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Panama’s Exciting Past part 2

By AndrewGW ⋅ July 12, 2008 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅ ⋅ Post a comment

We continue on with some more of Panama’s history excerpted from Location Panama.

Another tale of failed dreams was the attempted settlement of the Darien by the Scots in 1698. Wanting to expand their influence, the Scottish government financed an ambitious plan to establish a colony on the isthmus of Panama in the hope of establishing trade with the Far East. Unfortunately, due to opposition by the British government, disease and inadequate provisions, out of the original 2,500 settlers that set off, only a few hundred survived. With a loss of over £500,000, the Scottish economy was almost bankrupted. It has been argued that the Darien Scheme crippled the country’s economy to such an extent that it was the cause of the union of Scotland with England.

In the mid-1800’s, Panama once again moved to the forefront due to its location, when the California Gold Rush precipitated the construction of the first transcontinental railroad connecting Colon with Panama City. After the first 20 months of work, only 7 miles of track had been built with an untold cost in lives of the imported workers. Initial gold rush bound ‘49ers paid an astronomical $25.00 to travel these 7 miles and another $10.00 to walk the remaining distance on the right of way. This bonanza allowed the company to escape bankruptcy and complete the track for a total cost of over $7,400,000. On January 28, 1855 the world’s first transcontinental train ran from ocean to ocean and when combined with steamship service it reduced travel times from the east coast to California from 6 months to just over two.

As early as the 16th century, Panama had been considered as a potential route for a canal to join the oceans and facilitate trade but it wasn’t until 1880 when, fresh from his success with the Suez Canal, Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps began his attempt to join the two oceans. His downfall was trying to build a sea-level canal like the Suez. After 8 years, technical difficulties, tropical disease, financial mismanagement and corruption caused the Panama Canal Company to declare bankruptcy.

Tags: darien, history of panama, railway