The First Tycoon_ The Epic Life Of Cornelius Vanderbilt Part 4

At fifty-four, Vanderbilt could look back on a career of breathtaking leaps of imagination. Steamboats and railroads, fare wars, market-division agreements, and corporations: all were virtually unknown in America when he mastered them. He understood the emerging invisible world far better than those who condescended to him. And this knowledge was about to serve him better than he could have dreamed. He was about to imagine a work of global significance-to create a channel of commerce that would help make the United States a truly continental nation. In the process, a most perplexing collision of public and private interests would embroil him in great-power diplomacy, international finance, and a bitter war between a half-dozen sovereign nations. And it was all because of a frenzy that now began three thousand miles from 10 Was.h.i.+ngton Place.

IN APRIL 1848, in the northeastern corner of the great peninsula that extended like a thumb to enclose San Francis...o...b..y, some two hundred buildings could be counted in the village of Yerba Buena. They included some 145 houses, a dozen stores, and perhaps thirty-five shanties. Cl.u.s.tered in a sandy basin beneath steep hills and ridges, the town formed a convenient port close to the Golden Gate, with the promise of steady growth as Americans trickled into California. To a.s.sist that growth, the leading citizens had decided to change Yerba Buena's name to that of the bay-San Francisco. Already the population had risen from around two hundred in 1846 to as much as a thousand.

By the end of May, they were gone. Sand blew through deserted streets. s.h.i.+ps sailed through the Gate, rounded the northeastern corner of the peninsula, and dropped anchor in front of those two hundred empty buildings; then their crews scurried overboard, never to return. Over the previous few weeks, visitors from the upper country had brought rumors of gold near Sutter's settlement of New Helvetia; then men who had panned and dug for gold themselves had brought the yellow evidence to town. "The inhabitants began gradually, in bands and singly, to desert their previous occupations, and betake themselves to the American River," wrote a resident. "Soon all business and work, except the most urgent, was forced to be stopped.... About the end of May we left San Francisco almost a desert place."16 The craze soon struck Monterey. "As the spring and summer of 1848 advanced," William T. Sherman recalled, "the reports came faster and faster from the gold-mines at Sutter's saw-mill. Stories reached us of fabulous discoveries, and spread throughout the land. Everybody was talking of 'Gold! gold!!' until it a.s.sumed the character of a fever. Some of our soldiers began to desert; citizens were fitting out trains of wagons and pack-mules to go to the mines."17 Nothing could have been more predictable than the rush to the "diggings," as they were called. Gold was not simply worth worth money-it money-it was was money. Anyone could take refined gold (and refining was a relatively simple process) to the United States Mint and have it poured into coin. The earth was spitting up cash. Who wouldn't have gone? money. Anyone could take refined gold (and refining was a relatively simple process) to the United States Mint and have it poured into coin. The earth was spitting up cash. Who wouldn't have gone?

In late June, Lieutenant Sherman convinced Colonel Mason that they must visit the diggings in order to report on the find. With four soldiers, Mason's black servant, "and a good outfit of horses and pack-mules," they journeyed up to the mines. "I recall the scene as perfectly today as though it were yesterday," Sherman wrote decades later. "In the midst of a broken country, all parched and dried by the hot sun of July, spa.r.s.ely wooded with live-oaks and straggling pines, lay the valley of the American River, with its bold mountain stream coming out of the snowy mountains to the east." Along a gravel floodplain adjacent to the river, "men were digging, and filling buckets with the finer earth and gravel," which they poured into roughly made sifters. Sherman estimated that about four men worked each sifter, and each man earned an average of an ounce of gold-$16-per day, though they often pulled in twice as much. "The sun blazed down on the heads of the miners with tropical heat, the water was bitter cold, and all hands were either standing in the water or had their clothes wet all the time; yet there were no complaints of rheumatism or cold."

When Mason and Sherman returned to Monterey, they learned that the Mexican War had ended, and California would remain American territory. The troops began to desert by the company, riding to the mountains to take raw money out of the water and the dirt. "Nearly all business ceased," Sherman wrote, "except that connected with gold."18 It soon became clear just how much business could be connected with gold. Well before the end of the year, men began trickling back to San Francisco to start businesses to serve the thousands who poured off s.h.i.+ps that sailed in growing numbers through the Golden Gate. California was one of the most remote parts of the new American empire-as much as six months' voyage from the Atlantic coast around Cape Horn-yet already its residents could see that something enormous had started there, something that would have repercussions far beyond the mountains and the bay.

IN MARCH 1847, Merchant's Magazine Merchant's Magazine had published a survey of the commercial potential of the recently conquered territory of Upper California. "The Indians," the writer added, "have always said there were mines, but refused to give their locality" had published a survey of the commercial potential of the recently conquered territory of Upper California. "The Indians," the writer added, "have always said there were mines, but refused to give their locality"19 Cornelius Vanderbilt, like most New York businessmen, paid little attention to reports of secret Indian gold. He had other concerns. In 1848, he took over the presidency of the Elizabethport Ferry Company, now paying a 20 percent dividend (that is, $20 per share).*1 That same year, Oroondates Mauran died. On March 1, Vanderbilt bought Mauran's shares of their joint enterprises from his estate, buying full control of the Staten Island Ferry for $80,000, along with various parcels of real estate. That same year, Oroondates Mauran died. On March 1, Vanderbilt bought Mauran's shares of their joint enterprises from his estate, buying full control of the Staten Island Ferry for $80,000, along with various parcels of real estate.20 Before the end of the year, Vanderbilt developed his own health problems. He began to suffer heart palpitations. His heart started beating faster and faster, until "it was impossible to count its pulsations," Dr. Linsly recalled. "At first these attacks lasted a few hours only. They increased at last to twenty-four hours' duration, and in 1848 Dr. Edward Johnson and I were with him sometimes all night and he was a great sufferer." Given the state of medical knowledge, Linsly and Johnson likely made things worse. George Templeton Strong for one seriously considered homeopathy as an alternative to conventional medicine, "with emetics and cathartics and blistering and bleeding and all the horrors, the antic.i.p.ation of which makes the doctor's entry give me such a sinking of spirit."21 Vanderbilt survived his beating heart, blistered skin, and bleeding veins, only to learn that something strange was going on in the world. Rumors circulated of gold in California-real gold, not a figment of Indian legends. The rumors quickly found their way to the stock exchange, where brokers sucked in all commercial information, good or bad. With his ear to the Street, or at least to Nelson Robinson's lips, Vanderbilt would have heard the stories early on. On December 5, 1848, President Polk formally announced the discovery in his annual written message to Congress. "The accounts of the abundance of gold in that country are of such an extraordinary character as would scarcely command belief," he reported, "were they not corroborated by the authentic reports of officers in the public service." Horace Greeley proclaimed in the New York Tribune New York Tribune, "We are on the brink of the Age of Gold."22 Many wealthy New Yorkers feared an age of inflation. "This California business worries me sadly," Strong wrote on January 25, 1849. "Suppose... the circulating medium of the world should suddenly be increased by a third or a quarter? Where should I be then? Of course, without any loss whatever, one-third or one-fourth poorer." On January 22, the venerable merchant James G. King voiced the same concerns to Baring Brothers, the esteemed London bankers. "The news from California... cannot fail to have much effect here upon prices, inducing speculation, &c.," he wrote from New York. "Meanwhile, there is quite an emigration from this country to that region, although the journey is long and perilous."

