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TURNPIKES, CANALS & STEAMBOATS: AMERICANS ON THE MOVE

Now, the desire to see what lies just beyond

The next hill, the next river, the next valley or pond,

Is a spur for the soul and a beat in the blood

That keeps one from being a stick-in-the-mud.

And in the paths of trail-blazers, we level our eyes,

With visions and dreams that out-stretch the skies.

And in the early 18s, before, after and during,

To catch the sun as it set, the nation was stirring.

As people flocked in their wagons to lands in the West,

-- New states came on-board, and folks thought it was best

To build better links between the heartland and towns

So that movement and trade could increase by bounds.

Indeed, the transport of freight, of livestock and folks,

Is a key to success, and thus strong reason to coax

The new laying of roads, built of stone and of gravel,

To last through the seasons and facilitate travel.

So turnpikes turned up, along the former horse trails,

And new waterways too, though we call them canals,

Which joined rivers and lakes, and did make for fast trips,

With goods hauled everywhere on flat-boats and ships.

Including new types, with engines powered by steam,

Like Robert Fulton's Clermont -- the most new-fangled thing!

Of course, credit is due, and deserving of mention:

John Fitch was the first to propose this invention.

Alas, his venture did sink --- that is, he went broke,

As his ferry failed to find enough faying folk...er, paying folk.

(Yes, ‘tis too often true, for the true pioneers:

The bleeding-edge of progress means short-lived careers!)

But each day of these days, life grew more dynamic,

Bustling and bawling, not lying back in a hammock,

Through a country criss-crossed by a web of new routes,

-- Not unlike a great game of ladders and chutes!