simple ceremonies
On July 4, 1817, work was formally inaugurated at Rome with
simple ceremonies. Thus the year 1817 was marked by three great
undertakings: the navigation of the Mississippi River upstream
and down by steamboats, the opening of the national road across
the Alleghany Mountains, and the beginning of the Erie Canal. No
single year in the early history of the United States witnessed
three such important events in the material progress of the
country.