September 8th, 1823 – [another early start for
Douglas].
At 3 this morning I pursed my journey in the stage towards
Utica. The morning was cool...the lofty mountains on the right hand, the
fertile fields and the Mohawk [River] gliding down on the left, gave to the
country an appearance fine beyond description.
All the farmers here have orchards cultivated….They make
their own cider. In every village or cottage I passed stood a cider mill, casks
and men busily preparing for their cider harvest.
At 2 o'clock I came to Little Falls, 70 miles from Albany [after an 11 hour journey in a stage, so that is an average
speed of just over 6 miles an hour, only slightly faster than marching pace.
It's hardly surprising that….] The bad road and the jolting reduced
me so much that I was obliged to give up that mode of travelling. The line of
coaches and canal boats being in company, I took the canal boat at this place. Here is a beautiful elegant ridge across the Mohawk, consisting of three arches, built of granite, serving as an aqueduct and a bridge, built in the space of two months and two days, dedicated to De Witt Clinton. And here it is, as Douglas would have seen it:
It seems likely that Douglas initially joined the Little Falls Canal, built to bypass the rapids (see image above) on the Mohawk River which gave the town its name, before joining the newly built Erie Canal for the onward journey.
When the Erie Canal was built, it ran on the south side of the river, but the western end of the old canal was retained as a feeder to the new canal, and so was kept open.
This 1834 map reveals the guard lock and associated features at the western end of the old Little Falls Canal at the time the Erie Canal was operational.
The road still is shown crossing over the canal on a bridge just east of the guard lock.
This image, although from 1897, at least shows the canal at Little Falls in the state Douglas may have seen it, although it's questionable whether the houses in the background were present in 1823.
I arrived at Utica about 9 o'clock at night. [A long hard day's travelling; an 18 hour day]
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