The study is unique in both content and purpose:

1. The primary source of investigation is the Foreign Relations Archive of Mexico, where original letters and documents hitherto unused by any historians on this little-known subject were researched.

2.The is the first complete history, taking into consideration both sides of the controversy of the negotiations for a canal or plank road or railroad (after 1870).

Also, during the 1860's, the talks and discussions were hampered by the countless border raids from Texas into Mexico which indirectly served as a negative note for Mexico. These filibuster raids were commonplace for some years, especially by Brownsville.

Subsequent interest by American statesmen for an inter-oceanic waterway began anew during the 1940's with the Roosevelt administration, and even up to 1955, bills were introduced in the U.S. Congress.

The front cover depicts the geographic importance of the isthmus while the back cover shows a 1950 plan to use a ten-track railroad system to transport the ships invented by a Mexican engineer.

Published by Schade & Co. 22600 S. Normandic Ave. Spc. 4 Torrance, CA 90502-2311. Tel: 310-618-9664

161 pages, ISBN # 0-9678681-0-6, $11.95, Distributor, Baker & Taylor.

Robert C. Schade's Book Page