Up Stream

1

Thank you Lord for so nice a day. That was the thought going through Josh’s mind as he listened to the birds and watched the scenery of the day go by. One hand on the tiller, the other hand held his pipe. The scenery of the C&O canal passed him by as the canal boat he was on made it’s way up the channel. He was thankful that he had run in to his friend in Georgetown. The boat was nicely loaded with a backhaul load of carefully crafted chairs and desks, all bound for the world out west. The furniture was not heavy, it filled the cargo bins of the boat, but didn’t make it sit low in the water as they worked their way back up the canal towards Cumberland for another downstream load.2

On the towpath up ahead, were three of his most cherished beings. The rear mule is Lil, the mother of Shane in the stable on the bow of the boat. Lil had been pulling boats up and down the canal for 24 years. She knew this waterway better then Josh. 3

The fore mule was Adrian, named after Josh’s mom. She was in her prime, just 9 years old. She had been working the boats up and down through the locks here between Virginia and Maryland for 7 years. She just loved to work, given the chance she would pull tilluntil she dropped. As the fore mule, it was her job set the pace. Hers was a good fast walking pace. She kept them going upstream just below the speed needed to make a wake. They were making good time. 4

The third one on the towpath was Jake, Josh’s brother’s boy. Nine years old, and as full of goodness as the Lord could make him. He was the rookie on the trip. This was his first summer to work on the boats. Not that he didn’t know a days work, he had been out west and back. He liked the work on the boats, it was like a vacation to him. 5

Jake had left for California four years before. His father, Josh’s brother, Tom, had run out there looking for gold. The whole family had made the long hard trip out there. The trip had cost the family most everything. Now they were back. Jake was the only one of the family ready, willing and able to work. Jake loved his new job. He tended the mules and guided them along the towpath for most of the day. He knew and loved mules, and he had four now that he could look after and get to work as if they really enjoyed pulling a boat up and down the canal. 6

Josh held the rudder, centering the boat as it past a family of ducks along the shore. The towrope pulled off to the side, the rudder kept the boat out in the center of the channel. Locks 16 through 20 were not too far up ahead. They raised the level of the canal up as the canal passed by the Great Falls of the Potomac River. Locks 16 and 17 were tended by Willie and his family. The Thortons who lived and worked in the Inn at Lock 20 tended the top three in the five lock series.7

Josh watched the northern bank of the channel as they came around the next bend. He was looking for a tree bent out over the water. There were not a lot of trees left along the canal. This one had been spared by all the firewood gatherers. It made for a good landmark. It was just a bend below Lock 16. Josh always made it a habit to blow the trumpet horn just as that tree came in to sight. It was from that spot that the almost deaf Lock keeper at 16 could hear the horn. Blowing it there would give them the best chance of having the lock low when they got up to it. 8

It wasn’t the landmark tree that came in to sight first, rather it was another boat making it’s way down. From the color of the boat, the shape and the little girl leading the mule team, Josh knew it to be Oldman Green. The splash of red on the towpath with his mules must be his youngest daughter, Kimmy. She was going to be a knock out in another few years, Oldman Green would be wise to keep close track of her. She was only about seven now, but she was a looker, even at this age. 9

As Kimmy and Jake drew closer on the towpath, Jake asked Adrian to “step over”. Adrian and Lil slacked off on their paces, the towrope grew slack leading back to the boat. The wiffletree dragged on the ground for several steps before Jake told Adrian to “Hoo up”. Both Lil and Adrian came to a stop on the side of the towpath away from the water’s edge. Jake patted both his mules as he waited for Kimmy to bring her two along the working part of the path. 10

Jake saw a dandelion off to the side of the towpath. He told Adrian and Lil to stay, much like one would a dog. And he put the lead rope over Adrian’s ears and quickly went over and grabbed the yellow blossom. With Jake’s towrope slack in the water, Kimmy was able to lead her team over it and continue down stream. As she passed, Jake held out the yellow flower for her. She giggled and took it. 11

As soon as Josh had seen the other boat coming down stream, he had started to work his out further off the bank. The remaining headway he had was enough to bring the boat off the bank and over to the far side of the canal. 12

