The Engineering Marvel Built to Defend Against Americans — The Grisly History of the Rideau Canal

Canadiana explores the grisly history of the Rideau Canal, a popular tourist attraction in Ottawa and marvel of human engineering from the early 1800s.

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Clarifications:

*While by today’s standards the working conditions during the construction of the Rideau Canal seem especially horrific, it was generally on par with engineering projects of a similar scale during the time period. Care was taken to prevent accidents, and any that did occur were subject to inquiry and documented to avoid repeat. Still, it was hard, dangerous work in an era before many of the fail safes we have today, and every life lost is a tragedy that might have been prevented. May we remember the workers and their sacrifice; the blood and sweat that poured into every inch of the Rideau Canal.

*There is no definitive number of worker deaths due to lack of complete records, particularly lack of records for the vast majority of deaths due to disease, but the best estimate is that at least 1000 workers were killed during the construction.

Rideau Canal History:

For more incredible history of the Rideau Canal, we strongly encourage you to check out this excellent website by Ken Watson: https://www.rideau-info.com/canal/history/index.html The “Tales of the Rideau” page is particularly interesting, with a mix of factual and ghost tales! (Direct link to the tales page: https://www.rideau-info.com/canal/tales/index.html)

Colonel John By:

Col. John By, who led the construction, is recognized as one of the greatest engineers of early Canada. But in his lifetime, he was never properly recognized for the incredible feat that was the Rideau Canal. The 200km canal was built in just 5 working summers, without the aid of modern construction equipment, yet despite this achievement Colonel By returned to England only to be criticized by the Treasury Board. He died just three years later. Today, there are several monuments to Colonel By, including the statue we see in the episode and the ByWard Market area of Ottawa. Alternate theory for the Duke of Richmond’s death (bonus story at the end of the episode): For nearly 200 years, there were only whispers about the controversy surrounding the Duke of Richmond’s death by rabies. That is, until Dr. Hugh Whitney, a veterinarian, medical historian, and leading Canadian expert on rabies stepped forward to contest the long-standing theory. While it’s no longer possible to know for certain what killed Charles Lennox, the 4th Duke of Richmond, you can read more about the debate here: https://www.historicalsocietyottawa.ca/publications/ottawa-stories/personalities-from-the-very-famous-to-the-lesser-known/rabies-or-booze

Ottawa Tourism:

The Rideau Canal is a beautiful place to visit! History, nature, physical activity, pleasure boating—there’s something for everyone! We encourage you all to visit this spectacular National Historic Site meticulously maintained by Parks Canada. https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/on/rideau

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This is the very last episode of Canadiana Season 3 (a season made possible by the financial support of the Bell Fund, Canada History Fund, Canada Media Fund, and Parks Canada). If you’re able, please consider contributing to the future of Canadiana by becoming a Patron at https://www.patreon.com/thisiscanadiana — for as little as $1 per month, members receive special updates + behind the scenes (for a little more you’ll receive a credit at the end of our episodes!). We’re a small team, and each story can take months of work— we will be relying entirely on supporters like you to make more videos like this one. Thank you!

#ottawa #canadianhistory #documentary #rideaucanal

00:00 Intro: Death on the Rideau Canal

01:44 War of 1812

02:26 The Idea

03:17 Duke of Richmond

05:04 Colonel John By

05:52 Death and Malaria

07:18 Bytown to Ottawa

08:44 Bonus Story