Those who built and used the Erie Canal were a bizarre society, proud pioneers on the waterway known in song and story as "the Horse Ocean," "the Roaring Giddap," or "the Raging Erie." Their considerable influence on American life and literature is the basis of this book. Canallers were colorful characters, from the "hoggee" on the towpath to the "shipshape macaroni" with stovepipe hat and badge of service taking command of a packet with the pride of an admiral, even though he was restricted by law to a speed of four miles per hour! Games and diversions were rough-and-tumble, fighting being as natural as breathing to the canallers. Stories about heroes like Sam Patch and Paddy Ryan, or the big fish that could haul a canal boat, or the big pumpkin that drained the canal—these were logical products of this "frontier" atmosphere. So were the songs—carefree, bawdy, or sad, inspired by the canal and sung throughout the land. Photographs and drawings, music and words to folk songs, maps, notes, and index are included in this first paperback edition.
Explore the history of one of the nation's most prestigious service schools in The Naval War College. It was appropriate that the U.S. Navy's pioneer training station and principal graduate college be established at Newport. Known as "The City by the Sea," Newport, Rhode Island, has a long history of maritime activity. As far back as the colonial period, Newport Harbor and Narragansett Bay have always been safe and deep havens for naval as well as commercial shipping. In 1883, Commodore Stephen B. Luce established the Naval Training Station on Coaster's Harbor Island in Newport, which became the forerunner of the modern recruit stations for enlisted men in the U.S. Navy. The next year, in 1884, Luce established the Naval War College, the first professional naval education center of its kind in the world. It soon became the U.S. Navy's premier institution for professional studies of warfare, international law, and statesmanship relating to war and peace. Among others, Luce brought to the college Capt. Alfred Thayer Mahan, the naval historian whose book, The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1600-1783, and other works influenced naval thought throughout the world.
Canastota and Chittenango share a growth spawned by the building of the Erie Canal, the longest continuous canal in the world. These two upstate New York communities also share much in addition to their canal related background, for both have a history of early settlement and townsfolk who were leaders in manufacturing, agriculture, industry, and state politics. Join author and historian Lionel D. Wyld in this exploration of the past through carefully preserved historic images. Canastota and Chittenango: Two Historic Canal Towns reveals the important link between these towns and a canal once hailed as the eighth wonder of the world. Both villages have canal related museums and parks today, in honor of the many ways in which the waterway influenced the communities. In a more popular realm, Chittenango boasts a unique annual Oz festival each May honoring native writer L. Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and Canastota is home to the International Boxing Hall of Fame, founded in 1984.
Those who built and used the Erie Canal were a bizarre society, proud pioneers on the waterway known in song and story as "the Horse Ocean," "the Roaring Giddap," or "the Raging Erie." Their considerable influence on American life and literature is the basis of this book. Canallers were colorful characters, from the "hoggee" on the towpath to the "shipshape macaroni" with stovepipe hat and badge of service taking command of a packet with the pride of an admiral, even though he was restricted by law to a speed of four miles per hour! Games and diversions were rough-and-tumble, fighting being as natural as breathing to the canallers. Stories about heroes like Sam Patch and Paddy Ryan, or the big fish that could haul a canal boat, or the big pumpkin that drained the canal—these were logical products of this "frontier" atmosphere. So were the songs—carefree, bawdy, or sad, inspired by the canal and sung throughout the land. Photographs and drawings, music and words to folk songs, maps, notes, and index are included in this first paperback edition.
Known widely as "the City by the Sea," Newport has a long history of maritime activity. Since the Colonial period, it has been an important seaport for the mercantile trade and a harbor of inestimable value for naval vessels. In 1869, the navy opened the Naval Torpedo Station on Goat Island in Newport harbor. The Naval War College on Coasters Harbor Island and the Naval Training Station soon followed. The navy's Newport presence expanded through two world wars; in the 1940s, the U.S. Naval Operating Base included extensive facilities on both sides of Narragansett Bay. Today, Newport remains a site of naval training, research, and development. The prestigious Naval War College, the Naval Education and Training Center, and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center have kept the navy a leading Rhode Island and southeastern New England employer.
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