Jake watched his towrope as Oldman Green’s fully laden boat approached it. It was very important to have that towrope as slack as possible. With their boat over on the far side of the stream, the mules had to be kept just ahead of the bow of the boat. This would give Oldman Green’s boat room to float over it. If the towrope was to catch on the downstream boat, Jake would have a true emergency. The towrope to his team would go tight, and start to pull his team back. The reaction of the team would be to pull. It was always best to be sure that never happened.13

Josh waved to Kimmy on the bank as she made her way down past. On the bow of Oldman Green’s boat was Sally, Oldman Green’s wife. She was working on putting out some wash. 14

Josh waved to her and called over, “ Keeping him in line, Sally?”15

“ Wish I had the power! He has got the gold bug in him now, wants to sell the boat and take off out west. Talk to him Josh!”16

Sally passed by and the 94 feet of Oldman Green’s boat came down along past. Oldman Green was at the tiller. 17

“Sally says you have gone mad? Think you can go strike it rich? Have a talk with my brother before you start out!”18

Oldman Green puffed on his pipe and looked at Josh. “I can do better then what he did. I know where to go. I got a map.”19

“Talk to my brother Tom before you make it a done deal” 20

Oldman green and his boat passed by, hauling their load of coal down to the carriage shop in Georgetown.21

As soon as the tiller on Oldman Green’s boat was clear of the line, Jake told Adrian to “Hep”. Adrian gave a half step, and Lil felt the harness pull forward on her, she too took a step. Jake said a gentle, “come on up” and the two mules fell into step, the towrope still slack in the water behind them. Josh’s boat had lost almost all headway as the heavy boat had passed. He was all but dead in the water now. As the towline comes taut Jake says “Hoo now”. Just as she feels the line become taut, Adrian gives a push into the harness, then comes to a stop. Lil does the same. The furniture-laden boat comes along a bit, Jake says “Hep”. The team steps ahead, and just as the line again comes taught Jake commands Adrian to “Hoo”. Each time the boat gains momentum. This is called bumping, it will get the boat moving without straining the team. With three short stoppages, Jake has Adrian and Lil leaning into their work, starting the boat going along at the steady walking clip. .22

Josh takes the trumpet horn from the peg rack it set on. He gives two short honks much like a Canadian goose. Then he takes a good lung full and blows a long hard steady blast of the horn. The two shorts mean he is coming from downstream. The long blast means get out there and do something about it. Josh gives the same horn blasts again. Oldman Green’s boat has just come downstream, so the lock is low now. If the lockkeeper, Willie, hears another boat coming up, he will leave it low. 23

Josh thinks of Oldman Green. Going out west had been his brother’s obsession. He was back now. Tom had come back from his experience with the gold rush a broken man. Now he didn’t amount to much, wouldn’t even come on the boat. Much less get one of his own. 24

“Honk, Honk, Honk, HOOONNNKKK!” Josh heard the call of an answering trumpet horn. Three short blasts meant someone was coming downstream. They would have the right of way. Josh had signaled first, in an ideal world that would mean he was let through the locks first. More then likely the downstream gates were being closed. The lock would be allowed to fill with water, and the upstream gates would be opened. This would ready the lock for the loaded boat to pass through first. 25

As Lock 16 came in to view, that was indeed what had happened. The gates were closed. That was all right, Josh would slack off well below the lock, giving himself plenty of room to get a good straight shot at entering the lock. His boat was 12 foot six in the beam. The Seneca sandstone walls of the lock are only 14 feet apart, to get the 94-foot boat in the lock, it had to go in straight.26

“That’ll do!” Josh called out to Jake.27

“Step over now” Jake ordered Adrian. Both Lil and Adrian slacked their pace and stepped to the side of the towpath away from the water. They ambled along at a slower pace, leaving the towline slack behind them. Josh worked the tiller to bring his boat over to the northern side of the canal.28

Up ahead the lock keeper Willie was on the towpath side and Hank, his hired hand, was on the north side of the lock. They opened the keys and let the lock fill. Then both Willie and Hank leaned their weight, each in to a gate, and swung the upstream gates open. As soon as the gates hit the walls, in sailed King Henry 5. It was Charlie Howe’s boat. His team of roan colored mules was lead by his son Dan. Josh could see the name of the boat, in big red letters, on the forward stable cabin of the boat as it pulled into the lock. Hank and Willie each closed the keys in the upstream, now, open gates, readying them to hold back the water of the cannel when they let the water out. They then walked down the 100 feet length of the lock to the downstream gates.29

