To the following I am also indebted in many different ways: James C. Andrews, Director of Libraries, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Thomas Alton Ashley; the Baker Library, Dartmouth College; Clarence A. Barnes, Jr.; Doreen Kane Barnes; Peter McC. Barnes; Samuel E. Barnes; Mrs. Ira Barrows; Roy P. Basler, John C. Broderick, Carolyn H. Sung, and the other staff members of the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress; Dr. William B. Bean of the University of Iowa; A. L. Bentley, Jr.; the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris; Stephen Birmingham; the Boston Public Library; Jean-Frangois Burgelin, Secretaire General de la Premiere Presidence de la Cour d’Appel de Paris; Roger Butterfield; the Carnegie Library, Pittsburgh; Charleton Coulter, III; Mrs. Gerrit Duys; the staff of the Da Rosa Corporation; Maria Ealand; the Eastern Massachusetts Regional Public Library System and in particular Ann Haddad of the Falmouth Public Library; Gerald Feuille; Mrs. Harry A. Franck and her daughter, Patricia Sheffield; Valarie Franco of the Huntington Library; Frangois Geoffroy of The Reader’s Digest, Paris; George W. Goethals, II; Peter Goethals; Herbert R. Hands of the American Society of Civil Engineers; Mrs. John U. Hawks; Henry B. Hough; Paula R. Hymes of the American Geographical Society; Kathleen Moore Knight; Mrs. Bronislaw Lesnikowski, Librarian, Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School; the staff of the newspaper files, Library of Congress; Dennis Longwell of the Museum of Modern Art; Maria Look; H. H. McClintic, Jr.; John McCullough; the late John McKenna, Director of the Middlebury College Library; Leonard Martin; W. V. Graham Matthews, whose own determined explorations into the career of Philippe Bunau-Varilla have been an inspiration; Burroughs Mitchell; Hazel M. Murdock of the Washington office of the Panama Canal Company; the National Geographic Society; the staff of the New York Historical Society Library; the staff of the Science and Technology Room, New York Public Library; Norah Nicholls; Royall and Sally O’Brien; Charleton and Vera Ogburn; Professor Aime Perpillou of the Societe de Geographie; Eulalie Morris Regan of the Vine-yard Haven Public Library and her staff, Margaret Cunningham and Carol McCulloch; Robert L. Reynolds; Mme. Giselle Bunau-Varilla Rocco, daughter of Philippe Bunau-Varilla, who corresponded from her home in Kenya; Soeur Lucie Roge, Superieure Generate de la Compagnie des Filles de la Charite de Saint Vincent de Paul, Paris; Cornelius Van S. Roosevelt; Betty Ross; John B. Rothrock; Colonel Charles H. Schilling and Marie T. Capps of the United States Military Academy; Cecil O. Smith, Jr., of Drexel University; John F. Stevens, Jr.; Carolyn T. Stewart, Director, Gorgas Home and Library, University of Alabama; Margot Barnes Street; the University of North Carolina Library; the University of Vermont Library; Robert Vogel of the Smithsonian Institution; James D. Walker and Joel Barker of the National Archives; Richard H. Whitehead, Jr.; Nancy Whiting of the West Tisbury Library; the Widener Library, Harvard University; the Yale University Library.
Finally, I wish to thank my mother and father, Mr. and Mrs. C. Hax McCullough of Pittsburgh, for their abiding interest and encouragement; Audre Proctor, who typed the manuscript; Pat Miller, the copy editor; Frank Metz; Sophie Sorkin; Rafael D. Palacios; Wendell Minor; Edith Fowler, the designer; my daughter Melissa, who did a variety of chores; my son Geoffrey; and Dorie McCullough, who at age seven cannot remember when her father was not working on a book about the Panama Canal.
Notes
Authors and / or book titles are given here in the most convenient abbreviated form; full details on all works cited may be found in the Sources.
