LaSalle Mayor Art Washkowiak knows what would float his boat - seeing his town become "the next Galena" and popular among tourists. He thinks a new replica of the vessels that once hauled people and cargo on the Illinois and Michigan Canal is one way to get there.

Christened "The Volunteer," the boat drawn by two mules named Larry and Moe is the latest attraction in the Illinois River Valley, which features destinations including the historic I & M Canal and nearby Starved Rock State Park in Utica. The successful Grizzly Jack's, a resort/indoor water park, opened a couple of years ago near Starved Rock. At least one other water park is planned north of Utica, he said.

"It's a start," Washkowiak said. "We all have to start somewhere."

Washkowiak estimated the canal boat launched in late June and the new Lock 16 I & M Visitors Center will pump a much needed $5 million into the area's economy in the next three years.

Outgoing U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller, R-Joliet, who helped secure federal money to fund construction of The Volunteer, said more than 100 groups booked passage on the boat even before it touched water. Ridership will reach 20,000 the first year, according to estimates, he said.

"The bottom line is that tourism is good industry," Weller said.

"We have to keep on this and keep the pot stirred to make sure the Illinois River Valley is a great place for tourism," agreed Illinois state Sen. Gary Dahl, R-Granville.

Jan Kemmerling, local tourism division manager for the Illinois Bureau of Tourism, said features like the canal boat enhance the state's ability to attract nearly 90 million visitors a year. She called the Illinois River Valley one of the most popular downstate areas. She said regional hubs like it will benefit from higher gasoline prices that will keep people closer to home. LaSalle is located about an hour north of the Twin Cities at the intersection of Interstate 39 and Interstate 80 and just a few hours from major metropolitan centers like Chicago, St. Louis and Indianapolis.

The I & M Canal, which extends 96 miles from Chicago to LaSalle, is the focal point of the 450-square-mile I & M Canal National Heritage Corridor, the nation's first national heritage corridor.

At 76 feet long and 15 feet wide, the canal boat was built with a combination of government grants and private donations. Its design includes an open-air upper deck, a covered main deck and an accessible restroom. It is a replica of the boats in use when the I & M canal opened in 1848.

The two mules that pull The Volunteer already provide a link between LaSalle and Galena, said Matt Jury, 21, Dwight. The Eastern Illinois University recreation management major tends the animals as a summer job. When they weren't passing time in a pasture, Larry and Moe pulled wagons in Galena until the non-profit Canal Corridor Association bought the pair to tug tourists onboard the boat, he said. Nate Pennell, a deckhand on the boat, said the mules travel at a clip of about 1 to 4 mph, "depending on their mood."

Rob Mellen, a retired teacher from Peru and historic re-enactor, wears period grab when he works part-time as site interpreter. He said Abraham Lincoln once rode a similar boat with his family from Chicago to LaSalle on the canal on their way to Springfield. But, people soon abandoned the canal as a means of transportation when faster trains arrived in the region a few years later. Cargo was carried by water on the canal until the Great Depression of the 1930s, Mellen said.

Mellen, who takes part in mock Civil War battles, was blunt when asked why living history exhibits like the canal boat are important.

"To stamp out ignorance," said Mellen, an Illinois State University graduate. "You can't believe what people don't know. …Those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it. It helps you to develop a national pride and understanding."

Ana B. Koval, president and CEO of the corridor association, recounted how her son once told her, "Mom, it's only a ditch."

"We need to tell the history. If you don't tell the story, it's only a ditch," she said. "This is bringing history to life. … I would venture to say you will see a lot more improvements (like the boat) because there is so much interest in it."

Chris Rollins is Illinois Department of Natural Resources land manager for Region 2 where the I & M Canal is located. He said the linear park attracts about two million people a year who walk, ride bikes, fish and snowmobile. The canal connects Gebhard Woods State Park, Channahon State Park, Buffalo Rock State Park and Illini State Park as well as running near Starved Rock State Park. Matthiessen State Park is close by just south of Starved Rock.

"It's a very popular area," Rollins said.

Unlike the other attractions which feature natural history, the I & M offers a glimpse of manmade history "dug by hand before the age of bulldozers and dynamite," Rollins said.

"They dug it with men and mules. When you think they built this with sweat…" he said. "This must have been the equivalent of having the interstate in your backyard. …Utica stone in the skyscrapers of Chicago? It got there on boats like this."

"This is important because it's our history, our culture," added Gary Wood, a canal visitor from Oak Park. "We all want more of a sense of community and being rooted in something. This will bring a lot of people here."

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If you go

What: The Volunteer, a replica of a 19th century canal boat.

Where: The Illinois & Michigan Canal at LaSalle at Illinois 351 and the canal. Exit Interstate 39 at the Illinois 71 exit, turn right and go straight to the Lock 14 entrance.

When: A mule team leads the boat on rides lasting from 40 minutes to an hour. Times are 9 and 11 a.m. and 1 and 3 p.m. daily.

Admission: $12 for adults, $10 for seniors 65 and older, $6 for children 4 to 16. Younger children are free. Family admission for two adults and two children is $33. Groups of 10 or more at $10 each.

Tickets: Buy them at the Lock 16 I & M Visitors Center or phone ((866) 610-7678. Visit www.canalcor.org