Dan and Charlie hoped off the boat, each with a line in hand. They wrapped them each three times around a synching post and brought the boat in close to the northern wall. Dan’s brother Tory hoped off the boat and went over to take his turn at leading the mules. Tory was Jake’s age, he waved to Jake down along the towpath.30

“Lock ready?!” Called Dan.31

“Lock ready,” said Willie as he and Hank each turned a key part way in the down stream gate. King Henry 5 started to sink down between the red sandstone walls of the lock as the water gushed out from the valves at the base of the lock gates. 32

“Open her up?” called Hank.33

“Lock ready” answered back Dan and Charlie in unison. Hank and Willie opened the four keys to the full open position. The water at the base of the gate gushed out full force and the King Henry sank between the walls of the lock.34

The water slowed coming from the valves.35

“Ok to open?” Hank barked.36

“Open when ready” answered Charlie. Both Dan and Charlie unwrapped the lines from the synching posts and hopped on to the roof of their boat. Hank and Willie leaned on the ten by tens of the lock gates, and slowly the big down stream gates opened. 37

Taking a fifteen foot pole from the roof, Dan stood in the stern and pushed off, anchoring his push pole on the mortise at the base of the up stream gate. The 12-year old boy pushing on the push pole was able to push the fully loaded barge boat out of the lock.38

The loaded King Henry 5 came out of the lock. Tory got his mules going along down the towpath. As soon as Tory had his tow line clear, Jake started his team. Bumping the boat three times, each giving the upstream boat more momentum, till the boat was headed up into the waiting low lock. 39

“Come on now hard!” Jake asked his team to give an extra pull to give the boat the headway it would need to glide upstream into the lock. As the towline came up to the lower lock gate, Jake gave Adrian the command to “Hoo now” The towline went slack as Josh guided the boat up into the lock. Jake lifted the line over the lock gate, he then rapped the leadline from Adrian’s halter to the hitching post along side of the lock.40

Josh took the stern line and Jake the bow line, each wrapped three wraps on the synching posts. As the bow of the boat drew up to the upstream gate, both Jake and Josh pulled in the slack on their lines, bringing the boat tight against the sandstone wall of the lock. Hank and Willie put their weight on to the gate arms and the downstream gates swung shut to meet in the center. As soon as the gates were closed, hank and Willie walked the length of the lock, up to the up stream gate. Each with a key in hand, Willie asked in a loud voice to be heard over the sound of the water, “Lock ready?” 41

Josh raised his hand and waved as he responded, “Lock ready”42

Both Hank and Willie feathered the valves open with the big iron keys. The water came rushing through the up stream gates. Willie and Hank knew just how fast to let the water come in. The faster the Locking threw was done the better for all concerned. There were two more boats waiting up stream to be locked threw. Every one was on a schedule, the faster the locking through was accomplished, the happier everyone would be. But it was no good to open the valves too fast. That could damage the boat. If the valves were to be opened very fast, the lower gates to the lock could be harmed, that would shut down the lock, and thereby shut down the entire C&O canal. Joshes boat raised up as the water lever rose. 43

When the level was about a third of the way up, Willie raised a hand and asked, “Lock ready?”44

Josh simply waved his response. The sound of the rushing water would have carried away the voice if he were to yell. The boat came up fast now.45

As the water level in the lock came even with the water on the upstream side of the gate. Willie and Hank both leaned on the arms of the upstream gates. They swung fully open and came to rest in they’re recesses in the lock wall. 46

Josh got on the stern of his boat, and took the long pushing pole. Placed it on the base of the down stream gates and started to push his boat out of the lock, upstream. Jake when to Adrian and Lil and brought them up, stopping to raise the towline over the upper lock gate. As soon as Josh had the boat out of the lock, Jake had his team in the right place to bring the line taught. As the towline came tight, Jake gave Adrian the command, “Hep”. The boat was already under way from being pushed out of the lock, there was no need to bump it to get it going. Josh steered over to the northern side, way from the towpath. There were two boats waiting along the towpath side of the canal to go through the locks.47

That was how they did it. There were five locks in a row to be locked through. That would take about three hours. It was not hard work, each person knew what they had to do, and like clockwork, they all did their jobs.48