BOOK ONE
1. THRESHOLD
The official account of the first Darien Expedition—Reports of Explorations and Surveys to Ascertain the Practicability of a Ship-Canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by way of the Isthmus of Darien, by Thomas Oliver Selfridge—is not only exhaustive but a delight to read and is accompanied by magnificent maps. This and Selfridge’s own handwritten journal (Library of Congress) have been the primary sources here. From the large and exceedingly colorful body of material on the gold rush and the Panama Railroad, I have relied primarily on Kemble, The Panama Route; Otis, History of the Panama Railroad; Taylor, Eldorado; and Tomes, Panama in 1855.
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19 “There is a charm”: N.Y. Times, Jan. 24, 1870.
22–24 Strain expedition: Cullen, Over Darien; “Darien Exploring Expedition,” Harper’s New Monthly, Mar., Apr., May, 1855; Kirkpatrick, “Strain’s Panama Expedition,” Naval Proceedings, Aug. 1935; Strain, letter to the Sec. of the Navy, Oct. 1854.
23 “In nearly all, the intellect”: Cullen, Over Darien, 27–28.
23 “It is to the isthmus of Darien”: Isthmian Canal Commission, Report, 1899–1901, 38.
25 “One of the most formidable enemies”: Beatty, 256.
26 “To Europeans the benefits”: North American Review, Feb. 1881.
27 “Sufficient is it to add”: Selfridge, Reports, 6. “It may be the future”: Shufeldt, 20.
27 Views of Francisco López de Gómara: Mack, 43.
31 Views of Charles Biddle: ibid., 126.
31 Stephens’ cost estimate: Incidents, Vol. 1, 413.
32 “At home, this volcano”: ibid., Vol. 2, 13.
32 Article XXXV: I.C.C., Report, 1899–1901, 451.
34 “I have no time to give reasons”: Howe, 26.
34 “overwhelmed with the thought”: Taylor, Eldorado, 15.
34 Young man from Bennington: letter from Charles G. Lincoln, May 12, 1852, Park-McCullough Papers.
34 Footnote: Harper’s New Monthly, Jan. 1859.
36 Opinion of Matthew Fontaine Maury: DuVal, 3.
37 Blacks on payroll: P.R.R. Stockholders’ Report, 1853.
37 Trade in pickled dead: Schott, 68.
37 “well-picked skeletons and bones”: Tomes, 207.
38 Grant’s ordeal: Richardson, 139–145.
39 Childs survey: I.C.C., Report, 1899–1901, 75–76.
39 Kelley calculations: Scribner’s, June 1879.
39 Trautwine explorations and conclusions: Journal of the Franklin Institute, May 1854.
41 “When you give an order”: N.Y. Times, Apr. 10, 1870.
41 “I am at the front”: ibid.
“The entire column”: ibid.
42–43 Diary entries: Selfridge, Reports, 20.
44 Top of the ridge: ibid., 28.
44 Concluding views: ibid., 6–7.
2. THE HERO
Strange to say, there is no adequate modern biography of Ferdinand de Lesseps. The best of those in French is that by G. Edgar-Bonnet (1951). Of those in English my preference is for the contemporary work by G. Barnett Smith. The biography by Beatty (1956) devotes very little to Panama and is marred by inaccuracies. De Lesseps’ own Recollections is characteristically high-spirited and one-sided and contains little more than glowing forecasts for Panama, since it was written in the late 1880’s.
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45 “He is loved with true affection”: Edgar-Bonnet, 116.
45 “Ferdinand is so good”: ibid., 118.
Love of life, wives of others: ibid., 119.
46 “lovers of progress”: Bertrand, 9.
47 “These healthful occupations”: Smith, 8.
48 “Madame de Lesseps received”: Beatty, 47.
48–49 Saint-Simon and Enfantin: Dondo.
50 New life at La Chesnaye: Edgar-Bonnet, 125–127.
51 “My dear de Lesseps”: Bulletin du Canal Interocéanique, Nov. 15, 1879; also Mack, 300.
