perspec- varied. The dimensions were or business person. tives of life on a canal boat during limited by the standard lock size of . . . the round trip from Brookville to trips of several days. Keep in mind approximately fifteen feet wide by Cincinnati was regularly made between how you travel today as you read ninety feet long. Locks on the Monday evening and Wednesday the words of travellers written on Whitewater Canal varied in size. morning at the following expense: canal boats on the Wabash and As with every mode of travel, Passage to Cincinnati and back, including board, $4; dinner at Erie Canal in 1851. passengers (many thousands) who Cincinnati, fifty cents; one day lost traveled on these boats had differ- (worth), $1; total $5.50. This amount is

Northwest Territory U.S. Congress Indiana Territory 1787 establishes established. Northwest Territory. (Barnhart and Riker, 311-12) Lawrenceburg platted. (Barnhart and Riker, (Garman, 133) 266-71) Indiana Timeline

1787 1800 1802 1789 1800 1803 1805

Fort Washington Construction Ohio becomes established on Ohio completed on “first seventeenth state. Michigan River; adjoining village true canal” in U.S. (Carruth, 74) Territory later named Cincinnati. connecting Santee established. (Garman, 133) and Cooper rivers (Barnhart and Riker, 337) Adapted from: George Pence and Nellie C. Armstrong, Indiana Boundaries (Indianapolis: in South Carolina.

Other Events in History Indiana Historical Bureau, 1967 reprint), 137. (Carruth, 71)

6 The Indiana Historian, June 1997 © Copyright Indiana Historical Bureau 1997 A Kentucky lady on the Wabash and Erie Canal, 1851

Thompson quotes from a It seemed . . . that all of the heat To-day is Sunday, and the people series of letters in July 1851 by “a spent by the sun during the day had all seem to be fishing in the canal. We settled down into that hot and stuffy little have passed hundreds of them sitting on young lady of Louisville, Ken- room, and that all the mosquitoes ever the banks with poles in their hands and tucky.” He does not explain the hatched in the mud puddles of Indiana dangling their fishhooks in the water; but I origin or location of the letters were condensed into one humming, have seen no fish caught. . . . from which he quotes. Tom is her ravenous swarm right around my hard The most disagreeable part of this little bed. . . . All night I lay there under a brother. This excerpt is from kind of traveling is, next after the sleeping, smothering mosquito bar and listened to the eating. You know how I like good Thompson, 218-23. the buzzing of the insects, perspiring as I things to eat. . . . To get to it from the never supposed that anybody could. It We went on board, by way of a cabin I have to climb up a ladder through was awful, horrid! It seemed that daylight board, a gangplank, that is, and soon a hole to the top of the boat, then go down was never going to come again. found ourselves in a dark, hole-like room, through another hole into a suffocating where it was hard to breathe and ...... box. The table is horrid, so is the cooking. impossible to see plainly. . . . We You cannot imagine how tedious Pork and bread, bread and pork, then presently went up a steep little stairway this way of traveling is. You creep along some greasy fish, mackerel, and bitter and came out upon the top of the boat, like a snail in perfect silence. There are coffee lukewarm, three times each day. I which was already in motion,—very slow two horses to our boat now, but we go am raving hungry all the time, and nothing motion, though,—and the dingy houses slower, I think. Our present driver is a little fit to eat. It makes me violently angry to began to slide, so it looked, back to the red-headed man, not larger than a twelve- see Tom gorge like a pig and pretend that rear. A single horse pulls our vessel, and year-old Kentucky boy. He never curses, stewed beans and catfish are delicious. the loutish boy who manages him has hair but he smokes a pipe all the time. . . . He ...... that is as white as tow. It looks as though wears no coat and has but one he had never combed it. He chews . . . The public roads in many places suspender, a dingy blue, over his red run along close to the towpath of the tobacco and swears at his horse; but yet shirt, slanting across his back. He he seems good-natured, and he sings canal, and I see people in wagons. They appears to be well acquainted with every go faster than we do. between oaths some very doleful hymns, person that comes along, and always has alternating with love songs of a lively cast. something smart to say. . . . Sometimes the horse pokes along; sometimes the boy makes it trot for a short distance. I am sitting on a stool on top of the boat, writing with my paper on my knee. . . . The first lock that we went through caused me to have a very queer feeling. Our boat entered a place where the sides of the canal were walled up with logs and plank, and stopped before a gate. At the same time a gate was closed astern of us, and then the boat began to rise, up, up, as the front gate was slowly opened. By this means we were lifted to a higher level,

