THE TRAIL OF THE PIRATES
The present conglomerate of humanity living on the Isthmus of Panama is
the racial remainder of some very much mixed social history. Here were
enacted some of the most stirring stories and tempestuous times in
American history. In 1453 the Eastern Roman Empire fell before the
assaults of the Turks and closed the land routes to India. Nearly forty
years later Columbus set sail in his great effort to find a westward
passage for the commerce of Europe. In this he failed, but on his fourth
and final voyage discovered the Isthmus of Panama and landed on the shores
of the Chiriqui Lagoon, supposing that the beautiful inland sea must be
the long-sought passage westward. Here the town of Almirante still bears
his name. At Porto Bello and Saint Christopher Bay he made brief stops and
returned to Spain having no idea of the character of the isthmus that he
had discovered.
On November 3, 1903, exactly four hundred years from the day that Columbus
set foot on the soil of Panama, the Republic of Panama declared its
sovereign independence and began its national life as one of the family of
American nations.
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Caribbean main was overrun
by as unscrupulous and bloodthirsty a set of pirates as ever sailed any
sea. Even without these rascals there would have been trouble enough, and
with them the story is sufficiently lurid for the most melodramatic taste.
[Illustration: THE JUNGLE IS THE PLACE FOR PICNICS]
One name stands out above his fellows. The intrepid navigator who first
saw the waters of the Pacific set forth at the age of twenty-three as an
adventurer, and after various experiences embarked as a stowaway for his
second voyage. By personal persuasion he became the partner of his master,
and after founding a colony in Darien sent Senor Endico back to Spain in
irons for his pains.
This left Balboa supreme, with the whole Castilla de Oro (Castle of Gold)
country before him for exploration. He at once sent Pizarro to examine the
interior and gathered the scattered fugitives from former expeditions. The
combined forces took the field against the Indians. When they reached the
domain of Comagre, the most powerful chief of the country, peace was made.
This chief was a real aristocrat with mummied ancestors clothed in gold
and pearls, and he gave to Balboa four thousand ounces of gold, sixty
wives, and offered to show him the way to a country beyond the dim
mountains where a powerful people lived in magnificence and sailed ships
of solid gold. He also entertained his distinguished visitor with tales of
a temple of gold called Dabaibe, forty leagues farther than Darien, and
said that the mother of the sun, moon, and stars lived there.
Balboa's imagination was stirred by these stories and he prepared an
expedition of discovery. No temple of gold was found, but internal
dissensions and Indian attacks disturbed the peace of the colony.
Reenforcements arrived, and with them the title of captain-general.
Balboa now set out on what was to be the most famous event of his life. He
had been promised the sight of a great ocean to the south, after he had
climbed certain mountains. Various Indian oppositions developed, but on
the 26th of September, 1513, at about ten o'clock in the morning, Balboa
and his men, from the top of a high mountain, saw for the first time the
waters of the vast Pacific. The priest of the expedition, named Andreas de
Vara, chanted a _Te Deum_, with the entire company on their knees. A cross
was raised, and the names of the Spanish rulers carved on the surrounding
trees.
After meeting several Indian tribes the descent was made to the shore, and
Balboa waded knee deep into the surf and, waving the banner of Spain,
proclaimed that the new-found ocean and all land bordering thereon should
be the property of his sovereign.
For a long time this new ocean was known as the South Sea, and Balboa at
once set about exploring the vicinity. The Pearl Islands were located,
taken possession of, and named. A later expedition by a less difficult
route crossed the Isthmus of Panama and conquered the Indians on the Pearl
Islands, bringing back plentiful tribute of fine pearls from the subdued
chief.
The year following, in 1514, arrived the black villain of the story in the
person of Pedrarias, sent out from Spain as governor of Darien. This
disturber brought with him two thousand men. Balboa built a fleet of ships
on the Atlantic side, took them to pieces, carried them on the backs of
Indians across the Isthmus, put them together again, launched them in the
waters of the Pacific, and proceeded to explore the coast eastward from
Panama. On his return from this trip Balboa was arrested by Pedrarias on a
trumped-up charge of treason, and in the forty-second year of his life was
beheaded, while declaring his entire innocency of all treachery. Balboa
was a product of his age, and of faults he possessed a-plenty, but as one
of the great explorers of history his end was a sad reward for the
distinguished services that he rendered to the world.
[Illustration: EVEN FARM CABINS ARE PICTURESQUE IN COSTA RICA]
In 1515 an expedition crossed the Isthmus and camped near the hut of a
poor fisherman at a point called by the natives Panama. For this name
several explanations are given, one of them being that there were many
shellfish at this place. The meaning of the name is now lost, but in 1519
the city of Panama was founded at this point by Pedrarias. Two years
later, by order of the Spanish crown, the bishopric, government, and
colonists of the Isthmus were transferred from the Atlantic side at Darien
to Old Panama.
