Migrating to Michigan Read Online Free PDF

different. Waterway locks were used by the canal’s designers to lift boats up to the level of Lake Erie or down to the level of the Hudson River,” said the professor. “You see, Lake Erie is about 560 feet higher than the Hudson River. So locks were built to lift or lower boats and barges as they traveled along the canal. If the boat is heading toward Lake Erie, it would enter a lock and water would be added to raise it up. When a boat was headed toward the Hudson River from Lake Erie, it would be lowered by the locks. As I recall, there were about 85 locks needed for the canal. In its day, the Erie Canal was thought to be a miracle of engineering. And it was.”
    The professor thought for a moment before speaking. “In those days, there were very few roads. The entire countryside was like the thick woods where we first started out. So, to travel over land from New York City to Buffalo, New York, may have taken weeks. The Erie Canal allowed people and cargo to travel the same distance in about four days.”
    I nodded my head.
    â€œProfessor,” Owen said, “I heard some kids shouting to the horses alongside the canal. What was that all about?”
    â€œGood question,” said the professor. “Teams of horses were used to pull boats and barges along a special pathway. The ‘hoggees’ who drove these teams of horses along the paths were just boys.”
    â€œDriving horses along the canal … that sounds like a pretty cool job,” Owen said. “I would have picked a different name for it, though.”
    â€œI should think so,” Professor Tuesday agreed.
    â€œSo, did you take us to the Erie Canal to show us how immigrants built it?” I asked.
    Mister Adams then made a circular motion with his hands in front of his body.
    â€œThat’s right, Mister Adams,” the professor noted. “I wanted everyone to see that one of the boats on the canal was carrying people. In fact, people in the small town on the other side of the canal looked like they were taking goods down to the canal. Did you also notice the people and families waiting on the dock? The Erie Canal opened up migration to the west, and it made it much easier to travel to states like Michigan. Much of the reason Michigan has such a diverse culture is due to the construction of the Erie Canal. It wouldn’t be long before roads and railroads would crisscross the country, eliminating the need for the canal. But the canal served its purpose for many years.”

A Walk through Frontier Detroit
Detroit—July 1837
    P rofessor Tuesday put his shoes and socks back on, then stood up and stretched. “Let’s all go for a walk in Detroit to see what it looked like in 1837.”
    The professor started off toward town when Owen shouted, “Hey, where’s Mister Adams?”
    â€œOh, no, not again,” Rachel said.
    The professor looked upset, so we all started looking for his nephew. Fortunately, our search didn’t take long. Mister Adams was fast asleep at the base of a tree on the grassy hill. Professor Tuesday gently woke him. As we headed toward town, Mister Adams used sign language to tell us about a dream he had. It was about a cat chasing a big dog.
    Before long, we were standing near the waterfront. Sailing ships and a few steamships crowded the large docks. Workers were taking heavy loads of goods off the ships and carrying them to shore on wagons. As we watched, a loud steamship whistle blew as a boat approached the docks. Sailors tied the ship to big wooden posts and dropped a walkway from the boat to the dock. People milled around on the ship as they started to make their way toward land. Families gathered their children and led them across the walkway and toward us. Many of the travelers were carrying large sacks and luggage.
    The professor stopped and turned toward us, “Detroit was a major port city in 1837. The people who immigrated to Michigan in those