AboutPaul Walcutt Expertise I am a lifelong student of history with a BA from Haverford College. My areas of concentration and expertise are Latin America and Europe, with a focus on the 20th century.
Question I have been doing some research in genenology and in the 1850'smy great great grandfather went to central america. I know no more than that. My question is,why would an Ohio farmer go to Central America at this time. He was in California earlier and I suspect it was the gold rush. But why Central America? I'm sorry I have no location other than he was in Central America, as he called it. Thank You
Answer Well if he was in California for the gold rush, he might have ended up in Central America because a lot of the east-west traffic actually went through there. I don't know if he was married, but once all the gold had been claimed, it might have been a good idea to work in the transportation system that ferryed people from the East Coast to California (because the land passage was slow and dangerous).
He might have been one of William Walker's American fillibusters who in essence ruled the country for several years. They even made a movie about it: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096409/
