Overcoming Niagara: Canals, Commerce, and Tourism in the Niagara–Great Lakes Borderland Region, 1792–1837 by Janet Dorothy Larkin

Reviewed by: Overcoming Niagara: Canals, Commerce, and Tourism in the Niagara–Great Lakes Borderland Region, 1792–1837 by Janet Dorothy Larkin Terry Hamblin Overcoming Niagara: Canals, Commerce, and Tourism in the Niagara–Great Lakes Borderland Region, 1792–1837 By Janet Dorothy Larkin. Albany: SUNY Press, 2019. 300 pages, 6" × 9". $95.00 cloth, $32.95 paper. Janet Dorothy Larkin's Overcoming Niagara examines the impact of the Erie, Oswego, and Welland Canals on the economic, social, and cultural growth of the Niagara–Great Lakes borderland region during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. While a significant portion of Larkin's analysis is focused on the development of the canals as a method for overcoming the cataract of Niagara, the regional transnational cooperation that facilitated the planning, financing, and construction of each canal is addressed in this well-written and thoroughly researched book. The emergence of Niagara Falls as a tourist destination in the early nineteenth century is also well-covered and linked with the emergence of the transportation revolution of the canal age. Canal systems, Larkin argues, "promoted commerce, market development, tourism, and progress" for the Niagara–Great Lakes region and economically and culturally linked peoples from Upper Canada and Western New York (7). Larkin begins with the development of the Niagara–Great Lakes borderland region during post–Revolutionary War period when settlers first migrated into Western New York and Upper Canada. Throughout the book, Larkin's focus centers around the impact of the canals and the broader market revolution "from a borderland and transnational perspective" (4). During this time, both Americans and Canadians used commerce, transportation, and tourism to overcome Niagara's barriers and develop an integrated, transnational network linking the two peoples together. The post–Revolutionary War construction of roads, bridges, and ferries, Larkin argues, improved access around Niagara Falls, which helped to forge cross-border social, commercial, and recreational ties. Post–Revolutionary War disputes between the United States and Great Britain eventually led to the War of 1812, which is discussed throughout the early part of the book. Despite the passage of the Embargo Act of 1807 and the Non-Intercourse Act of 1809 (which effectively cut off trade between the United States and Great Britain), Larkin demonstrates how commerce and smuggling between Upper Canada and New York further strengthened regional ties during the lead-up to the war. Interestingly enough, the War of 1812 and the tensions between Britain and the former colonies also directly impacted the decision to construct the Erie Canal. To be sure, deliberations surrounding the viability of a canal linking the Hudson River with the Niagara region and also a canal traversing Niagara Falls originated in the 1790s, when New York State began investigating various canal scenarios to [End Page 418] facilitate regional trade. Fears of competition with Montréal and the Saint Lawrence region heightened the need for internal improvements to open up the Mohawk River valley and connect it with Lake Ontario. One of the many strengths of this book is Larkin's assessment of the deliberations over the construction of the Erie, Oswego, and Welland Canals. Each canal has its own chapter, and Larkin examines each canal from both the Canadian and American perspectives, weaving in personal stories, newspaper accounts, and legislative debates. The debate over the route of what eventually became the Erie Canal is covered in great detail, including accounts of the competing factions who supported a different route to link the Niagara region with the Hudson River. While Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin, Canal Commissioner Peter Porter, and several western New York business interests supported the Ontario route (with canals at Oswego and around Niagara Falls), Governor De Witt Clinton ultimately sided with New York business leaders who pushed for an inland route, bypassing Lake Ontario altogether. The 363-mile-long "highway of commerce and navigation" was opened in 1825 with great fanfare; it linked the Atlantic with the Great Lakes and opened up the state's interior to commerce, settlement, and numerous social and economic changes. Larkin's study does not end with the "wedding of the waters." While the Erie Canal ushered in a transportation revolution, Larkin gives plenty of attention to the Oswego...

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