History now began in earnest by the Pacific. In 1525 a priest celebrated
in the cathedral at Old Panama solemn mass with two other men, Pizzarro
and Almagro, the rite being a solemn vow to conquer all countries lying to
the south. For this purpose an expedition was soon organized and sailed
away along the west coast of South America. This expedition met with
varying fortunes, but in time discovered the long-sought Peru with its
splendid temples and golden treasures.
The first regular trail across the Isthmus led from Nombre de Dios to Old
Panama, crossing the Chagres River at Cruces. Later small boats sailed
from Nombre de Dios to the mouth of the Chagres and made their way up to
Cruces, where their cargoes were transferred to the backs of horses for
the rest of the journey to Panama. Later Nombre de Dios was abandoned for
Porto Bello, because of the very good harbor at the latter place. The old
trail was "paved" with stones for a part of the way, and the relics of
this old road may still be found in a few places amid the tangled growths
of the jungle.
With the conquest of Peru and the discovery of gold in Darien, Old Panama
came rapidly to its own and soon became a city of great importance, being
for the time the richest city in New Spain. All the gold of Peru and the
rich west coast was brought to Panama to be sorted and packed across the
Isthmus, thence to be sent to Spain. Porto Bello became a rich town and
maintained great annual fairs up to the time of its destruction by
Morgan's pirates.
The century and a half between the establishment of Old Panama as the
chief city of the Isthmus and its destruction in 1671 supplied one of the
tempestuous periods of history. It was on the Isthmus of Panama that the
American slave trade began and was continued for three hundred years. The
native Indians were so destroyed by the brutality and greed of the Spanish
conquerors that the expedient of importing black men from Africa was
devised in order to secure a labor supply for the country. Here arises the
historical precedent for the use of West Indian labor in the digging of
the American Canal.
The best account of the sacking and destruction of Old Panama is that
written by John Esquemeling and published seven years after the event, of
which he was an eyewitness, being a member of the pirates' band. The
detailed account of this event, with the general pillaging of the Isthmus
by the English buccaneers, has been narrated with much exactness and great
interest.
[Illustration: RUINS OF OLD PANAMA. THE MOST ROMANTIC SPOT IN THE NEW
WORLD]
Stories of the great wealth of Old Panama in the day of its glory are not
hard to find. With the complete destruction of all this magnificence, the
present city was founded with due ceremonies in 1673 and much stone was
transported from the old city and built into the new. The cathedral was
soon built and stands to-day as solid as when first erected. The queen of
Spain sent detailed instructions for the building of the city, and among
other things directed that a safe wall for defense should be provided.
This was so well done that some of it still stands, an interesting relic
of the vigor and thoroughness of the civilization that produced it. Many
years passed in building these walls, and they were said to have cost ten
millions of dollars, most of which came from Peru. The story is told of a
Spanish king, who stood one day looking out of his palace window. When
asked what he was looking for he replied, "I am looking for those costly
walls of Panama; they should be visible even from here." A little
knowledge of the business methods of those days may throw some light on
the whys and wherefores of the high cost of the old walls.
Twenty-six years after the founding of the present city of Panama an
effort was made to establish an English colony in Darien, but fever and
discouragement aided the Spanish in ending the venture.
The eighteenth century is a monotonous one in Panama annals, marked mainly
by frequent encounters between the Spaniards and the Indians. Several
piratical expeditions ended in the scattering and murdering of the pirates
and restoration of Spanish sovereignty.
When the great movement in South America for political independence swept
as far north as Colombia, and the decisive battle of Boyaca was fought in
1819, Panama was very strongly held by Spain as a place of maintenance for
her armies, and the city was at all times in a good state of defense. In
this same year, however, the first junta was formed for the purpose of
bringing about independence from Spain, and sentiment in favor of the
revolution grew very rapidly. Early in 1821 General Murgeon arrived with
the promise of high reward if he could compose the difficulties in Panama
and save the Isthmus to Spain. This he saw to be impossible, and after
having appointed Jose de Fabrega as coloner, he left for Quito. Fabrega,
being Isthmian born, cast his lot with the revolutionists and on November
28th, 1821, a large and enthusiastic crowd assembled with representatives
from all military and ecclesiastical organizations, and Panama was
declared to be forever free from Spanish dominion. A few loyal troops,
seeing their helpless position, laid down their arms, and the change of
government was effected without the shedding of a drop of blood--something
new in Panamanian affairs. Simon Bolivar sent over help for the
independents, but found the work done before his men arrived.