Based on Baudendistel, 18. upon which we proceeded. But when the The packet boat Swan was owned by Augustus Boden, Sr. He brought the boat to Cincinnati boat began to rise, I felt as though in 1843. He later moved his operation to the Whitewater Canal. Baudendistel, 7. The packet something dreadful was about to happen. boat was designed for passenger travel. It had better animals generally and moved faster ...... than other boats. The cost of passage on a packet boat included meals and a “sleeping bunk” (Dunbar, 851, 861). Indiana Timeline Indiana territorial legislature charters Engraving of the Clermont. Indiana Canal Company to build a canal around the Falls of the Ohio; Indiana General Assembly charters Ohio Canal Brookville platted. Company in 1817; canal started but not (Barnhart and Riker, 420) finished. (Buley, 1:435-36)

1805 1808

1806 1807 1812 Other Events in History

U.S. Congress provides Robert Fulton’s for road from Cumberland, steamboat Clermont War of 1812 Maryland to Ohio; makes first voyage begins; ends becomes known as from New York to in 1815. Cumberland or National Albany. (Carruth, 86, 90-91) Road. (Carruth, 80) Bennet Woodcroft, A Sketch of the Origin and Progress of Steam Navagation, (Buley, 1:446-48) (London: Taylor, Walton, and Maberly, 1848), opposite p. 60.

J. Richard Beste came to the Crew‘s Stove Vent Cook Stove Rope Quarters Berth Berth Feed Vent United States with his wife and Locker Stove Bins Galley Hatch Passengers’ Quarters Cook’s eleven children. He became ill in Hatch Freight Hatch Hatch Stable Hatch Shack Lantern Terre Haute, and his youngest Feed Bins Bar Bell daughter died there. Beste pub- Berth Berth Berth lished a narrative of their trip as

The Wabash: or Adventures of an Based on Baudendistel, 16. Fore Cabin Mid Cabin Aft Cabin English Gentleman’s Family in the Interior of America (2 vols., Lon- don, 1855; reprint 1970). Journal Feed entries by his children are placed Bins Rope Locker Crew’s Gear Linen Library Food Cook’s Locker Bunk throughout his account. Entries Bunk Baggage Locker Grain Storage Stores by two of his daughters are in- This cutaway of a canal boat shows the layout of a typical Indiana canal boat. As you look cluded in this excerpt from vol- carefully at the different compartments, equipment, supplies, and goods, remember that canal ume 2, pp. 191-213. boats were generally smaller than fifteen feet wide and ninety feet long, the standard lock size.

TUESDAY, 12TH AUGUST. At five o’clock in the afternoon, we stepped from from the ladies’ saloon, and on the other Dr. Read had advised me to give a the little quay at Terre Haute on board the side opened upon the bow of the vessel. tablespoonful of brandy to each one of my Indiana canal boat. Three horses were In it, was a looking-glass, a hand bason, children every night and morning, in the harnessed to a rope, about fifty yards two towels, a comb and a brush, for the hope of keeping off the ague and fever of ahead of the boat; they started at a use of the ladies. It was a rule in the boats the canal: and I administered his moderate trot; and the town . . . was soon that no gentleman should go into the prescription regularly as long as we were lost to our sight. No other passengers ladies’ saloon without express invitation in the boats. . . were on board: and we wandered over from the ladies; consequently, the third ‘After tea, we all began,’ writes the vessel, well pleased with the promise little room was sacred to the female sex Agnes [Beste’s daughter], ‘a most it gave us of tolerable accommodation. unless entered from the bow . . . . murderous attack upon the mosquitoes The captain, a very young man, was very A flat roof spread over the whole of that swarmed on the windows and inside civil and attentive to our wants: and told the saloons; and on it was piled the our berths . . . . us that tea could be served at seven luggage; and here passengers walked up o’clock . . . . WEDNESDAY. ‘What with turning about and down or sat to enjoy the view. on account of the heat and trying to catch The construction of the canal boat ...... the musquitoes, who bit us dreadfully, we was—in miniature—much the same as did not get much rest . . . . After breakfast, that of the lake and river steamers. There Our children had wondered where they were to sleep, as there were no which was much the same as the tea had was no hold or under-deck; but, on the been, papa began reading some of The deck at the stern, were raised the kitchen, visible berths . . . . The steward, however, soon solved their doubts by hooking up Corsair aloud to us . . . . The monotony of steward’s room, and offices; in the centre the day was only broken by the many of the boat, was the large saloon—the some shelves to the wall, and laying mattresses and sheets upon them. locks that we had to pass through: sitting room of all by day, the sleeping although it was not agreeable to feel the room of male passengers by night; . . . all complained bitterly of the bad boat strike suddenly against the wall or adjoining it was the ladies’ saloon; tea and coffee, of the heavy hot corn the floodgates with force enough to throw beyond which again, was a small cabin bread, and of the raw beef steaks. down those who were not on their guard. containing only four berths. This cabin Then the violent rush of the waters from was separated by a doorway and curtain I then produced my brandy bottle.

Stage line begins from Indiana becomes Vincennes to Louisville. nineteenth state. (Esarey, 1:296)

Indiana Timeline (Carruth, 92)

1816 1820 1815 1816 1817 1818

Enterprise is first New York begins steamboat to go to First steamboat on construction of Illinois becomes New Orleans and Great Lakes, on Erie Canal. twenty-first state. return upriver to its Lake Ontario. (Carruth, 94) (Carruth, 95) home port north of (Taylor, 61) Pittsburgh. Vincennes Western Sun, March 18, 1820. (Taylor, 63) Other Events in History

8 The Indiana Historian, June 1997 © Copyright Indiana Historical Bureau 1997 above, while the boat was rising with I never saw more magnificent timber conveyance to the Lakes and the more busy them, rather made us imagine that we than shaded the valleys through which we districts we were here approaching. . . . were in Noah’s ark.’ passed. . . . FRIDAY. We had passed from the ...... At this little town [Fort Wayne], I valley of the Wabash, running to the . . . we arrived, in the evening, at La went on shore again to replenish my south-west, to that of the Meaumee river, Fayette, where we were to move into brandy and whisky flasks; for there had which had a north-easterly current, and another canal boat. . . . been a large expenditure of the former on we had now cut off a little angle on the my third boy, who had been ill in the right and were at the place where our . . . Here I procured a fresh supply morning, and had, we feared, caught the Wabash canal joined that from the Ohio at of whiskey, to mix with our canal water, ague and fever of the district. But some of Cincinnati. Here we were to part with which we were afraid of drinking alone . . . the passengers advised me to give him Frank and his next youngest brother, . The bell soon summoned us to the boat frequent spoonsful of burnt brandy; and it whom I had resolved to leave awhile in which was to take us onwards; and which was curious to see how speedily and how America . . . . was so inconveniently drawn up that completely this cut short what threatened At Junction, we had found the females could only enter it by passing to be a serious attack. . . . through the windows, from the saloon of Cincinnati boat; and there was an the one into that of the other...... interchange of many passengers as they drew up side by side in the wide basin of ...... As we proceeded onwards, we had taken in a great number of passengers; the two canals. I commended my two poor ‘The berths were in tiers, [writes many of whom only used the boat for boys to the care and kindness of the captain Lucy, Beste’s daughter] three rows high; short stages, from town to town: but many of the southern vessel, who seemed to be a and, that we might not be intermingled others now sought it as the only civil, good-tempered man . . . . with other people, we girls took ours one above the other. I was put in the top one; for Catherine was too modest to climb so high; Ellen and Agnes were too short; and Louie still suffered from her pain in her side . . . . But the shelves or trays on which we lay, were so short, that I found my pillow constantly slipping down from under my head; and, if I put it lower down, my feet hung out at the other end; so that, Canal Society of Indiana. although I was not very tall, I was obliged, at last, to curl myself up again and lie quite still, while the mosquitoes devoured, and the heat melted me. At last I went to sleep.

THURSDAY. ‘. . . mama soon announced that papa had left his room, so that we might pass into it, and to the basin and two towels. Every third person had to dip the jug into the canal for fresh water . . . . ‘Then came the breakfast . . . the bread was hot and very heavy, and the beef steaks were dry, small and much underdone. . . . Captain [G.] Davis looked very black if any one asked to be helped a second time.’ This photograph of mule drivers, or hoggies, is believed to have been taken on the We passed through a great deal of Whitewater Canal. The Canal Society dates the photograph after 1856 because beautiful country. . . . of the telegraph lines. Note that there are passengers on the roof of the boat. Indiana Timeline U.S. Congress grants Indiana General Indiana General Assembly Indiana lands for Assembly accepts Stage coach incorporates Whitewater building Wabash and land from Congress service from Canal Company. Erie Canal; route of and elects canal Brookville to (Laws, 1825-1826, pp. 29-36) National Road in commissioners. Cincinnati Indiana surveyed. (Fatout, 41) begins. (Fatout, 39; Esarey, 1:291) (Esarey, 1:297)

