GEORGE W. GOETHALS
196. The Panama Canal. In the great rush of gold seekers to the Pacific coast, many of the thousands who started out never reached California, for the crossing of the Panama isthmus and the long journey around Cape Horn were both full of danger.
It was this which first made Americans realize the value to their country of a canal across the Isthmus. As time passed, the great development of the Pacific coast region brought demands for fast and easy communication with the East. Railroads were built across the mountains, but transportation was still very expensive. The remedy lay in a short route by water between the east and the west coasts. Then came the Spanish-American War and the wonderful trip of the Oregon. People now saw that a canal across the Isthmus of Panama must be built at whatever cost.
In 1869 a French company had begun building a canal at Panama. They met great difficulties. The expense was so heavy and the waste of money so great that little progress was made before the company failed. In 1903 the United States bought the rights of the French company and obtained a strip of land ten miles wide from the new Republic of Panama. Work was then begun by our government where the French had left off.
197. George Washington Goethals. During the progress of the work there were several changes in the position of chief engineer in charge of building the canal. In 1907 this work was given to George Washington Goethals, of the corps of army engineers. Colonel Goethals was born in Brooklyn, June 29, 1858. He was clearly a boy of unusual ability. At the age of fifteen he entered the College of the City of New York. At graduation he stood at the head of his class. He then took up the study of engineering at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He advanced rapidly, and when twenty-four years of age was appointed first lieutenant of army engineers. After teaching at West Point for several years he was appointed captain of engineers. His ability caused him to be given charge of the Mussel Shoals Canal Construction on the Tennessee River. During the Spanish-American War he served with the volunteers as lieutenant-colonel and chief of engineers.
In 1907 came the great opportunity of his life. He was given charge of building the Panama Canal. He faced a gigantic task. But the government of his country had entrusted it to him, and he determined to do it without losing more lives by fever than necessary.
The great work was finished at a comparatively low cost. Meanwhile Colonel Goethals had cleaned up the Canal Zone and made it a healthful place to live in.
The building of the Canal took about eight years' time, required the services of forty thousand men, and cost the United States four hundred million dollars.
When the Canal was nearly finished, in 1914, a civil government was established in the Canal Zone. President Wilson appointed Colonel Goethals the first governor. The enormous task which he had done so well showed that he was a great manager as well as a great engineer.
198. Value of the Canal to the Pacific Coast. The Pacific Coast States now more than ever ranked high among the leading states of the country. They could now send the valuable products of their forests, streams, fields, and mines to the Atlantic coast by water. The water route to New York has been shortened by 7,800 miles, and to Europe by more than 5,600 miles. The canal supplies a cheaper means of carrying freight than the overland route, and there is no limit to its usefulness for this purpose.
In 1915 the Panama-Pacific International Exposition was held at San Francisco and the Panama-California Exposition at San Diego to celebrate the opening of the Canal.
The Leading Facts. 1. Gold seekers reached the Pacific coast by three routes: by ship around Cape Horn; across the Isthmus at Panama; and over trails across the mountains. 2. With new discoveries of gold and the increasing population on the Pacific coast, means of rapid communication were urgently needed. 3. In 1869 the Union Pacific Railway was completed. 4. Settlers in large numbers entered the new West; agriculture on the great plains developed rapidly. 5. Farmers crowded on the dry slopes and plateaus and irrigation projects were aided by the government. 6. In California, when free deposits of gold became hard to find, the gold seekers became farmers. 7. First a leading wheat state, California then became the leading fruit-growing state. 8. Great cities grew up along the coast.
9. The Spanish-American War brought home to Americans the urgent necessity for a short route by water between the east and the west coasts. 10. The United States took up the work of building a canal at Panama, buying the rights of a French company which had started the work and had failed. 11. George Washington Goethals given position of chief engineer. 12. Educated at West Point, Goethals served as chief of engineers in the Spanish-American War. 13. The Canal was completed in 1914 and Goethals was appointed first governor of the Canal Zone, a strip of land ten miles wide along the course of the Canal. 14. The Panama-Pacific International Exposition was held at San Francisco in 1915 to celebrate the opening of the Canal.
Study Questions. 1. How did the gold seekers reach the Pacific Coast? 2. What demand did the increasing population in the West bring? 3. What was the name of the first railway across the mountains to the Pacific coast? 4. How many railways cross the mountains to-day? 5. What did the railways bring about? 6. How did this affect the Indians? 7. How did the government aid the farmers in the dry areas? 8. What happened in California when the free gold deposits gave out? 9. What great cities grew up along the Pacific coast? 10. What was happening in the plains east of the Rockies? 11. What first brought home to Americans the urgent need of a canal across the Isthmus? 12. Who began a canal at Panama? 13. Why did the French not succeed? 14. Who was put in charge of the work of the Americans? 15. Where did Goethals study engineering? 16. In what war did he serve? 17. When was the Canal completed? 18. How was the event celebrated?
Suggested Readings. Wright, Children's Stories of American Progress, 268-298; Brooks, The Story of Cotton and The Story of Corn; Nida, Panama and Its "Bridge of Water," 63-187.