New York's Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Has Irish Roots

By Tom Ryan

For many people its Dutch and French heritage that first comes to mind as we celebrate this 400th year since the Hudson River and Lake Champlain were first explored by Europeans. But while the ancestry of Henry Hudson and Samuel de Champlain has received attention in advance of New York's Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Celebration this year, proper due must also be given to the third of the namesakes, Robert Fulton, the famous inventor of the first commercially viable steamboat "Claremont," who was of Irish decent.

The Fulton's family was of Irish and Scottish ancestors, and Robert's father settled in Pennsylvania upon his arrival in America. His son, also Robert, who was born in 1765, became an artist, engineer, inventor, and entrepreneur. In 1796, realizing the importance of transportation in the New World, he published a treatise on "Canal Navigation." Among his many historic credits, he was commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte to design and build the world's first viable submarine.

Fulton lived only another eight years following his historic 1807 steam-powered trip from New York City to Albany, which had been completed in a record 15 hours. He died in 1815, just 10 years before the opening of the Erie Canal, which connected the Hudson with the Great Lakes and made New York the premier seaport on America's East Coast. By the 1850s there were 150 steamboats cruising back and forth on the Hudson, providing unprecedented trade between the Atlantic coast and the young nation's Midwest Territories.

And speaking of the Erie Canal, its chief proponent DeWitt Clinton credited another Irishman, Christopher Colles, as the one who came up with the idea in the first place.

Colles, who also built the first steam engine in America, was born in Ireland in 1738 and arrived here about the time Robert Fulton was born. He was the first person who suggested a canal to the government of New York, according to Governor Clinton, a former Mayor of New York who later built the four foot deep, 40-foot wide, 363 mile-long artificial waterway from Albany to Buffalo.

It was dug by hand by Irish and Italian immigrants, opened the west to commerce, and made New York the Empire State. The rest is history.

So as New York observes the legacy of Hudson, Fulton and Champlain this year, and as you attend any of the Quadricentennial celebrations, it's certainly appropriate to reflect on the significant contributions made by the Irish in America over the past four centuries.

2009 Celebration Events

Many "Quad" events are scheduled for New York City and all along the Hudson and Champlain corridors between here and Canada this year to commemorate the Ouadricentennial. Among the highlights are:

When Governor's Island opened for the season on May 30, its entire 2.2 mile perimeter promenade was opened to the public for walking, jogging and biking. It will be open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through October 11.

"River Day" on June 6 will kicked off the Quad Celebration at the Statue of Liberty. It marked the beginning of a week-long event including a flotilla of vessels tracing the trip of Hudson up the waterway that now bears his name.

A fishing festival will be held on June 18 at the new West Harlem Piers Park at 125th Street in Manhattan. Urban Park Rangers will be on hand to teach children about Dutch Colonial and Native American life, and fishing rods and reels will be provided.

On July 18 the "City of Water Day" will take place on Governor's Island, featuring various water-based activities.

Hudson River Greenway's "Great Champlain Hudson Sojourn" will feature a kayak paddle from Fort Edward on the Champlain Canal to Manhattan from August 3 through the 17.

In August and September, the "Working on Water" tour of the Hudson River and Champlain Canal between Canada and New York City will feature a flotilla of historic and working vessels, with stops for public viewing and rides all along the route.

On September 1, a fleet of flat-bottomed Dutch sailing boats from Amsterdam will enter New York Harbor as part of Admiral's Sail, a naval parade and lighted flotilla. The Dutch boats will transport visitors until September 20.

"H209 Water Forum" will be held at Jersey City's Liberty Science Center September 9 & 10 featuring Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the Netherlands' Crown Prince Willem-Alexander.

The South Street Seaport Museum is the site for "The Island at the Center of the World" exhibition, beginning on September 13.

"Mapping New York's Shoreline, 1609-2009" is an exhibit at the New York Public Library on 42nd Street that opens on September 25.

Also on September 25, a "400 Years of History Conference" is scheduled at Marist College in Poughkeepsie.

And the 2009 Ouadricentennial Stamp Exposition will also begin on September 25 on the concourse of the Empire State Plaza at the State Capital in Albany.

On October 2, 3 & 4 the "Walkway over the Hudson" celebration will open the pedestrian trail on the former railroad bridge between Poughkeepsie and Highland to the public. At 212 feet above the Hudson, it's the longest elevated linear park in the world!

Many other local events are being planned, and more information can be found at: OurHudson.org.