The Duke of Richmond would be the first to die trying to build the Rideau Canal, but he would be far from the last.
Canadians used the St. Lawrence River for shipping and traveling, but that river is also their border with the USA. After the War of 1812, our neighbors to the north decided they needed a safer, internal waterway that steered clear of the US. The Rideau Canal was an engineering marvel, 200 kilometers long, built by hand in less than six years, but the cost was high. The Duke of Richmond died of rabies, and a thousand of the workers who built the canal were killed by accidents and disease. The canal as a shipping lane was replaced by rail and road, but is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It also left a living legacy in the form of a rather important city.
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Source: neatorama