Regarding the 1823 Erie and Champlain canal celebrations, two etexts of contemporary books will be helpful: http://www.history.rochester.edu/canal/bib/colden/contents.html (see 1823 materials in the Memoir section) http://www.history.rochester.edu/canal/bib/hosack/contents.html (see near end of William L Stone appendix item) Two useful print items are: -Ronald E. Shaw, Erie Water West (1966; repr 1990), 135 -Harry F. Jackson, Scholar in the Wilderness (1963), 277 (relevant quotations from letters in the Clinton Papers at Columbia U) Gerard Koeppel [log in to unmask]