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More than six decades before the Panama Canal, a trans-Isthmian railroad carried thousands of travelers every month between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Crossing in this manner represented a third option to people (and freight) traveling to California (recently added to U.S. territory as a result of the war with Mexico) from the eastern United States. They could now avoid the perilous voyage around the Cape of Good Hope as well as the long trek across the great plains and Rocky Mountains.

In the decade before the American Civil War, the United States was preoccupied by efforts for interoceanic communication. The Isthmus of Tehuantepec represented the shortest distance between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, and prior to the opening of the Panama Canal, was a major shipping route. It was during negotiations to end the Mexican war of 1846-1848 that the United States began discussing ways in which the route could be accessed or purchased. Nicolas P.

Leslie's Weekly was an American illustrated literary and news magazine founded in 1852 and published until 1922. This special publication includes many photographs, illustrations, and stories culled from its coverage of World War I. It features a section written by General John J. Pershing about his own experiences during the War, and a reprinting of “Why America Entered the War,” an address delivered on April 2, 1917 by President Woodrow Wilson. With 2017 marking the 100th anniversary of U.S.

The year 2017 marks the centennial anniversary of the United States’ involvement in World War I. This 1917 government publication, marked "Secret and confidential [now scratched out in red]; Not to be taken into front line trenches," provides a tiny window into life on the battlefield. Designed to help military staff on the front lines collect and analyze personal effects from captured German soldiers, it explains the importance of seemingly mundane items like postcards or letters in indicating where entire units of the German Army were located.