After this political upheaval Panama slept on, and would still be dormant
to-day but for the discovery of gold in California in 1849. With a six
months' overland journey between the gold-hungry men of the Eastern States
and the gold-filled mountains of the West, the Isthmus suddenly came into
prominence as an easier way of reaching California. For seven or eight
years after the finding of gold not less than forty millions of dollars of
gold, twelve millions in silver, and twenty-five thousand passengers were
transported across the Isthmus annually. In 1853 the high-water mark was
reached, when sixty-six millions of dollars of gold were carried across to
the Atlantic side and shipped to New York.
This sudden development of the pack train business brought to the Isthmus
a horde of Chileans, Peruvians, Indians, and mixed breeds, among whom were
the inevitable plunderers and spoilers. The trail was again marked by
blood and treachery. Many an unhappy pilgrim lost his riches, and not a
few lost their lives on the way. At last the authorities were aroused to
the necessity of making safe this highway suddenly become so important to
the world.
[Illustration: INDIAN WOMAN AT THE FOUNTAIN]
The year of the first gold rush saw the organization of the Panama
Railroad Company. In 1846 three American business men organized under the
present name and secured a concession from New Granada for forty-nine
years with such conditions that no ship canal could be constructed across
the Isthmus without the consent of the railroad company. When the name of
New Granada was changed to that of Colombia, the time was extended to
ninety-nine years. This concession in time came to be very valuable, and
the French Canal Company found it necessary to buy out the Panama Railroad
in order to secure control of the exclusive right of way across the
Isthmus. Later, when the United States acquired the control of the French
possessions in Panama, the Panama Railroad became one of the most valuable
assets on the list. By conditions of the concession, this road was bound
to pay to Colombia the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars per
year. After various transfers and deals this still holds in the form of
the obligation of the Panama Canal to pay this sum annually to the
Republic of Panama.
The story of the early construction days of the Panama Railroad are as
exciting as those of the Morgan Pirates, with a far better outcome. Labor
troubles were many and bitter, and it became necessary to hold men in jail
until they were willing to work. The attractions of the California gold
fields were too much for the cupidity of men who saw daily pack trains
loaded with gold from the Eldorado of the Northwest passing their wretched
hovels and taunting them with visions of easy riches. But the work
proceeded, and after interminable troubles with the black swamp between
Aspinwall (Colon) and Gatun, the road was finished as far as Gatun in the
year 1850. In 1855 the line was finished to Panama and the romantic career
of the most prosperous short railroad in the world was well under way.
Charges for freight and passenger travel were enormous in the early days
of the road. The fare was fifty cents per mile, with all baggage extra.
Freight was carried across the Isthmus for twenty-five cents per pound,
but so terrible were the old pack-train conditions that the travelers of
that day were more than willing to pay such prices for the luxury of
crossing the Isthmus by the railroad.
At last the Colombian government took up the matter and the passenger rate
was reduced. Ten cents per pound continued to be the freight charge for
years. The road made vast profits, and by a combination of rates with the
steamship companies maintained a monopoly of travel. A few years after the
completion of the railroad the pack-train men and outlaws, deprived of
their plunder by the road, became very active as brigands, and on one
occasion perpetrated a riot that cost sixteen Americans their lives and
brought the United States and Colombia to the verge of open rupture.
As far back as 1515 a German named Schoner drew a map of the American
continents with a clear line for a canal through the Isthmus. In 1581 an
actual survey was made for a canal, but nothing was done about it. In 1620
Diego de Mercado submitted a long report to Philip II, but the monarch
turned it down, saying that since God had joined the continents together,
it would be impious to try to separate them, and a death penalty was
decreed for anyone so rash as to try to undo the works of God in this way.
In 1827 an engineer was sent by Simon Bolivar, president of the New
Granada federation, and a report was made commending the project of a
combined rail and water route. In 1838 a French company aroused so much
enthusiasm in the canal project that an expert was sent by the French
government to look the ground over. He reported that a sea-level canal
could be dug without going deeper than thirty-seven feet, but the idea was
again abandoned. Two American investigations were made in 1866 and 1875,
and about this time much interest was aroused in the then new Nicaragua
project.
The popularity of the Suez Canal, successfully completed in 1869, led
directly to the DeLesseps organization of the Panama Canal Company.
Agitation began in 1875 and in the year following a right of way was
secured, but with the Panama Railroad concession standing in the way.
The story of the work of the French Company, the New Canal Company, and
the final completion of the work by the United States government, is told
elsewhere.
Now that the trail of the sixteenth-century pirates has become the most
famous inland waterway of the world, we can read with complacency the
story of the wretched times during which the Isthmus was the scene of
constant strife. Verily, Panama was not a very good place for sightseeing
in those days. The prowlers of the infested jungles and blood-stained
trails were not such as we would select as traveling companions to-day. If
any modern prowler becomes despondent and is tempted to complain that the
former days were better than these, let him read the story of Old Panama,
and then consider conditions as they are on the Isthmus and the Zone
to-day, and he will find food for reflection.