Indiana Historical Society

1826 Library, Negative No. C7162. 1827 1828 1831

1825 1828 1829 Other Events in History

Canal construction begins on Kentucky side at Falls of the Ohio, killing canal Baltimore and Ohio Welland Canal, project on Indiana side; completed 1831; Railroad chartered. New York, New York’s Erie Canal opens; Stockton (Taylor, 77) connecting Lake and Darlington, world’s first railroad for Erie with Lake general transportation, begins in England. Engraving of a light packet on the Erie Canal. Ontario, opens. (Fatout, 20-21; Carruth, 103; Taylor, 75-76) (Taylor, 61)

The important economic The supporters of impact of the Wabash and Erie the Whitewater Canal, Canal has been studied exten- however, remained sively. The 1912 work by Elbert faithful to keeping the

Jay Benton is still cited by modern canal operable against , January 19, 1844. scholars. Benton noted the many the highest odds, towns that were founded because especially flooding. The of the canal. He also noted that extension of the canal

some died with the canal while into downtown Cincin- Indiana American Other cities, more fortunate, grew up nati in 1843 brought with it and with the coming of the the Whitewater Valley railroads have continued to control the into the national trade Brookville traffic of their respective localities. Ft. Wayne, Huntington, Wabash, Peru, network. Logansport, Delphi, Lafayette, Various illustra- Covington, and Attica are conspicuous. tions throughout this Benton, 101-102. issue provide samples Benton cites two examples of of the economic enter- trade at these canal centers where prises related to the wagons waited Whitewater Canal. The for their turns to unload the products of their farms, bound to the eastern canal lines, the build- markets. Four hundred wagons ers of boats, the ware- This hotel was close to both canal and unloading in Lafayette during a single houses, the mills, the hotels, new steamboat landings and clearly was expecting the patronage of a better class of day of 1844 were counted by one of and expanded towns, the various the pioneers. Another, speaking of the travelers. What early accommodations existed for travelers in your area? business at Wabash, says it was a companies formed to build parts common occurrence to see as many as of the canal, and the workers who four or five hundred teams in that place kept the canals running found at in a single day unloading grain to the were able to adapt. As George S. canal. Benton, 101. least short-term success as part of Cottman put it, The Whitewater Canal has Indiana’s canal era in the received less scholarly attention Whitewater Valley. This was a promise of commercial The remnants of the prosperity and a new lease of life to the than the Wabash and Erie Canal. Whitewater region. . . . Towns sprang up Shaw, a modern author, indicates Whitewater Canal are reminders of along the proposed route and lay in wait, that “the Whitewater Canal, which the many people who succeeded and as the canal, crawling northward, and failed with the canal. Here, reached them successively, making one had wielded such political lever- and then another the head of navigation, age, proved to be almost inoper- too, with the coming of the rail- each flourished and had its day. Indiana able” (Shaw, 95). road, some towns and businesses Magazine of History, 1:4 (1905), 207.

Indiana’s ambitious Construction Indiana General Assembly Indiana General Assembly Internal Improvement Act begins on the Toledo orders survey for Whitewater requests Ohio to construct approved by Governor Cleveland Wabash and Erie Ohio Canal; engineers report part of Whitewater Canal in Noah Noble; construction Canal. December 23, 1834 calls for Ohio; Ohio gives on Whitewater Canal (Taylor, 47) Canal System canal from Nettle Creek to permission in 1836 law. begins. Miami Ohio Indiana Timeline Lawrenceburg. (Laws, 1834-1835, pp. 272-73) (Laws, 1835-1836, pp. 6-21; Esarey, and and 1:418) Erie Canal Erie Canal (Esarey, 1:410)

1832 1834 1835 1836 1832 Columbus 1833 1837 Dayton

Miami and Erie Marietta Canal completed Ohio and Erie Canal Cincinnati Michigan becomes from Cincinnati completed from twenty-sixth state. to Dayton. Portsmouth Cleveland to (Carruth, 118) (Taylor, 46) Ohio River. Adapted from: Frank Wilcox, (Taylor, 46) The Ohio Canals (Kent State

Other Events in History University Press, 1969) endpages.

