On September 29th, the Colgate History Club took an excursion to cruise the Erie Canal, in Herkimer, NY. We boarded our Colgate transportation on a Saturday, all excited to explore and learn about the Erie Canal and its long history.
We were all first timers on the Erie Canal and didn’t know too much about the canal before the trip, except for the basics, such as its transportation function, the economic prosperity it brought, and also its impact on indigenous people living around the canal. Although we all had different reasons to go on this trip, everyone greatly enjoyed this experience, combining our love of learning history with a nice boat ride on a beautiful fall day.
Much learning was gained throughout our trip. We found out that the canal system is not just one canal, but multiple canalways that run throughout New York State to make transportation more convenient. From Captain Jerry’s kind words and introduction, we learned about the difficult construction of the Erie Canal and about the tricks and maneuvers used by different New York state governors to successfully complete the Erie Canal construction project. 
The most striking thing was experiencing Lock 18, which our boat passed through in order to bypass a waterfall on the Mohawk River. The locks used on the Erie Canal were designed and made through simple mechanisms based on ideas from Leonardo Da Vinci. Built over a hundred years ago, Lock 18 is still functional today. It dwarfs many other later locks, and it was interesting to learn that its age doesn’t prevent it from functioning well.
After the boat ride, we took some nice History Club group photos, both on the boat and on the wharf, where we originally boarded. Everyone enjoyed the trip. I am thankful for everyone who joined us on this unique History Club field trip and the experiences we had together.
Written by Zhelun Zhou (class of 2020).