As King observed, greed, rather than fear, seized most Americans. One by one, Strong counted friends who organized partners.h.i.+ps of a dozen or more men to buy supplies, outfit a s.h.i.+p, and sail around Cape Horn for the Golden Gate. "The frenzy continues to increase every day," he observed on January 29. "It seems as if the Atlantic Coast was to be depopulated, such swarms of people are leaving it for the new El Dorado. It is the most remarkable emigration on record in the history of man since the days of the Crusades." In the twelve months following President Polk's announcement, no less than 762 vessels departed North American ports for California; by April 19, 1849, 226 would sail from New York alone, carrying nearly twenty thousand people.23 The calculation in Vanderbilt's set was much too cold for either fear or frenzy. Clearly this extraordinary development offered new opportunities. Daniel Allen seems to have concocted the group's first gold-rush scheme. On February 2, he convened a meeting of twenty-one men, including himself, to organize the California Navigation Company of New York. Vanderbilt attended, as did nearly his entire circle, including Drew, Jacob Vanderbilt, s.h.i.+pbuilder Jeremiah Simonson, steam-engine manufacturer Theodosius F. Secor, Staten Islander Daniel Van Duzer, Allen's brother William, and Vanderbilt's son Billy. They paid in a total capital of $21,630, divided into twenty-one shares. With this sum they purchased a schooner, the James L. Day James L. Day, and built a seventy-foot steamboat named Sacramento Sacramento. The completed steamer was cut into three pieces and placed on the schooner; they planned to have it rea.s.sembled in San Francisco, in order to steam between that port and the Sacramento River landings that served the diggings.

It was an ingenious plan, though it followed the model of many small emigration companies. For example, the agreement obliged each of the shareholders to serve as a crewman on the schooner and steamboat or provide a subst.i.tute. Vanderbilt had no intention of going, but he thought the expedition offered a suitable start in life for his disappointing son, Cornelius Jeremiah, now eighteen years old. On March 4, 1849, Corneil (as he was called) s.h.i.+pped out under the billowing canvas of the James L. Day the James L. Day as it sailed out of New York Harbor, on a voyage that would change him forever. as it sailed out of New York Harbor, on a voyage that would change him forever.24 Did Vanderbilt stand on the dock and wave good-bye to his son? He gave little sign to his a.s.sociates of sentimentality and his daughter Mary would recall his "ill-treatment" of Corneil at this time.25 Yet the day would come when he would quietly confess his concern, even his compa.s.sion, for the boy. Yet the day would come when he would quietly confess his concern, even his compa.s.sion, for the boy.

In business, his mind was occupied by larger matters than his single share in the California Navigation Company. At each stage of his career, he had seized control of the most important channel of transportation in the young country's growing economy. Now tens of thousands proved desperate to travel to San Francisco, an enormous journey that commanded equally enormous fares. If he were to enter this market, he faced fierce compet.i.tion from both familiar and unfamiliar rivals.

Two men-two utterly contradictory men-stood in his way, thanks to a confluence of forces so unusual as to verge on the bizarre. Long before anyone had heard of Sutter's mill, George Law, the ca.n.a.l contractor, and William H. Aspinwall, a merchant at the pinnacle of New York society had joined with the federal government and a pair of political fixers to establish steams.h.i.+p lines to the Pacific coast. Purely by coincidence, they put their first s.h.i.+ps in place just as the gold rush began.

The project originated, in a sense, with a slogan: "Fifty-four forty or fight," battle cry of expansionist James K. Polk in the presidential election of 1844. He came into office determined to annex Oregon, a task he completed in 1846. The next question was how to establish mail service to this distant territory, separated from the organized states by thousands of miles of wilderness. A glance at the map suggested the sea, with a land crossing at the narrowest point in Central America, across the Isthmus of Panama.

But who would pay for such a line? Who would operate it? This was the golden age of laissez-faire Democrats who believed in compet.i.tive private enterprise rather than government rewards for a favored few. In 1846, for example, President Polk vetoed a bill to improve harbors and river navigation, calling it an inappropriate and extravagant use of federal money. Unfortunately, businessmen saw no profit in sailing thousands of miles to carry a handful of letters for a few thousand settlers; maintaining a strong link to the Pacific was a matter of national, not private, interest. But there was no public inst.i.tution capable of carrying out the ma.s.sive operation. With the extremely important exception of the Post Office, the federal government boasted only a few hundred civilian employees, and played a less active role in the economy than many states. Jacksonian Democrats faced a conflict between their laissez-faire dogma and their territorial expansionism. Expansionism won. Polk's Democratic administration embraced Whig notions as Was.h.i.+ngton embarked on a scheme to subsidize private enterprise on an unprecedented scale.26 Congress and the State Department prepared the way. In 1846, the South American republic of New Granada (later called Colombia) agreed to a treaty that guaranteed Americans free and safe pa.s.sage across its province of Panama. Congress pa.s.sed legislation that offered public funds for private carriers to establish a line to the Pacific coast. In 1847, it directed that the contract for the Atlantic pa.s.sage (between New York, New Orleans, Havana, and the Panamanian port of Chagres) be given to "Colonel" Albert G. Sloo; the contract for the Pacific (from Panama to points in California and Oregon) went to Arnold Harris.27 These were curious choices. Harris was a resident of Nashville and Sloo of Cincinnati-cities not generally thought of as ocean ports. Rather, the two men represented a new creature in American life, at least at the federal level: they were "dummies." In some cases, dummies served as front men for other parties; more often, they were political connivers who used their contacts to obtain government privileges which they had no means-or intention-of using themselves, but promptly sold to real entrepreneurs. On August 17, Sloo essentially sold his contract to a group headed by George Law (including Marshall O. Roberts, Prosper M. Wet-more, Robert C. Wetmore, and Edwin Croswell). The federal government would pay these gentlemen $290,000 a year in return for two steams.h.i.+p voyages per month to Chagres. From there the mail would be carried by canoe and mule over the isthmus to the city of Panama, where it would be taken by steams.h.i.+ps constructed by William H. Aspinwall, the merchant who bought the Pacific contract from Harris on November 19, 1847, three days after he had received it. Aspinwall would be paid $14,510 per voyage, or $348,250 per year, for his services. In some respects, these deals validated the Jacksonian critique of government largesse, offering a foreshadowing of the corruption that would creep into government in the aftermath of the Mexican War.28 Law's role in this contract-flipping subsidy speculation did not exactly shock political insiders. With his large, blunt head, his thick, wavy hair piled above overhanging brows, hard eyes, and a long, heavy nose, he resembled nothing so much as a prizefighter-and he spoke like one, too. "I ain't a-going to give you the money today," he snapped on one occasion, with regard to a disputed bill. "I have nothing to do with that 'ere account. It belongs to the company to pay." The Mercantile Agency, that mouthpiece of establishment opinion, later observed, "He is reported to be sharp & over-reaching in his transactions & dealt with accordingly.... Knows how to take care of his money but [has] little regard for the feelings or interests of others."29 Law, of course, had defeated Vanderbilt in the famed steamboat race of 1847; but it was conniving rather than racing that defined his career. As a contractor on the Croton aqueduct and other projects, Law had learned the craft of lobbying-or simply bribing-public officeholders. He also knew how to arrange deals. With such talents, he easily gathered more highly esteemed businessmen-notably Marshall Roberts and the Wetmores-to form the United States Mail Steams.h.i.+p Company to build and run the five steams.h.i.+ps demanded by his contract with the federal government.30 Aspinwall's role, on the other hand, surprised many. Born in 1807 into a family of prominent New York merchants, he rose to become senior partner of the esteemed firm of Howland & Aspinwall. Unlike Law or Vanderbilt, he received countless callers each New Year's Day at his richly appointed house. "Made a very satisfactory call there," recorded the snooty Strong on January 1, 1846. "His arrangements, by the by, house and furniture both, are really magnificent." Aspinwall was, Strong later wrote, "a merchant prince and one of our first citizens."31 Aspinwall's overseas mercantile business revealed possibilities that his Manhattan-bound peers did not see. In 1847, with the federal subsidy in hand, he created the Pacific Mail Steams.h.i.+p Company to operate his half of the mail route. His corporation outpaced Law's U.S. Mail, building larger s.h.i.+ps faster, and positioned its first vessels on the Pacific just as the torrent to California began to gush. When the scope of the rush became clear, Aspinwall helped organize the Panama Railroad to span the isthmus. Ticket buyers besieged the office of Pacific Mail as it continued to bank its huge federal subsidy. It is worth noting that, despite the romantic image of the gold-rush wagon train and dust-covered stagecoach, the steams.h.i.+p lines provided the primary means of travel and commerce between California and the East. They immediately became a very big business, one that would continue for two decades.32 To seize that business for himself, Cornelius Vanderbilt conceived perhaps the boldest plan of his entire career. It would require the help of his old a.s.sociates, his family, the mercantile establishment, and still others. It would require his own political fixer-not as a dummy, but as an insider who could negotiate as an equal with officeholders at home and abroad. He planned to divert that golden torrent from Panama to a channel of his own making: a ca.n.a.l across the republic of Nicaragua.