10 The Indiana Historian, June 1997 © Copyright Indiana Historical Bureau 1997 By joining together, these four canal boat owners could offer continuous service between Laurel and

, April 4, 1845. Cincinnati. The canal to Cincinnati was completed in 1843, offering opportunities , January 26, 1844. for faster and more economical travel and transportation of

Indiana American merchandise to and from the Whitewater Valley.

Indiana American

Brookville

Based on

Baudendistel, 21. The Harkaway was a freight barge which hauled lumber. It was owned by Rufus Webb and traveled between Laurel and Cincinnati. Baudendistel, 28.

The canal provided a water highway to transport goods and people. That water could also be used to supply power for mills, which, in turn, supplied

, October 21, 1842. goods to the town and This article lists the amount of goods shipped from Brookville in beyond. How does this use approximately one month in 1844. Newspapers of the day regularly of a resource compare to listed the amounts of goods shipped in and out of various cities. our modern utilities today? Newpapers copied the figures from each other, thereby monitoring business in other areas. Note that bbls. refers to barrels, a common way to ship certain products. Indiana American Examine the many items listed here. If there are any with which you are not familiar, research to find out what they are. Are there any

items no longer used today? What does this list tell you about Brookville agriculture in the Whitewater Valley?

Canal completed between Indiana Timeline Brookville and White Water Valley Lawrenceburg; state Canal Company Whitewater Canal orders work stopped on resumes work completed to most internal improve- on canal. Laurel. ment projects. (Fatout, 108-9) (Fatout, 109) (Esarey, 1:418-19; Fatout, 98)

1839 1842 1843

1845 Other Events in History

Miami and Erie Canal from Cincinnati to Toledo completed. (Taylor, 46) Brookville Indiana American, March 11, 1842.

Captain Joseph M’Cafferty merchandise transportation. Note swan line of packets was put on about was a canal boat captain on the that some of the people and that time. They did not carry anything but light freight and passengers, and it was Whitewater Canal during the incidents M’Cafferty mentions are expected then they would make a fortune 1840s. According to Reifel, “Some also referred to in illustrations on for their owners. But they did not pay, and years before his death he pages 12-13. after a season or two they were [M’Cafferty] talked reminiscently” withdrawn. I carried passengers on the ‘The first boat was the ‘Ben ‘Belle of Indiana’ . . . . concerning his canal days. This Franklin.’ She had been running on the ...... excerpt is from August J. Reifel, Miami canal for a number of years, and it was decided to bring her over here. She ‘. . . There was an intense rivalry History of Franklin County, Indi- was dropped down from the Miami canal between the boats, and the way they used ana . . . (Indianapolis: B.F. Bowen to the Ohio river and floated to to race was a caution, and when one boat & Company, Inc., 1915), 254-56. Lawrenceburg and put into the White tried to pass another it was about sure to Water canal. I bought her and changed Captains and their canal end in a fight. The crew of a boat was the the name to ‘Henry Clay’ . . . . I built a captain, two steersmen, cook and driver, boats were an important part of number of boats to sell, and always got and sometimes they all got into it. the economy. They generally were good prices for them. The first boat built at Cedar Grove was called the ‘Native,’ and ...... independent and paid tolls to use when she started on her first trip there ‘. . . the greatest time was when the canals for passenger and was a good deal of excitement all along they opened the canal to Cambridge City. the canal. The ‘Native’ was a passenger We knew for a long time that the canal and freight boat and was fitted up in a was to be opened up to that place, but we manner that was gorgeous for those days. did not know just when it would be, so we There were two cabins and large state all laid away as much as possible and rooms ranged on the side, the same as is waited for the word. . . . At last the word now seen on passenger steamers. came that the water was in the canal at Stephen Coffin was the builder and

, September 2, 1836. Cambridge City, and we started. captain . . . . ‘There were twenty boats, and every ‘Finally I built a boat called the ‘Belle one tried to get by the other, and when we of Indiana,’ and there was nothing on the had to make the locks I tell you there was canal that touched her anywhere. The some tall swearing and not a little fighting,

Indiana American

Brookville

Based on

Baudendistel, 17.

Cambridge City with this advertisement The Belle of the West was a line boat which transported both passengers and freight. It (excerpted here) immediately jumped on was involved in the opening of the canal to Cambridge City in October 1845 with John the bandwagon of Indiana’s 1836 Lemon as captain. See M’Cafferty’s reminiscence and the article “Postscript” from the internal improvements system. What is Brookville Indiana American, October 10, 1845 on page 13. “The cost of passage on a the purpose of the advertisement? What line-boat . . . provided neither sleeping accommodations nor food for its patrons, and the can you learn from it about the city and boat generally moved more slowly than a packet” (Dunbar, 861, 851). the area?

Floods cause $100,000 damage to Whitewater Canal Whitewater Canal and repairs from flood completed to in 1848 are $80,000; Hagerstown Canal Connersville in June Company completes Whitewater Canal and to Cambridge City from Cambridge City to Hagerstown; Indiana’s new in October. Madison and Indianapolis Railroad Constitution adopted. Indiana Timeline (Fatout, 117) completed. (Esarey, 1:520-21) (Esarey, 1:426; Garman, 133; Taylor, 91)

1845 1847 1851 1846 1848 1850

U.S. declares war Wisconsin becomes International cholera on Mexico; war thirtieth state. epidemic reaches Midwest. ends in 1848. (Carruth, 135) (Carruth, 140) (Carruth, 132, 135)

Other Events in History Brookville Indiana American, May 2, 1845.

12 The Indiana Historian, June 1997 © Copyright Indiana Historical Bureau 1997 but no one was hurt. My boat and all the other packets were crowded with passengers. I had the ‘Belle of Indiana’ then, and there was such a crowd on the deck that I had to separate them so the steersman could see the bow of the boat.

, January 19, 1941. When we got in sight of MIlton it seemed as if the whole United States was there. Star There were two or three cannons fired and the people were shouting and yelling like Indians. John Lemon was the captain The White Water Valley Canal of the ‘Belle of the West,’ and I was Company was incorporated in 1842 by pushing him mighty hard, for he was in the Indiana General Assembly to the lead. But the water was not deep complete the canal to the National enough for a good race and he beat me Road, at Cambridge City. The Canal into Cambridge City; but I was right House headquarters in Connersville remains as a reminder of the grand behind him. Frederick Polley, Indianapolis days of the canal era in Indiana. The ‘. . . There were cannons, more Canal House was placed in the bands, the state officers were there and National Register of Historic Places in every one had a great jubilee. . . . there is 1973. a big difference now and then. Why, we went through the stretches of woods four and five miles long then to get to This article indicates that “the White Water Cambridge, and it would be hard to find a Canal is in ruins.” The Whitewater Canal suffered much damage from floods. Its stretch now half a mile long. Those were supporters over and over spent great sums great days, though, and everybody made of money to repair it. Another disastrous money, but mighty few kept it. It was flood in 1852 finally brought transportation come easy and go easy. uses of the canal to a close (Fatout, 154). , January 8, 1847. ‘Of course, I was around the canal about all my life, but I ran a boat about seven years, and good years they were, too. But I saw that the business on the canal was falling off and so I sold all my Indiana American boats, closed out my business, bought a farm and have been a farmer ever since. .

. . I guess that I am about the only one of Brookville the boys who used to run on the canal that is left, and it won’t be very long until I tie up forever.’ , October 10, 1845.

Cambridge City started using its canal Indiana American potential for business in 1836 according to the advertisement on page 12. The canal did not reach there until October 1845. The

Brookville oral history by Captain M’Cafferty on this page gives his version of the race to be the first boat to arrive at Cambridge City. Is this article correct when compared to M‘Cafferty‘s version. Indiana Timeline

Wabash and Erie White Water Valley Canal Company property Wabash and Erie Canal completed sold to president of Indianapolis and Cincinnati Canal sold for to Evansville. Central Canal Railroad; towpath later becomes roadbed for $96,260 to repay (Taylor, 48) sold for $2,425. White Water Railroad Company. bondholders. (Esarey, 1:426) (Fatout, 155-156) (Esarey, 1:445)

1853 1859 1865 1876

1861 1872 Other Events in History

U.S. Civil War begins; Yellowstone National war ends in 1865. Park Reserve (Carruth, 157, 166) established. (Carruth, 179) Indiana State Library, Indiana Division Manuscripts.

