Folks didn"t believe that a canal connecting the Hudson River with the Great Lakes could ever be built. But a young Politician, De Witt Clinton, had vision. He knew "Clinton"s Ditch" was more than possible: It was a necessary way to link East Coast ports to the frontier. Join Cheryl Harness on an animated journey into history, beginning with the Erie Canal"s groundbreaking ceremony on the Fourth of July, 1817. Celebrating the mood of post-war America, she uses an engaging text and distinctive panoramic watercolors, including detailed maps of the route, to describe a massive engineering feat and make the pageantry of the Erie Canal"s grand opening come alive. It was America"s first superhighway.