Vanderbilt never revealed where his idea originated. Others had proposed much the same plan before. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (Emperor Napoleon I's nephew) had championed a ca.n.a.l a few years earlier, though escape from imprisonment, the tumult of a revolution, and winning election to the French presidency had left him otherwise occupied. In the waning days of the Mexican War, even before gold had been discovered in California, American newspapers and magazines had frequently reported on a possible ca.n.a.l and transit route across Nicaragua.33 As was often pointed out, there seemed to be an obvious route, following natural waterways: up the San Juan River, which ran some 120 miles from the Atlantic up to Lake Nicaragua; across the lake's 110-mile width; then down a short twelve-mile land excavation to the Pacific, or a channel northwest through Lake Managua. As was often pointed out, there seemed to be an obvious route, following natural waterways: up the San Juan River, which ran some 120 miles from the Atlantic up to Lake Nicaragua; across the lake's 110-mile width; then down a short twelve-mile land excavation to the Pacific, or a channel northwest through Lake Managua.34 But perhaps something deeper than maps and magazine articles drove his thinking. Vanderbilt had yet to hit upon a grand work he believed he was meant to build; no line of steamboats, not even the Stonington Railroad, loomed large enough. But an interoceanic ca.n.a.l-that would be a monument to enshrine his name in glory forever.

VANDERBILT'S SON CORNEIL first saw the Golden Gate from sea. The name (which predated the gold rush) appeared obvious to anyone sailing the rugged coast to where it suddenly broke open to reveal the great bay-"the glory of the western world," as one man called it. Sailing through the Gate, the thin and sickly eighteen-year-old pa.s.sed between mountains that rose straight up from the water, "the little stream tumbling from the rocks among the green wood," in the words of a traveler, "and the wild game standing out from the cliffs or frolicking among the brush, and the seal barking in the water." first saw the Golden Gate from sea. The name (which predated the gold rush) appeared obvious to anyone sailing the rugged coast to where it suddenly broke open to reveal the great bay-"the glory of the western world," as one man called it. Sailing through the Gate, the thin and sickly eighteen-year-old pa.s.sed between mountains that rose straight up from the water, "the little stream tumbling from the rocks among the green wood," in the words of a traveler, "and the wild game standing out from the cliffs or frolicking among the brush, and the seal barking in the water."35 It was a fittingly grand entrance to the greatest treasure trove in history. It was a fittingly grand entrance to the greatest treasure trove in history.

For five months, Corneil had blistered his hands as a crewman on the James L. Day James L. Day, sailing down tropical coasts, cras.h.i.+ng through the t.i.tanic storms of Cape Horn, sailing up the Chilean sh.o.r.e. Two of the twenty-one aboard had died. Finally, on August 5, 1849, Captain John Van Pelt gave the order to drop anchor at San Francisco. Where once had been a sleepy village, Corneil now saw bedlam. Workmen milled about the sh.o.r.e, leveling the countless sand hills, dumping the dust and dirt into the bay, pounding in pilings and planking down piers. Tents pimpled the flats all about the town, tents of all descriptions-canvas, blankets, and branches stripped from trees. Some served as homes and some as shops, with bags of coffee, barrels of foodstuffs, and stacks of bricks and lumber on display. Men, mules, horses, and carts lumbered up and down ungraded dirt streets, fighting through clouds of dust-or, after heavy rains, through quicksand that sucked horses down to their ears, along with the drays they pulled.

And everywhere Corneil saw men-almost only men-all eager to head for the mines or make money from those who were going. At the time the James L. Day James L. Day sailed through the Gate, one resident counted some two hundred s.h.i.+ps in the bay, from virtually every nation with a port on the Pacific. Russians and Australians, Peruvian Indians and Indian Brahmins, j.a.panese, Mexicans, and Maori, all pa.s.sed up and down on urgent business. The town was "crowded with human beings from every corner of the universe and of every tongue-all excited and busy, plotting, speaking, working, buying and selling town lots, and beach and water lots, s.h.i.+ploads of every kind of a.s.sorted merchandise, the s.h.i.+ps themselves, if they could." sailed through the Gate, one resident counted some two hundred s.h.i.+ps in the bay, from virtually every nation with a port on the Pacific. Russians and Australians, Peruvian Indians and Indian Brahmins, j.a.panese, Mexicans, and Maori, all pa.s.sed up and down on urgent business. The town was "crowded with human beings from every corner of the universe and of every tongue-all excited and busy, plotting, speaking, working, buying and selling town lots, and beach and water lots, s.h.i.+ploads of every kind of a.s.sorted merchandise, the s.h.i.+ps themselves, if they could."36 No sooner had the Day Day pulled into port and the crew begun to unload the disa.s.sembled hull of the steamboat than Corneil deserted. Three others abandoned s.h.i.+p with him. He slipped into a town populated largely by young men awash in money with no authorities to inhibit their impulses. Making his way past the tents and shanties into the city's center, he discovered the finest buildings in San Francisco: "Gambling saloons, glittering like fairy palaces," as a citizen wrote a few years later, "studding nearly all sides of the plaza, and every street in its neighborhood.... Monte, faro, roulette, rondo, rouge et noir and vingt-[et-]un, were the games chiefly played. In the larger saloons, beautiful and well-dressed women dealt out the cards or turned the roulette wheel, while lascivious pictures hung on the walls. A band of music and numberless blazing lamps gave animation and a feeling of joyous rapture to the scene." All night the gambling went on, with runaway sailors and runaway slaves elbowing between wealthy merchants and ministers of the gospel, all drinking, eating, smoking, gaming. pulled into port and the crew begun to unload the disa.s.sembled hull of the steamboat than Corneil deserted. Three others abandoned s.h.i.+p with him. He slipped into a town populated largely by young men awash in money with no authorities to inhibit their impulses. Making his way past the tents and shanties into the city's center, he discovered the finest buildings in San Francisco: "Gambling saloons, glittering like fairy palaces," as a citizen wrote a few years later, "studding nearly all sides of the plaza, and every street in its neighborhood.... Monte, faro, roulette, rondo, rouge et noir and vingt-[et-]un, were the games chiefly played. In the larger saloons, beautiful and well-dressed women dealt out the cards or turned the roulette wheel, while lascivious pictures hung on the walls. A band of music and numberless blazing lamps gave animation and a feeling of joyous rapture to the scene." All night the gambling went on, with runaway sailors and runaway slaves elbowing between wealthy merchants and ministers of the gospel, all drinking, eating, smoking, gaming.

Gold was everywhere, in solid lumps or bags of dust, thrown about carelessly, measured indifferently, won and lost at the tables with stunning rapidity (as much as $20,000 riding on a hand, it was said). And with the money and the revelry came violence-a flas.h.i.+ng knife over a contemptuous word, the crack of a revolver over an attempted theft, a flurry of fistfights and formal duels. "And everybody made money," "And everybody made money," wrote our San Franciscan, wrote our San Franciscan, "and was suddenly growing rich." "and was suddenly growing rich."

It is difficult to know how all this affected young Corneil, because we know so little of his childhood-just a fleeting image of a furtive second son, overshadowed by his overbearing father, occasionally seized by epileptic fits. But he landed in this most impressive place at an early and impressionable age. By every indication, the San Francisco of 1849 stamped him with its image-a city of gamblers and speculators, confidence men and killers. Cornelius J. Vanderbilt stood in the saloons that remained open all night, swam through cigar smoke and shouted over blaring music, smiled at female card dealers and calmed belligerent miners, learning to talk, learning to charm.

The fever of the place infected even Captain Van Pelt of the James L. Day James L. Day. He and his crew rea.s.sembled the steamboat Sacramento Sacramento and started to run it up the eponymous river on September 14; meanwhile his second-in-command, James S. Nash, took command of the schooner and entered the carrying trade on the bay. And they made money, and suddenly grew rich. Within two months, the and started to run it up the eponymous river on September 14; meanwhile his second-in-command, James S. Nash, took command of the schooner and entered the carrying trade on the bay. And they made money, and suddenly grew rich. Within two months, the Sacramento Sacramento earned a profit of $40,000, and the earned a profit of $40,000, and the James L. Day James L. Day another $10,000. Unfortunately for Vanderbilt and the other owners, Captain Van Pelt allied himself with a San Franciscan, James H. Fisk of Turner, Fisk & Co., who saw no reason to remit such earnings all the way across the continent. Fisk and Van Pelt decided to auction off the two boats, even though they had no authority to do so. They named a time just before the departure of a Pacific Mail steams.h.i.+p from San Francisco, an hour when the city's merchants were frantically busy with correspondence and consignments of gold for the Atlantic coast. Then Fisk held the auction fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. With no other bidders, he bought the boats himself at ridiculously low prices. He soon sold them, winning a very large profit. another $10,000. Unfortunately for Vanderbilt and the other owners, Captain Van Pelt allied himself with a San Franciscan, James H. Fisk of Turner, Fisk & Co., who saw no reason to remit such earnings all the way across the continent. Fisk and Van Pelt decided to auction off the two boats, even though they had no authority to do so. They named a time just before the departure of a Pacific Mail steams.h.i.+p from San Francisco, an hour when the city's merchants were frantically busy with correspondence and consignments of gold for the Atlantic coast. Then Fisk held the auction fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. With no other bidders, he bought the boats himself at ridiculously low prices. He soon sold them, winning a very large profit.

Corneil, on the other hand, did not do so well. Not long after abandoning s.h.i.+p, he ran out of money, most likely at the tables, and issued a draft on his father-a draft his father refused to honor.37 But it was the excitement rather than the bad debt that endured in his memory. It is impossible to contemplate the Corneil of later years without imagining that he carried with him those heady days of utter abandonment and strained to his utmost to recapture them. "Happy the man who can tell of those things which he saw and perhaps himself did, at San Francisco at that time," wrote our witness. San Francisco would haunt Corneil to the end. But it was the excitement rather than the bad debt that endured in his memory. It is impossible to contemplate the Corneil of later years without imagining that he carried with him those heady days of utter abandonment and strained to his utmost to recapture them. "Happy the man who can tell of those things which he saw and perhaps himself did, at San Francisco at that time," wrote our witness. San Francisco would haunt Corneil to the end.

THEY CALLED HIM "INDIANA WHITE," though the records of the House of Representatives name him Joseph L. White. Curiously, his contemporaries never described his physical appearance; he seems to have cut an eminently forgettable figure. It was his voice they remarked on, his gift for rhetorical explosions and diamond-cutting logic. In 1840 he emerged from an obscure youth in upstate New York, where he had studied law, to become a powerful speaker in Indiana for presidential candidate William Henry Harrison. White was "the most fascinating orator that ever mounted a stump in the state," in the words of one newspaper. "Probably since stump speaking was invented no effort was ever received with such unqualified and extravagant delight, not merely by the 'roughs,' who could appreciate its 'hits,' but by cultivated men, who could penetrate its arguments." He won election to the House that year as a Whig. In Was.h.i.+ngton he withered, much to everyone's surprise. He possessed "a genius," the same writer observed, "that only lacked the balance of character to be one of the most powerful men in the nation." Perhaps, in his only term in Congress, his unbalance began to reveal itself. though the records of the House of Representatives name him Joseph L. White. Curiously, his contemporaries never described his physical appearance; he seems to have cut an eminently forgettable figure. It was his voice they remarked on, his gift for rhetorical explosions and diamond-cutting logic. In 1840 he emerged from an obscure youth in upstate New York, where he had studied law, to become a powerful speaker in Indiana for presidential candidate William Henry Harrison. White was "the most fascinating orator that ever mounted a stump in the state," in the words of one newspaper. "Probably since stump speaking was invented no effort was ever received with such unqualified and extravagant delight, not merely by the 'roughs,' who could appreciate its 'hits,' but by cultivated men, who could penetrate its arguments." He won election to the House that year as a Whig. In Was.h.i.+ngton he withered, much to everyone's surprise. He possessed "a genius," the same writer observed, "that only lacked the balance of character to be one of the most powerful men in the nation." Perhaps, in his only term in Congress, his unbalance began to reveal itself.

