Blowing up the Welland Canal

[Music] around seven in the evening on april 21st 1900 two explosions were heard near the hamlet of thorold canada it was a terrorist attack an attempt to destroy the loch number 24 of the welland canal a ship canal connecting lake ontario to lake erie the people of thurld know what would happen if that lock was breached the buffalo morning news said they waited as if for the aftermath for the descent into destruction for the swoop of calamity that would wipe them and their homes from the face of the earth quickly three men were arrested in the explosion but who were they and what was their motive it would be two years before their notorious ringleader's name would be revealed dynamite luke dylan in the attack on lock 24 of the welland canal deserves to be remembered the great lakes are an important navigation route in the interior of north america especially in the early years of european settlement when other transportation infrastructure had not been developed but still important today the lakes are navigable from the port city of montreal on the east to the far end of lake superior in the west say for one important obstacle the 160 foot drop called niagara falls by the 1780s a portage road was established traveling approximately 11 miles between the towns of chippewa ontario above the falls and queenston ontario below but of course that is an imperfect solution as cargo had to be unloaded carried by wagon up or down the more than 700 foot niagara escarpment to be reloaded and continue its journey the idea of building a canal across the relatively narrow niagara peninsula which is really an isthmus was discussed in the 18th century but work on a canal did not begin until 1824. the welland canal was named after the welland river itself named after a river in lincolnshire as the initial plan was to link lake ontario to the river eventually nearly a million cubic yards of earth were moved to make what is now called the first welland canal which included some 40 locks the canal was improved in the 1840s and again in the 1880s with a shorter alignment including just 26 stone locks this third welland canal was completed in 1887. the 1905 monthly summary of commerce and finance in the united states describes the canal as 26.75 miles long and 100 feet wide and lists the total cost of construction to that point at 24 million 293 587 closed in winter due to navigational hazards the canal was open an average of 240 days a year and the average annual collection of tolls was 225 thousand dollars lock 24 was on top of the escarpment in the hamlet of thorold with a population of approximately 1900 at the turn of the century according to the buffalo new york courier the evening of april 21st euphemia constable a girl of about 16 years old who lived near doc 24 was crossing the bridge over the canal within a few feet of the end of the lock when she saw a tall man coming from behind a tool house near the head of the lock in the middle the bridge stood another man who climbed down to the head of the lock tied a rope to a velaz or something similar and let it down at the locked gate simultaneously the tall man ran shouting hurry up jack or it will go off then came the explosions one after the other and euphemia ran for her life the buffalo morning express wrote it resounded into thunderous explosions that tore up solid rocks tossed skyward spouts of water shook houses and shattered windows while the earth trembled then all was still for miles around people paused terrified amazed her dumb founded a 1958 issue of mclean's magazine described the scene shortly after 7 p.m on april 21st 1900 thorled constable edelberg clark heard a report like the crash of a gigantic bass drum it was repeated once clark ran into front street beside the canal where euphemia constable rushed up to him two men she gasped blew up block 24 and they're walking towards niagara falls clark knew the implication mcleans explains these wooden gates held back a body of water a mile long 40 feet wide and 20 feet deep released it would have roared down to flood the valley in its several towns few would have survived the buffalo morning express was more graphic in its description the gates of the thorough log held in placid check 12 million cubic feet of water and the sudden smashing of the gates would have released this miniature sea and transformed it from an unruffled expanse of still water to a rushing roaring seething furious turret wiping out homes and houses surrounding lands devastating property and worst of all ghastliest of all drowning hundreds of innocent people seizing them in swirling embrace or smothering clutch and dragging them down to death but the disaster did not occur the montreal gazette explained reports from thorold say it was almost a miracle that the entire locks were not destroyed considering the terrific explosion which shook the ground in the vicinity and shattered hundreds of windows in the town the morning express goes on in execution it failed by blunder of man and providence of god some newspapers reported that there might have been another reason for the failure the san diego union and daley b wrote the men did their planning when they were sober but when the time came for their last and most dangerous move they were drunk well the windsor ontario star noted that it is evident that the men intended to blow out the gate at both ends of the lock the explosions failed to do so placed apparently too high and where the water could absorb much of the blast the star reported that the woodwork was shattered and the iron twisted the damage could not be stated now but it's probably several thousand dollars but despite being intended to wreak havoc and shut down the canal the star continued it is not considered that the damage is sufficient to prevent navigation from opening on tuesday next the blunder of man and providence of god aside the intent was clear as the morning gazette says it was a satanic conception to serve an atrocious design the gazette writes that the county constables began to arrive from the townships and the vicinity of the explosion on horseback and riggs detective maines of the ontario government police met constable clark who reported that he had seen two men on the road fitting the description given to him by euphemia the gazette describes their apprehension detective maines with officers walsh and constable clark started out towards stanford and when they reached the west end of bridge street they saw the two men coming down the road concealing themselves until the men reached them the officers pounced upon them in the dark arresting both each man had a loaded revolver in his outside pocket ready for action the men were obviously the saboteurs not only did they fit the description but the pair had already been under surveillance by police the alphawood journal writes canadian inspector of customs banfield and american customs inspector lewis have been shadowing them in for a week as opium smugglers and both officers came to the conclusion that they were a gang of crooks what's more the journal continues the american police at niagara falls new york located the abode of the man and making a search discovered a quantity of exploding fuse concealed in their rooms the gazette reports that at the station they were booked as john walsh washington dc age 38 smooth-faced small-sized and john nolan philadelphia pennsylvania 50 years dark brown mustache tall stout weighing 210 pounds the gazette went on both men wore stiff hats walsh had 35 dollars and olsen 11 in his possession but there was apparently another conspirator the gazette writes the police had seen the two men in the company of a short set smooth-faced man whom they say crossed and re-crossed the steel arch bridge two or three times a day during the last three or four days the windsor star reports that the police set out at once and hauled in the third man who positively refused to give his name or identity at the police station the man had been registered at the rosely hotel under the name carl doleman and was described as five feet nine inches tall stout built 215 pounds police were convinced that they had the right man but what was their motive the ottawa journal speculated that there were only three of a gang of dynamiters operating probably as hirelings to the welland canal to divert the traffic to the upper lakers from montreal or buffalo this was particularly concerning as the paper explains several the gang are still at large and another attempt will probably be made to further destroy the canal the gazette notes that mayor slater made a demand for a detachment of number one company of the 44th battalion to guard and frustrate any such attempt some press speculated that the culprits were grain shovelers from buffalo who were trying to prevent the diversion of grain from the port of buffalo a rumor quickly spread that a mob from the united states of a gang of about 60 hard-looking thugs from buffalo had come on the train to secure the release of the three men the journal says that the men were deterred upon seeing the red uniformed men of the queen patrolling the jail on all sides however the rumor turned out to be unfounded according to the gazeta most careful inquiry failed to discover anything to indicate such intent in fact the gazette writes the shovelers along the waterfront tonight seemed surprised at the story when it was told to them by newspaper reporters so far as could be observed there was not the slightest excitement amongst the scooper element the windsor ontario star printed a special report wherein the president of the international longshoremen union denied any connection to grain shovelers in buffalo saying there's absolutely no truth in the story can imagine where the rumors started person who originated after it known it was false a report in a buffalo newspaper that the men weren't terrorist at all but that they were using the dynamite for fishing purposes while under the influence of liquor was quickly discredited it is ironic that that headline would be believable today another possibility was that the saboteurs were bore sympathizers as canadian troops were serving in the war in south africa or finnians irish republicans seeking to attack british interests or divert resources from the war in south africa which many irish republicans saw as a war against british imperialism the gazette noted that the dominion government it will be remembered was informed several months ago that the finnians would be active on the frontier whenever spring opened although the paper notes the wrecking of the canal from a military point of view would be an absurd thing and if finnians were hoping to invade canada from the united states as they had in raids in the 1860s wrecking of the well into sheer idiocy and malicious destruction because canadian troops to repel a finnian invasion on the niagara border would use the railways and not the canal the windsor star reports that hearts jumped into the member's throats when it was reported at the parliament buildings today that finians or boar sympathizers or at any rate dynamite tards