Due to the many floods in the nineteenth century and the Indiana Canal Company's failed competition to build a canal around the Ohio Falls, the town struggled. On August 24, 1805 the Indiana Territorial Legislature authorized the construction of a canal around the Falls of the Ohio at Clarksville. The first attempt failed and the investors lost their money. Historians believe it was used to finance the conspiracy of Aaron Burr. Developers tried to build a canal in 1817 and again in 1820. But the race to build the canal was lost in 1826 when the federal government made a large grant to build the Louisville and Portland Canal. The lack of a canal handicapped the growth of the town as the Falls of the Ohio made river transport from the city difficult.