By 
Imagine the foresight, planning and actual construction of a water-filled ditch from Albany to Buffalo in the years after the American Revolution, 40 feet wide, 4 foot deep, when such an idea was incomprehensible to most citizens of New York State. This is the canal, envisioned by New York Governor DeWitt Clinton, that was still under construction 200 years ago this year. The waterway was hand dug by many immigrants from foreign lands, some of whom died in construction accidents and are even buried within its banks.