Still, White was smart, in every sense that word carried in 1843, when he moved to New York and started to practice law. "He was one of the most social and genial men I have ever met, and a most engaging and eloquent conversationalist," remarked one New Yorker. "His apropos speeches, his witty and good-humored repartees, were inimitable." He emerges from these accounts as a highly confident man of sharp wit, a sophisticated and well-connected charmer, a master of both courtroom histrionics and backroom negotiations. As a former politician, he also had ties to the new Whig administration of Zachary Taylor, elected president in 1848. He was, in short, a fixer.38 How and when Vanderbilt first approached White remains uncertain, though two dates suggest the moment when they joined in the Nicaragua ca.n.a.l project. On March 24, 1849, Vanderbilt resigned the presidency of the Elizabethport Ferry Company, as if to concentrate his efforts on something else. On March 29, White sent a letter from a hotel in Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C., to the new secretary of state, former Delaware senator John M. Clayton. "I have come from New York New York expressly to see you expressly to see you on business of importance on business of importance, & which admits of no delay," he wrote. "Will you oblige me by writing a note, informing me at what hour to day or tomorrow I can see you privately.... privately.... I have come on behalf of I have come on behalf of seven seven New York gentlemen & on their errand. I know something of your engagements, & would not press for an interview under New York gentlemen & on their errand. I know something of your engagements, & would not press for an interview under ordinary circ.u.mstances ordinary circ.u.mstances."39 Clearly White was an emphatic emphatic man, impressed with his own importance. In this case, though, he understood his audience. Back in 1835, Senator Clayton had sponsored a bill to encourage Americans to dig a ca.n.a.l across Nicaragua. Now he came into office as secretary of state with U.S. territory on the Pacific, ma.s.sive quant.i.ties of gold coming out of California, and tens of thousands of Americans migrating there. The ca.n.a.l idea had grown dramatically more important for American foreign policy. Clayton listened with great interest as White told him that Vanderbilt had organized the American Atlantic & Pacific s.h.i.+p Ca.n.a.l Company, and had dispatched David White (Joseph's brother) to Nicaragua to negotiate with the government there. man, impressed with his own importance. In this case, though, he understood his audience. Back in 1835, Senator Clayton had sponsored a bill to encourage Americans to dig a ca.n.a.l across Nicaragua. Now he came into office as secretary of state with U.S. territory on the Pacific, ma.s.sive quant.i.ties of gold coming out of California, and tens of thousands of Americans migrating there. The ca.n.a.l idea had grown dramatically more important for American foreign policy. Clayton listened with great interest as White told him that Vanderbilt had organized the American Atlantic & Pacific s.h.i.+p Ca.n.a.l Company, and had dispatched David White (Joseph's brother) to Nicaragua to negotiate with the government there.

Not many days later, Clayton appointed Ephraim G. Squier the charge d'affaires to Guatemala (the chief diplomatic post in Central America). "Considering the motive which influenced you to make this appointment so speedily," so speedily," Joseph White wrote to Clayton on April 3, "those with whom I am a.s.sociated & myself... express their & my very sincere acknowledgments to you; and I beg you to examine this Joseph White wrote to Clayton on April 3, "those with whom I am a.s.sociated & myself... express their & my very sincere acknowledgments to you; and I beg you to examine this written a.s.surance, that under no possible combination of circ.u.mstances will I fail to reciprocate this great favor in any mode which you may designate written a.s.surance, that under no possible combination of circ.u.mstances will I fail to reciprocate this great favor in any mode which you may designate."

This curious letter reveals White as not only emphatic, but insinuating as well-not to mention vain. He a.s.sumed Squier's appointment had been a favor, to be repaid on demand. It was an a.s.sumption that came naturally to the scheming brain of a political fixer. Clayton, by contrast, was a very high-minded man, focused not on rewarding friends but on public policy. Ignorant of this, White bl.u.s.tered on, listing orders that should be given to Squier to a.s.sist in the ca.n.a.l intrigues-"instruct him to avoid my brother to avoid my brother (now in Nicaragua) in securing the grant"-and a.s.suring Clayton that the company's tolls would discriminate against the British in favor of American s.h.i.+ps. (now in Nicaragua) in securing the grant"-and a.s.suring Clayton that the company's tolls would discriminate against the British in favor of American s.h.i.+ps.

If he thought this would prove appealing, he was mistaken. Clayton believed that any ca.n.a.l must be neutral, or it would lead to "more b.l.o.o.d.y and expensive wars than the struggle for Gibraltar had caused to England and Spain." Yet he seems to have tolerated White's insinuations in order to accomplish the larger goal. As he wrote in his instructions to Squier, "A pa.s.sage across the isthmus may be indispensable to maintain the relations between the United States and their new territories on the Pacific; and a ca.n.a.l from ocean to ocean might, and probably would, empty much of the treasures of the Pacific into the lap of this country." Clayton thought that the ca.n.a.l was essential to the national interest, but he also knew that Congress would never fund its construction. He needed Vanderbilt and his backers as much as they needed him.40 Joseph White happened to reveal to Clayton the names of those backers, who have previously escaped historical notice. The original organizers of the ca.n.a.l company included Cornelius Vanderbilt, of course, along with White and his brother David, merchants Nathaniel H. Wolfe and Edmund H. Miller, and three Wall Street firms: Livingston, Wells & Co.; Hoyt & Hunt; and Bowden, Groesbeck & Bridgham. The last-named firm suggests the disguised involvement of Daniel Drew, for David Groesbeck was one of Drew's personal brokers and close allies.41 They were not the only American businessmen seeking the rights to a crossing in Nicaragua. No sooner had Squier arrived there than he learned that another firm claimed to have signed an agreement with the government that granted them monopoly rights for a ca.n.a.l or railroad across the isthmus.42 Vanderbilt's ca.n.a.l project had scarcely begun, and already it was mired in the political jungles of Central America. Vanderbilt's ca.n.a.l project had scarcely begun, and already it was mired in the political jungles of Central America.

ON AUGUST 26, DAVID WHITE signed a contract with the Nicaraguan government. It gave the exclusive right to build a ca.n.a.l to Vanderbilt's American Atlantic & Pacific s.h.i.+p Ca.n.a.l Company in return for $10,000 a year, 20 percent of the annual profits, and a stake in the business. "It will also be observed that the grant is not only for a ca.n.a.l, but for a rail or carriage road," Ephraim Squier wrote to Clayton, "a provision which will enable the company to open a route at once across this isthmus, more rapid, easier, cheaper, safer, and more pleasant, than that by Panama. In distance, this route will save 300 miles on the Atlantic and upwards of 800 on the Pacific." signed a contract with the Nicaraguan government. It gave the exclusive right to build a ca.n.a.l to Vanderbilt's American Atlantic & Pacific s.h.i.+p Ca.n.a.l Company in return for $10,000 a year, 20 percent of the annual profits, and a stake in the business. "It will also be observed that the grant is not only for a ca.n.a.l, but for a rail or carriage road," Ephraim Squier wrote to Clayton, "a provision which will enable the company to open a route at once across this isthmus, more rapid, easier, cheaper, safer, and more pleasant, than that by Panama. In distance, this route will save 300 miles on the Atlantic and upwards of 800 on the Pacific."43 For Vanderbilt, the transit route promised to make his Nicaragua adventure profitable during the prolonged ca.n.a.l construction by allowing him to carry pa.s.sengers across the isthmus. But he may not have realized how lucky he was to get any contract at all. White negotiated it during a rare moment of peace and unity in a country whose divisions would plague Vanderbilt in ways he scarcely imagined in 1849.

The Spanish built cities in Nicaragua a century before Squanto taught the Pilgrims to plant corn, but they left an inheritance of perpetual civil war. When Spain's empire collapsed in 1821, Nicaragua briefly fell under Mexican rule; then it joined the United Provinces of Central America from 1823 to 1838, when it finally a.s.sumed full sovereignty. Independence, unfortunately, brought little sense of national cohesion. Unlike virtually every other former Spanish province, it lacked a single metropolitan center. Two cities-Leon and Granada-fought for dominance. As in other Latin American nations, two parties, generically known as the Liberals and the Conservatives,*2 dominated politics, but here they were identified with the two cities: the Liberals made a bastion of Leon, while the Conservatives were entrenched in Granada. The cities' patricians waged war without end, fighting less out of ideology than geographical rivalry, commanding armies of unmotivated Indians and mestizos who were dragooned out of the spa.r.s.e population of only 275,000 or so. In 1849 alone, no less than three men declared themselves the supreme director, as the Nicaraguan chief executive was called. "Nothing exists but our misfortune," declared a government report. "One man fights another, one family opposes another, one town attacks another, all with such a variety of different interests that we will never be able to form a state." dominated politics, but here they were identified with the two cities: the Liberals made a bastion of Leon, while the Conservatives were entrenched in Granada. The cities' patricians waged war without end, fighting less out of ideology than geographical rivalry, commanding armies of unmotivated Indians and mestizos who were dragooned out of the spa.r.s.e population of only 275,000 or so. In 1849 alone, no less than three men declared themselves the supreme director, as the Nicaraguan chief executive was called. "Nothing exists but our misfortune," declared a government report. "One man fights another, one family opposes another, one town attacks another, all with such a variety of different interests that we will never be able to form a state."44 Fortunately for Vanderbilt, a popular uprising united Nicaragua's warring elite in 1849. They joined forces to suppress the rebellion, and executed its bandit leader a month before they signed the ca.n.a.l contract (superseding the agreement with the rival company, which had been negotiated before the settlement of the civil war). The unity government embraced Vanderbilt's proposal; for centuries, Nicaraguans had dreamed of a ca.n.a.l that would bring the riches of the world through their borders. "Where is... the patriot, the wise man," asked one Nicaraguan newspaper, "who does not want to see this productive project carried out?" Enthusiasm for the North Americans swept the country, as Squier arranged a treaty that promised U.S. protection to Nicaragua.45 The enthusiasm was mutual. "Certain American citizens, whose judgment, energy, and pecuniary responsibility need no better voucher than the designation of 'Cornelius Vanderbilt and others'... have chosen that [ca.n.a.l route] which follows the river St. Juan and crosses the Nicaragua lake," rejoiced the United States Magazine and Democratic Review United States Magazine and Democratic Review, an influential Democratic Party journal. "But," it added, "suddenly there arises a lion in the path-that is to say, a sort of lion."

Yes, a lion. Vanderbilt had slipped through the shoals of Nicaragua's civil wars through sheer good luck, only to confront the opposition of America's most persistent European rival: Great Britain. As soon as he secured his contract with Nicaragua, the British consul in New York published a warning, forbidding him to begin work on the ca.n.a.l.46 What had begun as a simple business venture was fast becoming the epicenter of dangerous tensions between Was.h.i.+ngton and London. If ever Vanderbilt needed the services of Joseph White, it would be now. The Anglo-American conflict over Nicaragua would require intensive diplomacy at the highest levels, and more than once it would threaten to descend into war. What had begun as a simple business venture was fast becoming the epicenter of dangerous tensions between Was.h.i.+ngton and London. If ever Vanderbilt needed the services of Joseph White, it would be now. The Anglo-American conflict over Nicaragua would require intensive diplomacy at the highest levels, and more than once it would threaten to descend into war.

Ever since the War of Independence, a significant proportion of Americans had nursed a resentment of Britain as the monarchical ant.i.thesis of republican ideals. More to the point, tensions between the two nations had flared over their influence in Latin America after the collapse of the Spanish empire. Despite the promulgation of the Monroe Doctrine in 1823, Britain had largely filled the vacuum left by Spain in Central America. Leapfrogging from the colonies of Jamaica and British Honduras (later Belize), English merchants had come to dominate the region's trade. In 1841, the British had extended their sway by proclaiming a protectorate over the "kingdom" of the Miskito (corrupted to "Mosquito" by the British) Indians on Nicaragua's spa.r.s.ely populated Atlantic coast. The Nicaraguans regarded it as an insult to their sovereignty-an insult the British had compounded in 1848, when they had occupied San Juan del Norte and renamed it Greytown to block any ca.n.a.l or transit route. In the United States, where the burning of Was.h.i.+ngton in the War of 1812 remained a living memory, the sight of the Royal Navy guarding the mouth of the San Juan River looked like an act of war. "Better by far to lose California and Oregon," the United States Magazine and Democratic Review United States Magazine and Democratic Review wrote, than "Britain or any other great power should... stand in the way between us and our own." wrote, than "Britain or any other great power should... stand in the way between us and our own."47 Not all Americans breathed fire and steel. Secretary of State Clayton, for one, wanted an accommodation. The ca.n.a.l was a strategic imperative, he wrote to Abbott Lawrence, the United States minister to Great Britain. "Without some such s.h.i.+p navigation, it may be difficult, at some future period, to maintain our government over California and Oregon." He instructed Lawrence to offer a neutral ca.n.a.l, open to all on equal terms.48 Clayton's initiative was complicated by a common problem in nineteenth-century global diplomacy: the independence of local agents, who operated for weeks or months without instructions from their capitals. The seizure of San Juan del Norte (to be called Greytown hereafter) was the work of the intrusive Frederick Chatfield, Britain's man in Central America since 1834, who worried that Nicaragua would be "overrun by American adventurers." He recommended that the entire country be put under "a protectorate... favorable to British interests."49 Lord Palmerston, the foreign secretary, took a dim view of the often-belligerent United States and generally supported Chatfield. But the rest of the British government feared the consequences of being too belligerent over too little of consequence. Prime Minister Lord John Russell declared that the Mosquito protectorate was "not worth a barrel of gunpowder on either side." Lord Palmerston, the foreign secretary, took a dim view of the often-belligerent United States and generally supported Chatfield. But the rest of the British government feared the consequences of being too belligerent over too little of consequence. Prime Minister Lord John Russell declared that the Mosquito protectorate was "not worth a barrel of gunpowder on either side."50 London responded to Clayton's overtures by sending a new minister, Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, who presented his credentials in Was.h.i.+ngton at the end of November 1849. Palmerston had given him the mission of making a comprehensive settlement. He was to agree to an American-built ca.n.a.l in Nicaragua, but without ceding the Mosquito protectorate. The sly and polished Bulwer would prove more than equal to the task.

Joseph White checked into the Thomas Irving House in Was.h.i.+ngton just as Bulwer arrived in the capital. With the future of the ca.n.a.l company resting on these negotiations, he called on the new British minister. Bulwer, by definition, was a man of the world; he realized that he could take advantage of White's vanity and taste for intrigue. "In America nothing is done with the Govt.," Bulwer wrote. "One must influence the people who influence the Govt." He subtly cultivated White, in part by letting White cultivate him him. Knowing the huge cost of building a ca.n.a.l, Bulwer dangled the bait of British capitalists, hinting that they wanted to buy a large stake once a treaty had been signed. White abruptly abandoned his anglophobic rhetoric of the year before. Why, he and his a.s.sociates had been surprised that Nicaragua should give the United States special advantages over Britain. The ca.n.a.l contract would be amended at once!51 As 1850 began, Clayton and Bulwer threw themselves into crafting a politically viable agreement. The American public would not accept a permanent British presence on the Mosquito Coast, and with the South in an uproar over California's request to be admitted to the Union as a free state, President Taylor could not afford to look weak. But imperial pride would not allow the British to recede. "Sir H. L. Bulwer & I am again at variance," Clayton wrote on February 10. "The Nicaragua question... may may be settled-but will not be be settled-but will not be unless unless he agrees to abandon the Mosquito claim. I have many forebodings about this matter-yet I shall try hard to settle it." he agrees to abandon the Mosquito claim. I have many forebodings about this matter-yet I shall try hard to settle it."52 THE FATE OF THE Ca.n.a.l depended on this intricate international statecraft, but Vanderbilt had little choice but to go ahead as he awaited the outcome. He threw himelf into the task of turning the American Atlantic & Pacific s.h.i.+p Ca.n.a.l Company into a functioning corporation. For the moment, that required him to start up the transit business, the carrying of pa.s.sengers across Nicaragua by steamboats on the San Juan River and Lake Nicaragua and a short carriage road to the Pacific. It was an integral aspect of the ca.n.a.l project (engineers and supplies had to be moved into the interior), but it also promised immediate profits once it was linked with a steams.h.i.+p line on both oceans. The demand for steamer berths from New York to San Francisco remained so high that the Pacific Mail and U.S. Mail Steams.h.i.+p companies began to compete against each other on both sides of Panama. Other lines were entering the fray as well. depended on this intricate international statecraft, but Vanderbilt had little choice but to go ahead as he awaited the outcome. He threw himelf into the task of turning the American Atlantic & Pacific s.h.i.+p Ca.n.a.l Company into a functioning corporation. For the moment, that required him to start up the transit business, the carrying of pa.s.sengers across Nicaragua by steamboats on the San Juan River and Lake Nicaragua and a short carriage road to the Pacific. It was an integral aspect of the ca.n.a.l project (engineers and supplies had to be moved into the interior), but it also promised immediate profits once it was linked with a steams.h.i.+p line on both oceans. The demand for steamer berths from New York to San Francisco remained so high that the Pacific Mail and U.S. Mail Steams.h.i.+p companies began to compete against each other on both sides of Panama. Other lines were entering the fray as well.53 On May 14, 1849, Vanderbilt had resigned the presidency of the Stonington Railroad, a step that reveals how central Nicaragua had become to his career.54 That year, as cholera swept New York, he attended to both the corporate and physical vessels of the ca.n.a.l company. He divided into 192 the shares held by the eight partners, for ease of trading. Then he went to the s.h.i.+pyard of his nephew Jeremiah Simonson, near Corlears Hook on the East River. That year, as cholera swept New York, he attended to both the corporate and physical vessels of the ca.n.a.l company. He divided into 192 the shares held by the eight partners, for ease of trading. Then he went to the s.h.i.+pyard of his nephew Jeremiah Simonson, near Corlears Hook on the East River.

Simonson had inherited the firm Bishop & Simonson, which now faced bankruptcy. According to rumors in the s.h.i.+pbuilding trade, its chief problem was the spendthrift ways of Vanderbilt's "prodigal" nephew. "He lives in first rate style," the Mercantile Agency observed, "keeps a fast horse and spends his money freely with his a.s.sociates." When he asked for credit, lenders turned to Vanderbilt to cosign the notes. With Simonson's failure looming, Vanderbilt decided to purchase the s.h.i.+pyard, though he would leave it in the care of his nephew, who, for all his faults, knew how to build boats. Vanderbilt also sketched plans for an oceangoing steam s.h.i.+p. At some 1,200 tons, it would be one of the largest and fastest of its kind in the world. He would call it Prometheus Prometheus.55 His next step would be a firsthand inspection of the ca.n.a.l and transit route. At three o'clock in the afternoon on December 13, 1849, he boarded the steams.h.i.+p Crescent City Crescent City at Pier No. 2 on Manhattan's North River waterfront, accompanied by his brother Jacob and David White. It was a brisk winter day, yet thousands of spectators crowded onto the docks, even clambered aboard schooners and brigs moored in the slips. They came to witness the "singular sight," as the at Pier No. 2 on Manhattan's North River waterfront, accompanied by his brother Jacob and David White. It was a brisk winter day, yet thousands of spectators crowded onto the docks, even clambered aboard schooners and brigs moored in the slips. They came to witness the "singular sight," as the New York Herald New York Herald called it, of four steams.h.i.+ps departing at the same time. Three of these enormous vessels-the called it, of four steams.h.i.+ps departing at the same time. Three of these enormous vessels-the Crescent City Crescent City, the Ohio Ohio, and the Cherokee Cherokee-were headed for Chagres, Panama, carrying hundreds of California-bound pa.s.sengers. The Vanderbilts and White had to fight a crowd on the gangway and the deck that loomed high above the pier, and push through "a large number of female friends of the pa.s.sengers," as the Herald Herald observed, "promenading the decks, viewing the cabins, sitting around the stoves, or taking a last fond farewell, with a merry, ringing laugh, or with streaming eyes, according to the disposition of each." observed, "promenading the decks, viewing the cabins, sitting around the stoves, or taking a last fond farewell, with a merry, ringing laugh, or with streaming eyes, according to the disposition of each."56 Many women remained aboard as pa.s.sengers when the crew let slip the hawsers that held the Crescent City Crescent City to the pier. "Going to California has ceased to be regarded as the formidable undertaking it once was," the reporter noted. On sh.o.r.e, fewer watchers waved hats and cheered as the multistory paddlewheels churned against the Hudson, smoke surging out of the great stacks that rose amids.h.i.+ps between supplementary masts and rigging. To a businessman such as Vanderbilt, all this was telling. The very ordinariness of the event, the abundance of female pa.s.sengers, and the fact that three steams.h.i.+ps could be packed full of California pa.s.sengers on the same day confirmed the size and endurance of the gold rush. It would not end soon. to the pier. "Going to California has ceased to be regarded as the formidable undertaking it once was," the reporter noted. On sh.o.r.e, fewer watchers waved hats and cheered as the multistory paddlewheels churned against the Hudson, smoke surging out of the great stacks that rose amids.h.i.+ps between supplementary masts and rigging. To a businessman such as Vanderbilt, all this was telling. The very ordinariness of the event, the abundance of female pa.s.sengers, and the fact that three steams.h.i.+ps could be packed full of California pa.s.sengers on the same day confirmed the size and endurance of the gold rush. It would not end soon.

