A very busy canal

Built primarily to speed troops and military supplies to the forts around the Great Lakes, the Coteau-du-Lac canal also served commerce. Opened to navigation in 1781, it reached its busiest period after the War of 1812, when shipping on the St. Lawrence River was thriving. Boats bound for the Great Lakes carried food, spirits, farming implements, hardware, clothing, and tools to Loyalists living along the upper river, while settlers sent surplus wheat, flour, potash, pork, and lumber to Montréal in return. In the early 1830’s, more than 2,000 batteaux and about 1,400 Durham boats passed through the canal each year. Durham boats entered with their masts lowered, were hauled through the locks by men using ropes, and private boats using the St. Lawrence canals paid a toll.

Quebec · Canada