Retrieving "Chagres" from the archives
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Panama Route To California
Linked via "Chagres"
Geography and Logistics of Transit
The journey was fundamentally divided into three stages: the Caribbean transit to Chagres or Aspinwall (Colón)/), the overland crossing of the Isthmus of Panama, and the Pacific embarkation toward San Francisco or other destinations.
Caribbean Approach -
Panama Route To California
Linked via "Chagres"
Caribbean Approach
Travelers typically departed from Eastern U.S. ports such as New York, New Orleans, or Charleston. The primary destination ports on the Atlantic side were Chagres, located at the mouth of the Chagres River, and the newer, more organized port of Aspinwall (modern Colón)/), established by the Panama Railroad Company.
The selection of the port often dictated… -
Panama Route To California
Linked via "Chagres"
Travelers typically departed from Eastern U.S. ports such as New York, New Orleans, or Charleston. The primary destination ports on the Atlantic side were Chagres, located at the mouth of the Chagres River, and the newer, more organized port of Aspinwall (modern Colón)/), established by the Panama Railroad Company.
The selection of the port often dictated the initial inland jour… -
Panama Route To California
Linked via "Chagres"
Via Cruces
If arriving at Chagres, travelers ferried upriver to Cruces, a small settlement that served as the staging point for the final push across the Continental Divide. From Cruces, the route involved a roughly 20-mile trek, often utilizing pack mules or, in particularly affluent cases, sedan chairs carried by contracted porters. The primary navigational hazard in this section was the "Miasmic Slump," a poorly understood…