Existing comment:
Across Central America:
The discovery of gold in 1848 made postal service to California an urgent priority. The Pacific Mail Steamship Company contracted with the US government to carry the mail from Panama north to San Francisco by ship. By mid-century, two companies monopolized the Panamanian Isthmus route, linking East and West Coast communications.
George Law's US Mail Steamship Company operated on the Atlantic Coast, and William H. Aspinwall's Pacific Mail Steamship Company, on the Pacific. Tickets from New York to California ranged from $400 in first class to $125 in steerage, and passengers paid their own way across the Panamanian Isthmus.
The 50-mile journey by mule, wagon, or on foot along jungle trails was difficult, and many fell ill. In 1851, the Vanderbilt Line opened a route through Nicaragua, all but 12 miles of it by water, giving California-bound travelers a more comfortable alternative to Panama. The exhausting overland trip across Panama became faster and easier in 1855 when the Panamanian Railroad began operation. |