© Copyright Indiana Historical Bureau 1997 The Indiana Historian, June 1997 13 “Behind the Scenes” presents some aspect of how the Bureau staff produces each issue of the magazine. The focus may be, for example, the research process, an interpretation problem, etc. Behind the Scenes It also enables us to thank our partners and demonstrate that research is a collaboration with often unexpected twists and turns.

“respect our own back yard” My knowledge of Indiana History Paul Baudendistel lives in was text book. This was real. I thought that I was the first person to discover Metamora. After talking a few living history. At the Mill Falls I really minutes with him, his passion for got into the canal. the Whitewater Canal is obvious. In the fall of 1967 I bought an old For the past thirty years he has dry goods store on the canal in immersed himself in its rich Metamora, Ind. Opened an antique shop for men dealing in primitive tools history: researching, writing, and . . . . I moved upstaires above my store preserving the heritage of his and here I am. . . . adopted town. He has worked with My antique shop may have been a the Canal Society of Indiana and financial failure . . not unlike canals in Indiana . . but I got a wealth of has published various items information. Maintaining what you’ve related to the Whitewater Canal. got is worthwhile. Indiana . . at that Photograph by Bob Schmidt, Canal Society of Indiana. His sketches of Whitewater Canal time . . seemed embarrassed about her boats have been rendered on canal era . . like it was a mistake that should be covered up. Not much was computer for use throughout this said about canals in my school years. I issue. went out to explore and map canal Paul Baudendistel on the deck of Native Son. Baudendistel lives on the ruins. What a wealth of monuments we had . . . and to this day we still do not upper floor of a building built in respect them as ‘Historic Landmarks.’ The Metamora Whitewater Canal site 1848 as a dry goods store. Walk- We go to Europe to see a 300 year In the 1940s, the Whitewater Ca- ing through his front door is like old pub . . to China to try to grasp a nal Association of Indiana, a group of walking into a small museum. 3000 year old temple. It’s time to people dedicated to saving the canal Books, old photographs, and seriously respect our own back yard. around Metamora, worked together to This land is sacred too. assure its restoration and preservation. maps, blend with the eclectic I want to share that with people. The Association’s activities are included artifacts that fill the living room. Those in the future who want to be in issues of the Indiana History Bulletin From the front windows, one can open to it. . We should give them more during that time. In 1945, the Indiana space to feel canal water. General Assembly created a state me- look directly down on the restored morial from the Whitewater Canal Sys- canal. I am very grateful to ‘the few people’ tem property donated by the Whitewater What brought him to who . . . struggled so long to save a Canal Association. Laws, 1944, pp. 142- piece of the Whitewater Canal. I owe 44. Today, the Whitewater Canal State Metamora? What stirred such for this space. I want to do what I can. Historic Site is in the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites division of passion and dedication to an era I’m still exploring my county, hunting the Department of Natural Resources. long gone? Baudendistel shared its treasures, seeing my world as a Contact: 317-647-6512. his beliefs in this short written visitor. interview. Mary, my first wife, died of l[e]ukemia cancer in the summer of 1966. She was 21. The ‘importance of Paul Baudendistel’s the individual’ was suddenly painfully Native Son, a twelve clear. With pencils and sketch pad . . I foot by fifty foot full went on a quest . . soul searching. In scale reproduction the Eric Sloane tradition. canal boat he built and uses as a museum in - Don’t push the river - Metamora, Indiana. I came to Metamora to sketch old buildings . . and got caught up in the canal. I was 25 and thought I knew so much about life. The canal waters were so powerful at the mill falls . . so peaceful as they flowed down Main St. of this little village . . so timeless. There was something missing in my sketches . .

people. Photograph by Bob Schmidt, Canal Society of Indiana.

14 The Indiana Historian, June 1997 © Copyright Indiana Historical Bureau 1997 A Note Regarding Resources: Items are listed on this page that enhance work with the topic discussed. Some older items, especially, may include dated practices and ideas that are no longer generally accepted. Resources reflecting current practices are noted whenever possible. Selected Resources

