Chapter 14 cont. (I only live about 10 to 15 miles from the Canal) THE HENNEPIN CANAL The part which a good system of inland waterways would play in the development of this section was clearly understood by the early settlers.  When Davenport was but a hamlet the progressive citizens were alive to the necessity of deepening the channel on the rapids.  River improvement conventions were held which were attended by delegates from Burlington, Muscatine, Dubuque and Davenport to the number of 150.  Such a convention was held in Davenport in 1846, but the rocks were undisturbed by the flow of eloquence for, as Hiram Price expressed it, "They had been there since the morning stars sang together, and they did not propose to be disturbed by long speeches or resolutions upon paper." In early days the canal as a means of transportation was held in high esteem and even after the advent of the railroads in this section those interested in freight rates well understood the benefit an east and west canal would be, January 19, 1864, a Chicago and Mississippi canal meeting was held at LeClaire hall and a committee appointed to secure an appropriation from the Iowa legislature for a survey.  The expenses of the committee, $350 were pledged.  In March the efforts of the committee at Des Moines were aided by the strike of engineers on all Chicago roads which cut off Iowa from the world.  The Iowa legislature appropriated $1,000, the first money devoted to this waterway by anybody having power to vote funds. >From January 19, 1864, to November 15, 1907, the date when the first boat passed through the completed Hennepin canal, was a strenuous forty-three years for the friends of the measure.  Meetings were held in Davenport almost without number.  The hat was passed for expenses over and over again.  Editorials were written by the mile and delegates attended uncounted conventions.  Congress was bombarded with petitions and interviewed by delegations.  In September, 1874, the preliminary survey was completed.  The following January the measure had favorable action in congress.  Congressman J. H. Murphy was so insistent for the construction of the canal that he was nicknamed "Hennepin" Murphy.  In July, 1882, the National senate passed an appropriation of $100,000, the Milan route was approved.  In November, 1894, the first section of the canal was completed and water admitted thereto.  In April, 1895, the locks of the canal opened to receive the first boat.  In the fall of the year the first coal was received in Davenport from the Hennepin canal. The building of the canal from Hennepin to Milan presented many engineering problems but none to compare with those attending the construction of the feeder ditch from Sterling south to Sheffield.  The canal is nearly 105 miles long, the main line measuring seventy-five miles, and the Sterling feeder, twenty-nine and three-tenths miles.  The canal is eighty feet wide at the surface, fifty-two feet wide at the bottom and is seven feet deep.  The construction of the locks and canal walls near Milan was the first instance in the United States where cement construction was substituted for cut stone in work of this sort.  The successful use of concrete here caused its general adoption by the government, the railroads and large contractors everywhere. The total excavation on the canal was 8,080,512 cubic yards, the fill in embankments, 5,551,378, making a total of 13,631,890 cubic yards of earthwork.  Timber and lumber were used to the amount of 8,250,444 feet.  The cement construction in the canal has a total of 236,348 cubic yards.  The Hennepin is spanned by seventy highway and farm bridges, eight railway bridges and two pontoons, has nine acqueducts, thirty-three locks, fifty-two culverts, eight dams and nine sluiceways. The total cost of the canal was $7,224,408.77.  Those who enjoy figures have computed that the concrete used in this canal, the first one to be constructed by the United States, would lay a sidewalk from Davenport to Boston. While the completion of the canal has not been followed by the increase in shipments anticipated by those who worked for its construction for the forty years when work was necessary to keep the project moving, it is confidently expected that in the near future the canal will justify the expense of construction and become an important link in a system of interior water ways that will handle shipments greatly in excess of the capacity of the railroads to move. Debbie Clough G-erischer G-erischer Family Web Site http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/ Assistant CC, Iowa Gen Web, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ List Manager for: IASCOTT-L * G-erischer-L * D-encker-L Fitzpatirck-L * V-lerebome-L * Huntington-L * Otis-L * Algar-L EIGS-L * Pickens-L * McNab-L * Patris-L - Rankin-L