"Seems back in 1834 or ’35, the State Legislature trick’d the United Tribes, them’s ta’ Chippewa, Ottawa and the Pottawatomie ta’ sign a treaty givin' up their land. Smooth work that was, the Territory of Illinois got a 36 mile area from the mouth of the Chicago River, southwest 100 miles to the main stream of the Illinois. It included: the Kankakee, Des Plaines, DuPage and Fox Rivers too. Well, the Legislature went a step further and decided that Chicago and Ottawa would be the towns at opposite ends of the canal. God they was cryin' and beggin' for men. Irish or no, they didn't care. Canal fever had hit. It was supposed to be the tamin’ o’this country round bouts and that's what it did.

"Never a man to walk when there was work to be done, I joined. The first bit o'work began on the
South Branch of the Chicago River between Bridgeport and Summit. So on it I slaved like all the other
lads. We lived in shantytowns along the riverbank. Everything that took place happened in a tent.
We had saloons, tonsoriums, bathing houses, and a few bawdy houses. As the canal progressed
westward, the whole shantytown moved too. We finally had a full-blown city of shanties
 down'ta Lockport, called the place Kilgubbin. That canal went right across the old Indian
Portage. Well, I worked at that canal till '48 when it was finally finished.

"I met a lot of folks livin' in Kilgubbin, and some o'the boys from home, did right well.
We had more diseases then you'd believe. Cholera, diphtheria, malaria, you name
 it we had it. Everyone sick, especially in the summer, and during the rainy season . . .
You would'na believed it!

“The Chandler brothers worked that canal too, you know. That's how they
got started. Saving for their great lumber business, they barely ate, and what
they spent in a year, wouldn't a fed a family for six months. Well we buckos
hit it off right from the start and when they started up their yard, they
couldna' forget an old friend. So I joined up with them and that's
how I got to meet you."