That was not nearly enough a shorter path was clearly needed. In 1854 the storied Flying Cloud ran from New York to San Francisco in an unprecedented eighty-nine days and eight hours, and the same year Comet made the return voyage in seventy-six days. Worst of all, despite their speed relative to other vessels of the time, they were still too slow a means of getting mail and other information back and forth -thanks mainly to the distance around the Horn (the longest domestic trade route in the world). Not only were they expensive to operate, but their sailors tended to jump ship and join the gold rush upon arrival, stranding a number of clippers along with hundreds of other packets in San Francisco Bay. The romance surrounding the clipper ships disguised their inadequacies as reliable links between East and West. Their narrow hulls, sharp lines, and towering suits of sails made them specialty vehicles, frankly aimed at getting a select bill of lading to its destination as fast as possible. This was the way of the clippers, the massively oversailed seaborne racers that were the first in the line of American priority-cargo carriers. The most dramatic route was around Cape Horn and all the way up the Pacific coast of South and Central America to the United States. Some sailed into the Gulf of Mexico, struggled across the Isthmus of Panama, and reembarked by packet to California. While many literally walked the distance, by far the fastest means was by sea. It was a “gold rush” indeed, for the principal aim of these migrants was to get there as fast as possible. The best part of the story begins in the 1840s, when the vast Southwestern and Western territories added by Manifest Destiny and the Mexican War transformed the Republic into a transcontinental nation, and the discovery of gold in California sent thousands scurrying toward the Pacific.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |