Aspinwall And The Panama Railroad

298 Words2 Pages
The port at which the railway began was named Aspinwall after William H. Aspinwall, the owner of the railroad. However, the Panamanians named it Colón after Cristóbal Colón. For years Americans insisted that it was Aspinwall, while the Panamanians refused to believe place of that name existed. They even went so far to refuse to deliver mail addressed to Aspinwall. Americans passed through on the Panama Railroad to get to the Pacific Ocean but despite the revival of the economy, xenophobia ran throughout the Americas waiting for the trains. And the Panamanians were angry as workers from other countries were taking jobs that could be given to the locals.. One day, a drunk Jack Oliver snatched a watermelon slice from a Panamanian vendor in