Bibliography A standard resource originally print 1979. • Barnhart, John D., and Dorothy published in 1918; page numbers Volume 1 is a valuable source L. Riker. Indiana to 1816: The differ in the various editions. for information on Indiana’s Colonial Period. Indianapolis: • Fatout, Paul. Indiana Canals. internal improvements from 1816 Indiana Historical Bureau and West Lafayette: Purdue University to 1836. Indiana Historical Society, 1971. Studies, 1972. • McCord, Shirley S., compiler. A standard reference for this Valuable source; easy-to-read Travel Accounts of Indiana, 1679- period. history of canals in Indiana. 1961. Indianapolis: Indiana • Baudendistel, R. Paul. The • Garman, Harry O. “Whitewater Historical Bureau, 1970. Whitewater Canal Boat Log: Canal, Cambridge City to the Ohio First-hand observations, com- Notebook No. 1. Metamora, IN: R. River.” Indiana History Bulletin, ments, and adventures of early Paul Baudendistel, 1995. 39:9 (September 1962), 127-38. Indiana travelers. Booklet contains excerpts from A useful article for an overview. Suggested student resources many sources about canal boats • Gray, Ralph D. “The Canal Era • Boyer, Edward. River and on the canal, as well as drawings in Indiana.” Transportation and the Canal. New York: Holiday House, by the author. Early Nation. Indianapolis: Indiana 1986. • Benton, Elbert Jay. The Wabash Historical Society, 1982, pp. 113- Design, construction, and Trade Route in the Development of 34. operation of imaginary canal the Old Northwest. Baltimore: The A paper presented at an Indiana presented in text and line draw- Johns Hopkins Press, 1903; American Revolution Bicentennial ings; for any age group. reprint [1958]. Symposium in 1981, it provides a • McNeese, Tim. America’s Early Standard source for the history more positive approach to the Canals. New York: Crestwood of the Wabash and Erie Canal, history of Indiana’s canal era. House, 1993. reprinted by the Public Library of • Madison, James H. The Indiana Readable history of the develop- Fort Wayne and Allen County. Way: A State History. Bloomington ment of canals; for intermediate • Buley, R. Carlyle. The Old and Indianapolis: Indiana Univer- and advanced readers; includes Northwest: Pioneer Period, 1815- sity Press and Indiana Historical glossary, resources, and index. 1840. 2 vols. Indianapolis: Indiana Society, 1986. • Nirgiotis, Nicholas. Erie Canal: Historical Society, 1950; reprint, Good general work from prehis- Gateway to the West. New York: 1983. tory to late twentieth century. Franklin Watts, 1993. Pulitzer Prize winning book is • Shaw, Ronald E. “The Canal Era Beginning history of building excellent source for overview of in the Old Northwest.” Transporta- the Erie Canal and its impact on Indiana’s canal history in context tion and the Early Nation. India- America; for elementary and of Old Northwest; reprinted by the napolis: Indiana Historical Society, middle school readers; includes Society and Indiana University 1982, pp. 89-112. references, glossary, and index . Press. Provides useful context for • Oxlade, Chris. Canals and • Carruth, Gorton. What Hap- studying Indiana’s canals. See Waterways. New York: Franklin pened When: A Chronology of Life Gray preceding. Watts, 1994. and Events in America. New York: • Taylor, George Rogers. The Craft and science demonstra- Harper & Row, Publishers, 1989. Transportation Revolution, 1815- tions with brief text; for example, A handy, abridged edition of 1860. White Plains, NY: M. E. how a lock system works; for The Encyclopedia of American Sharpe, Inc., 1951. elementary and middle school Facts & Dates. Detailed, well-researched history readers. • Dunbar, Seymour. A History of of the many forms of transporta- • Stein, R. Conrad. The Story of Travel in America. 4 vols. India- tion and their social and economic the Erie Canal. Chicago: Childrens napolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Com- impact upon American society. Press, 1985. pany, 1915. Additional resources Readable account with several Canals are discussed in Volume • Barnhart, John D., and Donald illustrations useful to student 3; informative and readable. F. Carmony. Indiana: From Frontier understanding; for elementary and • Esarey, Logan. A History of to Industrial Commonwealth. 4 middle school readers. Indiana: From Its Exploration to vols. New York: Lewis Historical 1850. 2 vols. Fort Wayne: The Publishing Company, 1954, re- Hoosier Press, 1924 (third edition).

© Copyright Indiana Historical Bureau 1997 The Indiana Historian, June 1997 15 Indiana Historical Bureau 140 North Senate Avenue • Room 408 • Indianapolis, Indiana • 46204-2296 • 317-232-2535 • TDD 317-232-7763

Photograph by M83; Indiana Historical Society Library (Negative No. C7163).

The Whitewater Canal at Metamora. The canal was closed as a transportation route in 1853. The canal property was purchased in 1865; White Water Railroad Company track was later laid on the canal towpath (Fatout, 155-56).