Life on the Towpath: A C&O Canal Journey

NARRATOR: It is the year 1875 along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Maryland. Flat-bottomed wooden boats carry heavy loads of coal, grain, and sandstone down the waterway toward Washington, D.C. The boats do not have engines. Instead, they are pulled by hard-working mules walking along a narrow dirt trail called a towpath.

CAPTAIN SILAS: (checking his pocket watch) Keep those mules moving, Toby! We need to reach Lock 20 before the sun drops behind the river cliffs.

TOBY: (holding the leather reins, calling out) Gee up, Barnaby! Walk briskly, Clover! Don't worry, Captain Silas. The mules are steady today. They have been pulling since five o'clock this morning.

NARRATOR: Toby is twelve years old. As a mule driver, or "mule skinner," his job is to walk alongside the team for fifteen miles a day. He makes sure the rope connecting the mules to the heavy canal boat stays clear of bushes and rocks.

TOBY: (wiping his forehead) It is hard work walking all day, but I love watching the Potomac River flow right next to us. Look at that Great Blue Heron landing on the water!

CAPTAIN SILAS: Enjoy the view, Toby, but keep your eyes on the towpath. One trip over a loose stone, and our towline could snag. That boat behind us carries eighty tons of coal from Cumberland. It takes a lot of effort to keep her gliding smoothly through the water.

NARRATOR: Up ahead, a large stone structure blocks the canal. This is a lock, a special water elevator designed to lift or lower boats as the land changes elevation.

CAPTAIN SILAS: (blowing a brass horn) HEE-EE-EE-OOO! Lock ready!

MARTHA: (waving from the lock house) I hear you, Captain Silas! Opening the heavy wooden gates now!

NARRATOR: Martha is the lockkeeper. Her family lives in the small stone house right next to the canal. Day and night, she must be ready to operate the iron valves that control the water level.

TOBY: (guiding the mules to a slow stop) Easy now, boys. Whoa, Barnaby. Whoa, Clover.

MARTHA: (cranking a heavy metal wheel) Welcome, folks! Stepping into the lock chamber now. Hold your lines tight!

CAPTAIN SILAS: (tossing a thick rope over a wooden post) Line secure! Thanks, Martha. How is the water level upstream today?

MARTHA: The heavy rains yesterday filled the river, so the current is strong. Once I open the valve, eight hundred thousand gallons of water will rush in to raise your boat four feet.

NARRATOR: With a deep rumbling sound, water pours into the stone chamber. Slowly and smoothly, the floating boat rises to the higher level of the canal.

TOBY: (watching the boat float higher) It feels like magic every single time, Martha!

MARTHA: (smiling) It is not magic, Toby—it is clever engineering! The canal connects our mountain towns to the big cities, and workers like us keep America moving.

CAPTAIN SILAS: The upper gates are open! Lean into your harness, mules!

TOBY: (clacking his tongue) Giddy-up, team! Next stop, Georgetown!

NARRATOR: The mules pull, the thick rope tightens, and the canal boat glides forward into the quiet waters ahead, continuing its long journey down the historic C&O Canal.