By LINDA KELLETT

C-S-E News Staff

CANAJOHARIE — Local residents have one more chance to experience Erie Canal history as the Lois McClure, a replica of a 19th century canal schooner, docks at the Canajoharie waterfront today.

The boat, modeled after a couple of similar vessels that were located at the bottom of the Burlington, Vt., harbor on Lake Champlain, is nearing the end of a six-week tour of the Erie Canal and other waterways in commemoration of the anniversary of the War of 1812.

Earlier this week, it made an unexpected stop at the St. Johnsville Marina and later docked near Lock 15 at Fort Plain on its long journey home to the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vergennes, Vt.

St. Johnsville Mayor Bernie Barnes was on hand as the vessel eased into the village harbor on Monday. He expressed appreciation to museum Co-Director Erick Tishonuk for coordinating the itinerary change with Canal Corporation officials and allowing area residents to tour the boat.

Because the stop was unplanned, it wasn’t possible for St. Johnsville School students to visit the craft this time; however school groups often get immersed in canal history during the vessel’s scheduled stopovers.

Tishonuk said the sessions feature an introduction to the canal, the boat and its significance to their community.

During a conversation with Barnes and Arthur Cohn, the executive director of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, St. Johnsville historian Anita Smith noted that the St. Johnsville Marina harbor has special significance to the canal’s history.

Following the 1903 vote to build the enlarged state Barge Canal, she said state officials came to St. Johnsville, where they constructed a harbor “so they’d have a place to build dipper dredges to build the rest of the canal.”

She continued, “They assembled them here. This is the only protected harbor on the canal. They brought the [dredges] back here in the winter” for shelter.

During his description of canal schooner tours, Tishonuk said students typically are divided into smaller groups. They then cycle through various stations on the boat.

Station 1, for example, is the ship’s wheel.

“They get to turn it, and we talk about how we used shipwrecks to rebuild. We used two wrecks primarily: The General Butler and the OJ Walker, which rests in 65 feet of water in Burlington Harbor,” he said.

First-mate Tom Larsen said the General Butler, which was loaded with 60 tons of three-ton blocks of marble, was dashed to pieces against the breakwater there after the steering mechanism broke during a December 1876 storm.

The second vessel, top-heavy with a load of bricks, started to roll over and sank in a May 1895 storm at the opposite end of the harbor.

He said, “Both were in very good shape as far as shipwrecks go.”

Tishonuk said other stations that students visit include the windlass—that is, the winch, which was used to haul up the ship’s anchors; the cargo hold—the very reason for the existence of these boats; and the tiny cabin where the family and crew members would have lived.

Following the Lois McClure’s Canajoharie visit, the accompanying tugboat will tow the canal schooner to Amsterdam, where it will dock on Sept. 22.

The crew will mount the mast and hoist the sails on Oct. 9 when the Lois McClure once again reaches Champlain.

More images in the Seen section.