THE PIONEERS OF AMERICAN INDUSTRY 27 



in all the states after 1830, particularly in Massachusetts, 

 New York, and Virginia. 



In the west the transportation enterprises were scarcely 

 less numerous or magnificent. The most important works 

 were to connect the lakes with the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, 

 while the rest were either branches of the main lines or shorter 

 lines designed to connect the interior of the states with the 

 lakes or the rivers. The first to be undertaken was the Ohio 

 canal from Cleveland to Portsmouth, which was begun in 

 1825 ; the Miami canal from Cincinnati to Dayton was begun 

 at the same time, but was soon after extended to Toledo, mak- 

 ing a second line from the lake to the Ohio river; the Mus- 

 kingum river was made navigable from its mouth to its junction 

 with the Ohio canal at Dresden; and two canals were built 

 from the Ohio canal eastward to connect with the canal sys- 

 tem of Pennsylvania. In western Pennsylvania a line was 

 built from Beaver on the Ohio river to Erie on the lake. West 

 of Ohio the Wabash canal was projected from the Miami to 

 the navigable waters of the Wabash, thus connecting Lake 

 Erie with the Ohio by a fourth route. The Illinois & Michi- 

 gan canal from Chicago to the Illinois river made still another 

 connection between the lakes and the river system of the 

 west. Besides these, many smaller canals were projected and 

 partially constructed: the Whitewater canal northward from 

 the Ohio river to the national road in eastern Indiana; the 

 Central canal of Indiana through the state from the Wabash 

 canal to Evansville on the Ohio river; several branches to the 

 Ohio canal ; the Sault canal and one across the lower peninsula 

 in Michigan ; the Louisville & Portland canal around the falls 

 of the Ohio; a canal around the Muscle Shoals of the Tennes- 

 see in northern Alabama; the improvement by slack water 

 navigation of the Kentucky, Licking, Green, and Barren riv- 

 ers in Kentucky. These improvements, together with the 

 rivers and lakes, made up a network of navigable waterways 

 for the west quite equal to anything then to be found in the 

 world. About the middle of the '30's several of the west- 

 ern states also projected important railway lines. Michigan 

 undertook to build two lines across the state to connect Lake 

 Erie with Lake Michigan. Illinois planned and began the con- 



