Different Canal Stories - Day 34

  There are tales to tell about the canal other than the tale of the canal. Perhaps when the canals were in use they were too busy for wildlife. Not any more. I saw three great blue herons today.

And for sure, when the boats were plying the canal, muskrats weren't builing lodges in them!

This is sort of a tale of the canal, and not. This is the locally famous Sixmile Creek Aqueduct. You can see why. It's big, it's gorgeous, and it's interesting. The canal is carried in the aqueduct above the creek and extra water spills through those arched holes in the sides. Remember that keeping the water at the proper level in the canal was crucial. However, the extra story of this is that the left side of the wall apparently fell down a few years ago, but there is now enough local interest in preserving the canal history that it was rebuilt. I hope they used as many of the original stones as possible.

Here's a weird story. This is called Bloody Bridge. The marker says, "During the canal years of the 1850s, a rivalry grew between Bill Jones and Jack Billings for the love of Minnie Warren. This became hatred by Bill because Minnie chose Jack. On a fall night in 1854, returning from a party, Minnie and Jack were surprised on the bridge by Bill. Armed with an ax, with one swing, Bill severed Jack's head. Seeing this, Minnie screamed and fell from the bridge into a watery grave. Bill disappeared, and when a skeleton was found years later in a nearby well, people asked, 'Was it suicide or was it justice.'"

I just thought these two old oak trees were interesting. They are on the non-canal side of the towpath, so they were probably there when the canal was in use. Did the boys or the mules rest in their shade on hot days?

OK, one more lock. This is Lock 8. But with the sides of the canal gone, it just rises in the middle of these fields like a remnant of some long-lost civilization from Lord of the Rings.

One last story. This is Dave. He hiked out to meet me today and walked with me for about a mile. He mowes and cleans a section of the towpath. He is also responsible for cleaning all the debris and brush out of the lock shown above. When I passed it (before I met Dave), I noticed how clean it was, and wondered who had taken the time to do that. Thanks, Dave!

Miles today: 16.2. Total miles so far 487.5. Shhh- That's got to be 10% done.

See Delphos Canal Museum