150 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK 



daga, and it was he who first thought of a plan for its 

 improvement. 



With characteristic persistency he carried out his 

 ideas, and with the co-operation of James Geddes, a 

 surveyor and fellow-townsman, did more to convince 

 men of the practicability of laying a canal route 

 through central New York than any other man. At 

 that time the advocate of such an undertaking was con- 

 sidered mad. Even the President shared the public 

 view of the matter, and when the zealous member from 

 Onondaga laid the plans before this incredulous gen- 

 tleman, Jefferson remarked : '' It is a splendid project, 

 and may be executed a century hence." It must have 

 been a satisfaction to Judge Forman to see this inland 

 water-course completed a few years later, and to real- 

 ize the success of the great enterprise. 



When the breaking up of the unhealthy soil caused 

 so much sickness and so manv deaths durino; the build- 

 ing of the canal at Syracuse — then "Corinth" — this 

 thoughtful benefactor began to devise a way for im- 

 proving the ground, which resulted in the passage of 

 a bill, a year later, for lowering the lake by means of 

 drains. This stopped the injurious overflow that oc- 

 curred during the spring months and eventually put 

 an end to the "Corduroy" and "gridiron" roads by 

 which the "dreary waste of swamp" had been hitherto 

 approached. 



It seems strange enough now, to one riding through 

 the beautiful and regular streets of the present city, to 

 realize that only a few years ago its pioneers either 

 followed these rough routes, or went around by the 

 hills to avoid them. 



In April, 1820, Syracuse had grown sufficiently 