Those steams.h.i.+ps also revealed the fact that New York was the primary point of departure for voyages to San Francisco. Though far up the Atlantic coast from Panama, it was the most important city in the United States, easily reached by rail or steamboat from elsewhere in the Northeast. As one historian notes, New York had a "unique position as the national city-system's hub." Travelers to California came from across the settled states to New York to make their departure.57 It was inevitable that Vanderbilt should go to survey the route for himself. In nineteenth-century terms, he was a "practical" businessman who attended to technical details to organize and direct the operation. As the Crescent City Crescent City sailed south, he would observe weather, currents, and other aspects that could add or subtract days from each voyage. But he had a specific task at hand: to fetch the newly purchased sailed south, he would observe weather, currents, and other aspects that could add or subtract days from each voyage. But he had a specific task at hand: to fetch the newly purchased Orus Orus, a river steamer now in Panama, tow it to Greytown, and pilot it up the San Juan River. More intriguing than his task was his choice of company. Along with his brother and David White, he rode with the man who owned the Crescent City Crescent City, one Charles Morgan.

At fifty-four, Morgan was a year younger than Vanderbilt, though with his thinning hair, wrinkled jowl, and bulbous nose that hung like a ripe pear between two large, cautious eyes, he made a decidedly poor contrast with his tall, athletic guest. In 1809, at the age of fourteen, Morgan had moved to New York from Long Island and had gone to work as a clerk. Ten years later, he had acc.u.mulated enough money to buy a share in a sailing s.h.i.+p; he eventually bought stakes in eighteen packet s.h.i.+ps on ten lines, as well as some fifteen merchant vessels that plied European and Caribbean ports. He had moved into coastal steamers through James P. Allaire, Vanderbilt's own tutor in steamboats, and established a line on the Gulf of Mexico upon the annexation of Texas. He purchased Theodosius F. Secor's machine works in New York, built his own steams.h.i.+ps, and now competed in the California traffic, making him a potential rival.58 But Morgan's position also made him a potential ally and investor. Indeed, his biographer believes he was one of the original partners in the ca.n.a.l company-unlikely, but possible, since he could have disguised his share. In the small world of New York's steamboat entrepreneurs, he and Vanderbilt surely knew each other well. Unfortunately for their planned visit to Nicaragua, four days out of New York the cross rail supporting the engine of the Crescent City Crescent City snapped. Powerless, the s.h.i.+p drifted on the ocean swells until a brig, the snapped. Powerless, the s.h.i.+p drifted on the ocean swells until a brig, the Roscoe Roscoe, happened by. The Roscoe Roscoe took on board Morgan and the Vanderbilt party and carried them to Havana. On December 30, Morgan took a sailing s.h.i.+p to New Orleans, and the Vanderbilt brothers boarded the took on board Morgan and the Vanderbilt party and carried them to Havana. On December 30, Morgan took a sailing s.h.i.+p to New Orleans, and the Vanderbilt brothers boarded the Ohio Ohio to return to New York, abandoning their journey to Nicaragua. White took pa.s.sage to Chagres to fetch the to return to New York, abandoning their journey to Nicaragua. White took pa.s.sage to Chagres to fetch the Orus. Orus.59 If Vanderbilt failed at one task, he succeeded in another. In his search for investors in the ca.n.a.l, he appears to have aroused Morgan's interest. Certainly the two respected each other as businessmen. Morgan shared Vanderbilt's instinctive understanding of when to take a risk, as well as his discipline and caution. (Like Daniel Drew, Morgan was highly reticent about his business, and committed little to paper that would survive his lifetime.)60 The would-be rival was becoming a friend. If only Vanderbilt knew how costly that friend's ultimate betrayal would prove to be. The would-be rival was becoming a friend. If only Vanderbilt knew how costly that friend's ultimate betrayal would prove to be.

EVEN AS JOSEPH L. WHITE told lies to Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, Vanderbilt searched out the truth for Governor Hamilton Fish. On his return to New York from Havana, he had traveled to Albany on mysterious business-though most of what he did was mysterious, for secrecy was one of the highest business virtues. But secrecy was quite a different thing from falsehood. Vanderbilt continued to cultivate his reputation as a man of his word, even if his words were few. This aspect of his character helps explain why New York's social elite continued to work with him, even seek him out, though they would never invite him to their houses for dinner. Austere and offensive Vanderbilt may have been-benevolent and polished he was not-but Fish knew that he was honest. And so, when the Commodore entered Fish's office on that mysterious errand, the governor brought up another, rather delicate, matter. told lies to Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, Vanderbilt searched out the truth for Governor Hamilton Fish. On his return to New York from Havana, he had traveled to Albany on mysterious business-though most of what he did was mysterious, for secrecy was one of the highest business virtues. But secrecy was quite a different thing from falsehood. Vanderbilt continued to cultivate his reputation as a man of his word, even if his words were few. This aspect of his character helps explain why New York's social elite continued to work with him, even seek him out, though they would never invite him to their houses for dinner. Austere and offensive Vanderbilt may have been-benevolent and polished he was not-but Fish knew that he was honest. And so, when the Commodore entered Fish's office on that mysterious errand, the governor brought up another, rather delicate, matter.

Fish boasted a head of thick, dark hair, along with an elaborate swell of cheek whiskers and a wide, heavy-lipped mouth that made him look rather like a g