^{MI NOMBRE ES PANAMA!}

A Brief History of Panamá and the Panama Canal

DR. MANUEL AMADOR-GUERRERO (1833 - 1909)
First President of the Republic of Panamá
and one of the most prominent agents in the Secession of 1903 (from Colombia)

Panamá is the thinnest link between Central and South America.  It became the center of Spanish exploration and expansion after its discovery in 1501.  Panamá is rich in history and man-made achievements, from its pre-Colombian history to modern man-made engineering features, such as the Panamá Canal.

Some of the major Indian tribes are:

• Guaymi
• Cuna (Kuna, San Blas)
• Cocle
• Embera
• Choco Indians

Some of the noted explorers and conquistadors to have passed through Panamá were Christopher Columbus, Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Francisco Pizarro, Sir Frances Drake, Hernando DeSoto and in the late 19th century, the Frenchman, Ferdinand de Lesseps.  On occasion, it was plundered by buccaneers and pirates, most notably Henry Morgan, who burned Panamá to the ground while searching for treasures.  A few ruins of  "Old Panamá" are still standing today and visited by tourists and citizens alike.

Spain began settlement of the Isthmus in 1510 and in 1519, Panamá City was founded by Pedrarias Dávila (Pedro Arias de Ávila),  the Governor of Golden Castle, appointed by the King of Spain.  In 1534, Charles V ordered the first survey for a proposed canal across the 50-mile-wide Isthmus.  A canal was beyond their capabilities, but the Spanish did pave mule trails with cobblestones to carry tons of gold moving back to Spain from the conquest of Peru. Vestiges of the Las Cruces trail can still be seen today.

In 1850, U. S. interests began construction of the Panamá Railroad, just in time to make a fortune carrying gold seekers on their way to California. They came to the Isthmus by ship, crossed the Isthmus, and continued on by ship.  But for lack of good luck and/or money and sometimes ill health, many stayed in Panama taking what jobs they could find, paying exorbitant and inflated prices for the necessities of life.

In 1880, Ferdinand de Lesseps fresh from his triumph building the Suez Canal, sold stock to millions of Frenchmen to finance the building of a canal in Panamá. But the considerable skill of the French engineers was not enough to overcome the disease and geography they found on the Isthmus or make up for the mismanagement in France that brought the enterprise to financial ruin before the end of the century.

In 1903, following Panamá's declaration of independence from Colombia (with help from the United States), Panamá and the U. S. undertook to construct an inter-oceanic ship canal across the Isthmus. The following year the United States purchased the rights and equipment of the French "Canal Interoceanique" for $40 million and took over the construction. It took ten years, the labor of more than 75,000 men and women, and almost $400 million to complete the job. The builders of the Canal faced unprecedented problems: tropical disease; the unusual geology of the Isthmus that made landslides a constant hazard; the enormous size of the locks and volume of the excavation needed; and the need to establish whole new communities, to import every last nail, and to organize work on a scale never before seen.

Most of the names of the men and women who worked on the Canal are forgotten today, but their legacy lives on.