b'FOGHORN FOCUSClockwise from top left: Lock 18, which Erie Canal Cruises passes through, retains nearly all the original operating equipment that was installed in 1914.; The canal in Syracuse, looking east circa 1870.; Changing teams at Durhamville circa 1905.The Erie Canal was a $12,000 loan for construction. Building began in May of PHOTOS CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: ERIE CANAL CRUISES, CANAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK STATE (REMAINING TWO PHOTOS)1820 and finished in the fall of 1821, 227 working days, largely responsible for the which includes building a pile driver made from a War of 1812 cannon and a blind horse. These gentlemen then took population growththeir case to Governor Clinton and convinced him Buffalo throughout the Midwest.should be the western terminus of the Erie Canal. Casella also noted that the Erie Canal was largely respon-Over 12 million peoplesible for the population growth throughout the Midwest. Over 12 million people came through Buffalo on their way came through Buffalo onwest. Cities like Cleveland, Detroit, and Chicago saw tre-mendous growth starting in the late 1820s, and Buffalos their way west.population doubled almost every 10 years. In 1900 Buffalo was the eighth largest city in the U.S., and one of the rich-est. Residents boast they had more millionaires per capita than any other American city. vicious debate between the Village of Black Rock and the Village of Buffalo Creek. Black Rock had a natural harborTwo hundred years is a long time, and the Erie Canal and created by a large rock that protruded into the Niagara Riv- surroundingregionhaveevolvedconsiderablysincethe er and residents believed they were the only place for thecanalwasfirstcompletedin1825.Noticeablechanges terminus of the canal. At that time, the Village of Buffalohave taken place even in the decades that these tour boats Creek had only a small creek that emptied into Lake Erie.have been operating. The team at Erie Canal Cruises has A group of men in Buffalo had the foresight to realize thisobserved a reduction in freight traffic and instead has seen would be a development for the small village. They createda great deal of Looper trafficpeople on the Great Loop a Harbor Commission to change the Buffalo Creek into aCruise. The Great Loop is the longest circumnavigation in harbor, putting up their own money and property to securethe U.S., with most people starting and returning to Flor-FOGHORN 34'