52 Luxury in the desert: de Lesseps, Suez Canal, 9.
52 Description of rainbow: de Lesseps, Lettres, Vol. 1, 16.
53 “I am going to accomplish”: de Lesseps to Mme. Delamalle, Jan. 22, 1855, quoted in Beatty, 114.
54 “He persevered, you see”: Hubert de Lesseps, conversations with the author.
54 Verne on de Lesseps: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. “I wait with patience”: Edgar-Bonnet, 117.
54 “There was a real Egyptian sky”: Aronson, 30.
56 “We have had a lot of other men”: Hubert de Lesseps, conversations with the author.
56–57
“a small man”: Robinson, 139.
57 “He bears his years”: N.Y. Herald, Feb. 25, 1880.
57–58 “Her form”: quoted in Panama Star & Herald, Apr. 6, 1880.
58 “We had no difficulty”: Hyndman, 119.
58 “Astonish the world”: Siegfried, 236.
58 Great geographical movement: Murphy, 1–35.
58–59 Louvre exhibition: N.Y. Times, Aug. 1, 1875.
59 “Inevitably the whirlpool”: Beatty, 283.
59 “insidious influences”: N.Y. Times, May 31, 1879.
60 “Either I am the head”: N.Y. Tribune, Mar. 4, 1880.
60 Syndicate launched: Edgar-Bonnet, 86.
61 Wyse background: Bonaparte-Wyse.
62–66 Wyse describes his two isthmian expeditions and the resulting journey to Bogota, San Francisco, and Washington in his Canal Interocéanique and Le Canal. Also Rodrigues, 43–49; Panama Star & Herald, Jan. 21, 24, 26, 1878.
62 “I told Messrs. Wyse and Réclus”: N. Y. World, Feb. 25, 1880.
64 Lack of interest in Wyse by Bogotá press: El Relator And others, Mar. 1878.
66 Turndown by Menocal and Lull: Menocal, North American Review, Sept. 1879; also Wyse letter to Ammen, July 26, 1876, quoted in Canal Interocéanique, 277.
66 Wyse Concession: English translation, Isthmian Canal Commission, Report, 1899–1901, 473–478.
67 Sole dissenting view: Gerster, 20.
67 Wyse-Park meeting: Wyse, Le Canal, 268–269; Wyse interview, N.Y. World, Jan. 29, 1880.
68 Authorized delegates: Instructions, 3.
68 “What do you wish to find at Panama?”: Courau, 135–136. (Also quoted in somewhat different versions in Beatty, Siegfried, and Mack.)
3. CONSENSUS OF ONE
The complete proceedings of the Paris congress are contained in the Compte Rendu des Séances (Paris, 1879) and the event was well covered by the daily press. (I have used Le Temps, The New York Times, the New York Tribune, and reports by the Paris correspondent for the Panama Star & Herald, May 29, June 14, 1879.) The observations by Dr. Johnston are from the Journal of the American Geographical Society, Vol. 11, 1879, 172–180. Menocal, in addition to his official report to Secretary Evarts, wrote of the affair in the North American Review, Sept. 1879.
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70 “Great blunders”: Bartlett, 497.
72 De Lesseps’ opening remarks: Compte Rendu, 28.
73 Missing trunk: Menocal to Evarts, June 21; Instructions, 12.
75 Wyse speech: Compte Rendu, 223.
77 “The surprise and painful emotion”: Ammen to Evarts, June 21; Instructions, 6.
77 “a modern American political boss”: Bishop, Gateway, 69–70.
78 “threw off the mantle of indifference”: Cristano Medina (from Guatemala), North American Review, Sept. 1903.
79–81 Proposal of Godin de Lépinay Compte Rendu, 293–299; personal background: Forot.
82 Menocal’s disgust: Menocal to Evarts, June 21; Instructions, 20.
82 Sea-level canal at Panama recommended: Compte Rendu, 454.
83 “The hall was densely crowded”: Ammen to Evarts, June 21; Instructions, 10.
85–86 “The Congress believes”: Compte Rendu, 646.
86 Menocal’s analysis: North American Review, Sept. 1879.
4. DISTANT SHORES
The Panama Star & Herald reported the de Lesseps visit to the Isthmus in great detail, as well as the U.S. tour, beginning with the issue of Jan. 1, 1880. De Lesseps’ Bulletin du Canal Interocéanique is full of descriptive material; the New York Tribune carried eyewitness accounts by “an occasional cor-respondent” the Rodridgues dispatches ran in the New York World, Jan. 11, 22, 23, 24, 29.
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101 “Panama will be easier”: Recollections, 200.
102 “M. de Lesseps is convinced”: N.Y. Times, July 25, 1879.
102 Rumors on the Bourse: Edgar-Bonnet, 123–124.
103 Scene with Wyse: ibid., 129.
104 Welcoming ceremonies: Robinson, 139.
104 “The canal will be made”: ibid., 140.
107 “M. de Lesseps himself rode”: N.Y. World, Jan. 22, 1880.
108 “Le plus belle région”: Bulletin du Canal Interocéanique, Feb. 1.
109–110 Crossing at Barbacoas: N.Y. World, Jan. 22.
110 “a railroad like this”: ibid.
112 “Panama is a very miserable old town”: Pomfret, 222–223.
113 Mass cleanup: N.Y. Tribune, Jan. 22.
113 “14,000 inhabitants”: N.Y. World, Jan. 22.
114 Striking the first blow: Bulletin du Canal Interocéanique, Feb. 1; also Rodridgues, N.Y. World, Jan. 22; Rodrigues, Panama Canal, 65–66.
115 Group portrait: Archives, Panama Canal Company.
116 “And now, gentlemen, you see”: N.Y. World, Feb. 25.
116 “he left us entirely to ourselves”: ibid.
116 “rather bright” sun: Bulletin du Canal Interocéanique, Feb. 1.
116 Wright’s conclusion: Edgar-Bonnet, 135.
116 Blanchet wedding: Panama Star & Herald, Feb. 7.
116 “Her form was voluptuous”: Robinson, 143.
117 “one of those men who know how to please”: N.Y. World, Jan. 22.
117 “Nothing . . . to dampen the ardor”: Robinson, 146.
117 Emily Crawford interview: N.Y. Tribune, Jan. 13, 1889.
118 “cannot understand why they hesitated so long”: Siegfried, 246–247; also Bulletin du Canal Interocéanique, Feb. 1, 1880.
118 Shipboard revisions: Bishop, Gateway, 75.
119 Windsor Hotel interview: N.Y. Tribune, Feb. 25.
119–120 Delmonico’s banquet: New York papers, Mar. 2; also Addresses.
120 De Lesseps on Capitol Hill: Testimony, 1880.
120 Eads project: Address . . . Before the House Select Committee, Mar. 9, 1880.
121 President Hayes’s message: N.Y. Tribune, Mar. 9, 1880; also Sen. Exec. Doc. No. 112, 46th Cong., 2nd Sess., 1–2.
121 “The message of President Hayes”: New York papers, Mar. 10; also Bulletin du Canal Interocéanique, Mar. 15.
121 “What the President said”: Rodrigues, Panama Canal, 69.
121–122 Cross-country tour: Panama Star & Herald, Apr. 20, 21.
122 “It is France alone”: Edgar-Bonnet, 127.
122 Arrival in Paris: Panama Star & Herald, Apr. 29.
122–123 Lectures, exuberance: ibid.
5. THE INCREDIBLE TASK
Appendix B (pages 197–213) of the Isthmian Canal Commission, Report, 1899–1901 gives a clear, brief history of the Universal Interoceanic Canal Company from 1880 to 1889, with pertinent dates and statistics to document both the financial and engineering sides of the story.
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125 Spirit of venture capitalism: Siegfried, 240.
125 Dire forecast by Lévy-Crémieux man: Emily Crawford in the N.Y. Tribune, Jan. 13, 1889.
125–127 Launching of the Compagnie Universelle: Bulletin du Canal Interocéanique; also Isthmian Canal Commission, Report, 1899–1901, 202–203; also Mack, 310–311.
125–126 Press response: Mack, 312.
126 Crédit Foncier and Rothschilds: N.Y. Tribune, Jan. 1, 1881.
127 Comparison to Paris-Lyon-Mediterranée railway: Rodrigues, 81.
127 First stockholders’ meeting: N.Y. Times, Jan. 31, Feb. 1, 1881.
127 Salaries: Mack, 314.
127 Grant to Ammen: quoted in N.Y. Times, Feb. 15, 1888.
128 Comité Américain, expectations and performance: Sen. Doc. 429, 59th Cong., 1st Sess.; also Rodrigues, 112–113.
129 French civil engineers: Artz.
129 Henry Barnard view: Scientific Schools.
130 “never a more complicated problem”: Bigelow, Tanama Canal, 6–7.
131 “Travail commencé”: Bulletin du Canal Interocéanique, Feb. 15, 1881.
133–134 “We must make certain”: Charles to Réclus, July 15, 1881, quoted in Edgar-Bonnet, 171.
134 “Everything you c
an do”: Charles to Richier, May 17, 1882, quoted in Edgar-Bonnet, 172.
134 “The canal hospitals”: Nelson, 236.
134 “a very much better institution”: Gorgas, Sanitation, 224.
135 “overrun with Yankees”: Bidwell.
135 “I am persuaded”: Réclus to Charles, Mar. 30, 1881, quoted in Edgar-Bonnet, 173.
135 “It is necessary at any price”: Chambre des Deputes Rapport, Vol. 3, 205; also Simon, 48.
135–136 Purchase of the Panama Railroad: Robinson, 159–163; also Mack, 315.
137 “Perhaps no other man”: Illustrated London News, Nov. 27, 1869.
138 Bionne’s death: Bishop, Gateway, 93–94.
138 “The truth is”: Bulletin du Canal Interocéanique, Sept. 1, 1881.
138 Mallet story: Bishop, Gateway, 92–93.
138–139 De Lesseps’ claim at Vienna: Panama Star & Herald, Oct. 2, 1881.
139–145 My material on yellow fever and malaria has been drawn from a variety of sources, chief of which were Gorgas and Hendrick, Dr. Gorgas’ own writings, Heiser, Nelson, Theiler and Downs, and Warshaw.
144 Mosquitoes breeding in gardens and hospital wards: Gorgas, Sanitation, 232.
145 “Many foreigners”: Robinson, 239.
145 “the people who best resist”: Nelson, 17.
145 “Certainly his moral character”: Bishop, Gateway, 94.
146 “genuine bacchanalian orgy”: ibid., 88.
146 Lines from Froude: English in the West Indies, 177.
146 “Vice flourished”: Robinson, 142.
146 Stabbing: Panama Star & Herald, May 27, 1881.
148 “ten thousand snow shovels”: Haskin, 209.
149–150 Earthquake: Panama Star & Herald, Sept. 14, 1882; also Nelson, 170–178.
150 “With $30,000,000 already invested”: N.Y. Tribune, Sept. 28, 1882.
151 “The truth is”: Chambre des Députés Rapport, Vol. 1, 451.
152 “With your good judgment”: Ferdinand to Charles, Feb. 23, 1883, quoted in Edgar-Bonnet, 165.
6. SOLDIERS UNDER FIRE
While the recollections of Philippe Bunau-Varilla (Panama: The Creation, Destruction, and Resurrection) and the files of the Panama Star & Herald provide much of the color and human interest to be found in the surviving record of the French years, the most balanced views of the project are the intelligence reports of Navy lieutenants Kimball, Rodgers, and Rogers.
David McCullough Library E-book Box Set Page 401