Photograph, loading a mule onto an Erie Canal boat, Fultonville, NY

Workers load a mule onto an Erie Canal boat with the help of a second mule and pulley system. 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: Courtesy of the Town of Perinton.
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