Description: United States cover fragment bearing three stamps on piece: a 1¢ Abraham Lincoln Liberty Series definitive, a 3¢ Abraham Lincoln Liberty Series definitive, and a 4¢ St. Lawrence Seaway commemorative. Together they form a modest but appealing mixed-franking piece that combines ordinary postage with a clearly dated postal marking.
Circa: June 9, 1960
Condition: Stamps remain attached to the original envelope fragment, with good color retention and a partial but readable Fort Morgan, Colorado cancel.
Notes:
The slogan cancel reads “PRAY FOR PEACE,” a period marking that reflects Cold War anxieties in the United States during the late 1950s and early 1960s. While the individual stamps are common, the intact fragment and dated cancellation give the piece modest postal-history interest.
Correlation of Items:
During the American Civil War, the Union faced constant national security concerns regarding British intervention. Because British naval forces could access the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario, the Union felt deeply vulnerable along its northern border.
In February 1862, Representative Francis Blair of Missouri introduced a strategic congressional bill to dramatically expand and deepen the canal systems of Illinois and New York. President Lincoln took an active role in fostering this plan. The legislative goal was to enlarge these inland waterways specifically so the Union could move heavy ironclad naval vessels directly into the Great Lakes to defend the American Midwest against potential foreign aggression. This proposal laid the conceptual groundwork for the deep-draft navigation networks that eventually became the modern St. Lawrence Seaway.