had endeavored to blow up the four locks of the welling canal hysterical talk was indulged for a time but the idea that an organized ban of finians had been at work was scouted as preposterous but the buffalo courier reported considerable uneasiness in the circles in which the three men arrested in canada in connection with the blowing up of the well and canal are alleged to be connected nolan it seems had been in legal trouble in ireland was a suspected militant republican implicated in an explosion in dublin in fact the motive for the attack was not clear even as the men were quickly convicted at trial the new york times reported that it took the jury only 12 minutes to convict the man in a case where the defense had a weak case from the first the ottawa journal reported that the judge had instructed the jury it was not your duty to consider what motive may have inspired the prisoners or what influence may have been brought to bear upon them all three were sentenced to life imprisonment but the motive might have been obvious said the true identity of the man thought to be the ringleader convicted under the name carl doleman been known in fact it's not clear when his identity was first discovered but it was not reported until a story appeared in the buffalo morning express in 1902 carl doleman was in fact a notorious irish republican named luke dylan known within irish revolutionary circles as dynamite luke and the welling canal was not his first explosion the term dynamite meaning one who uses explosives for violence against the state might have originated in france but it's used in english newspapers began with the fenian dynamite campaign in his 1982 book the irish relations author dennis clark writes violence as a form of protest was a tool of political revolutionaries among various suppressed national groups in europe and their exiled agitators constantly spurred its use from bases in america and elsewhere the late 1880s were a time of deep plotting and internal discord for the physical force elements of the irish national movement the partisans of violence had built up a formidable underground membership of thousands in the united states a bombing campaign in england and glasgow during the period 1881 to 1885 largely originated with irishmen exiled to the united states the campaign targeted military barracks government buildings ships the glasgow gas works and even london bridge overall the campaign injured 80 people resulted in the death of one young boy and two of the bombers the website irishphiladelphia.com explains how luke dylan a man of irish descent who had been born in england and moved to the united states at the age of six joined the cause of creating an irish republic despite never having set foot in ireland after serving in the us army on the frontier in 1870 he moved to philadelphia there he became involved with clan the gale an irish republican organization he became involved in the fenian bombing plot at the clan de gale convention in chicago in 1881 traveled to england in 1884 and successfully set off a bomb in a bathroom of scotland yard but it was an attack on the houses of parliament in 1885 that gained the most attention for the campaign an accomplice set off a bomb in the basement distracting the guards allowing dylan to lob one into the empty debating chamber no one was killed and dylan made good his escape casually walking from the building and earned his explosive sobriquet the attack on the welland canal in 1900 is almost entirely forgotten today but it would certainly be much better remembered had it succeeded in destroying the lock the capture of dynamite luke dylan whether because of the blundering of men or the providence of god represents to some historians the end of the finnian bombing campaign it was according to the buffalo morning express to have been his stroke of triumph though it's difficult to say whether violence on that level would have done more damage to his cause than good dynamite luke dylan represents the complexity of the finnian movement dylan was irishphiladelphia.com argues the embodiment of the phrase one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter in this case all the more strange and that dylan never set foot in the land for which he was fighting and despite his efforts failed to kill a single british subject walsh died in prison nolan was released in 1915 and died in 1920. showing the divided interests in the united states some american politicians argued for dylan's release dylan however refused to admit guilt even though that might have meant his release coming earlier he was finally released in 1915 the age of 65. he went back to philadelphia and remained active in clandegal in irish republican causes he died in 1930 the age of 85. i hope you enjoyed this episode of the history guide short snippets of forgotten history and if you did enjoy feed the algorithm by making a comment or clicking that like button if you have suggestions for future episodes please send those to our suggestions email box check out our webpage at thehistoryguy.net and of course we're on facebook instagram and twitter you can book a special message from the history guy on cameo and check out our merchandise teespring.com and if you'd like more episodes of forgotten history all you need to do is subscribe [Music]

Channel: The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered

Views: 95,340

Keywords: history, history guy, the history guy, canada, fenians

Id: Mho3LleTshg

Length: 15min 36sec (936 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 29 2021