Report of the U.S. Nicaragua Surveying Party, 1885

Hopes for an American canal in Nicaragua.

Interest in connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by means of an artificial canal through Central America captivated European statesmen and engineers as early as the sixteenth century. The prospect of avoiding the long and hazardous voyage around Cape Horn was enormously appealing, but it was not until the mid-nineteenth century that serious engineering surveys were undertaken. In 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant established an Interoceanic Canal Commission, appointing naval officers and engineers to investigate several potential routes. French construction in Panama began in 1881 under Ferdinand de Lesseps, but many American engineers believed the route was poorly suited to the task and advocated alternatives more favorable to U.S. commercial and strategic interests.

One of the strongest proponents of a Nicaraguan canal was U.S. Navy officer and civil engineer Aniceto G. Menocal. Cuban-born, Menocal participated in the first American surveys of Nicaragua authorized by Grant in the early 1870s, publishing his initial report to Congress in 1875. A subsequent survey of Panama only strengthened his conviction that Nicaragua offered the superior route. With the support of the Nicaraguan government, he continued exploring and surveying the region between 1876 and 1884, culminating in additional U.S.-backed expeditions following the ratification of a bilateral treaty.

Published by the Government Printing Office in 1886, this report summarizes Menocal’s latest findings at a time when the French effort in Panama was already encountering formidable engineering and financial obstacles. The text presents a concise account of the expedition, accompanied by statistical tables, engineering assessments, and cost estimates. More than fifty lithographed views vividly illustrate the Nicaraguan landscape, while eleven folding plates include elevation profiles, harbor surveys, dam cross-sections, canal alignments, and other technical diagrams.

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