how many days did it take to travel from Nicaragua to California during the California Gold Rush?

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how many days did it take to travel from Nicaragua to California during the California Gold Rush???

Sailing by ship from Central America to San Francisco would take approximately three to four months, if a ship was immediately available upon reaching the West coast of Central America.

Here is a quote from the link below: "From the East Coast, a sailing voyage around the tip of South America would take five to eight months, and cover some 18,000 nautical miles. An alternative was to sail to the Atlantic side of the Isthmus of Panama, to take canoes and mules for a week through the jungle, and then on the Pacific side, to wait for a ship sailing for San Francisco."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Gold_Rush)

The third link below describes the route through Nicaragua and may be useful in your research. Here is a quote from that link: "With the advent of the California gold rush in 1849, Nicaragua proved a popular interoceanic shortcut. Cornelius Vanderbilt’s Atlantic and Pacific Steamship Company (APSSCo.) transported supplies and prospectors from the Atlantic, along Nicaragua’s San Juan River, then across Lake Nicaragua to the Pacific…During the Gold Rush, Vanderbilt reduced the travel time to California by establishing a new route through Nicaragua. