Photograph, loading a mule onto a canal boat

Two men lower a mule into the hold of an Erie Canal boat. Mules and horses were used to power canal boats. Attached to the boats by a rope, the animals walked along a towpath next to the canal, pulling the boats behind them as they went. Teams of horses or mules worked in shifts. When they were off duty, they rested inside a stable located on the boat.

Credit: Photograph by Albert R. Stone (1866-1934). From the Albert R. Stone Negative Collection, Rochester Museum & Science Center, Rochester, NY.
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