Oswego and a time to reflect

June 24: A time to reflect on the Erie / Oswego Canal portion of our journey.   We have traveled 310 miles since leaving Liberty Landing/New York Harbor and transited a total of 29 locks.  In the Erie Canal, we transited 22 locks, 19 up-locking for an ascent of 234 feet above Waterford (420 feet above sea level) to Rome, NY.   All the while traversing the beautiful Mohawk Valley and then down locking through 3 locks a total decent of 57 feet at Three Rivers Junction.  The forest is lush and extends to the water’s edge.  The trees are reflected in the water as we float by.  Little waterfalls periodically spill into the river and there are white-blossomed bramble bushes and yellow wild iris also at the water’s edge.

At Three Rivers Junction, you can continue west on the Erie, turn south to the Finger Lakes or north, as we did, on the Oswego Canal and down lock 7 more times and 117 feet to the shore of Lake Ontario.

All those locks and only once were we delayed by 35 minutes, at Erie Lock #8, while we tried to reach the lock master.  He didn’t answer the radio call and the published telephone number was incorrect.  We called back to the lock master at #7 who gave us “Roman’s” cell number, when Roman answered, it turns out he was reassigned and down at Lock #3!  Roman gave us the correct telephone number for Lock #8 and on the second attempt; it was answered by the lock master that, as it happens, was out clearing debris from the dam spillway. It was almost comical ... "who's on First ..."!  Other than that one instance, the lock masters answered the radio call and opened their respective locks.  Once we were safely inside the locks and holding onto the slimy lines (with gloved hands) that dangled from the top of the canal walls, at most, it took about 10 minutes for the locks to fill or empty, then the gates open and we proceeded on your way.

We arrived in Oswego on June 24 and spent two days there to avoid very rough conditions on the Lake.  It gave us an opportunity to walk to Fort Ontario and it was well worth a visit.

The original Fort Ontario was erected in 1755, during the French and Indian War, then it was destroyed by French forces and rebuilt by British forces in 1759.  During the American Revolutionary War, a detachment from the 3rd New York Regiment destroyed the fort in July 1778 after the British abandoned it.  Then the British returned and rebuilt the fort in 1782 and held the fort until 1796 when it was signed over to the Americans by treaty.

Next, the fort was attacked and destroyed by British forces during the War of 1812.  After a period of disuse, new construction was undertaken in part because of tensions with Great Britain as well as to check smuggling activities between Canada and the United States.

During the Civil War new construction began at the fort because of fear of British help from Canada to the Confederacy. The 2nd Brigade of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division called Fort Ontario home until the brigade was deactivated on June 1, 1940.  Historically, and ironically, it makes you wonder just how many times you can destroy someplace, then rebuild it.  

 Later during World War II, Fort Ontario was home to approximately 982 Jewish refugees, from August 1944 to February 1946.  The Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter was the only attempt by the United States to shelter Jewish refugees during the war. After the end of the war the refugees were kept in internment because of disagreements concerning whether or not to allow them to become United States citizens. In January 1946, the decision was made to allow them to become citizens, and by February all of the Jewish refugees were allowed to leave Fort Ontario.  The number of artifacts, personal letters, photographs and original furnishings were remarkable; and most extraordinary were the photos of the refugees, standing around a piano and singing, presumably, songs from their old country.   We have visited a number of forts in our travels, but and this was the most historically interesting thus far.  

From the fort we can visualize our path of travel from the Oswego Harbor Lighthouse across Lake Ontario to the St. Lawrence River ... wow, it's one huge LAKE!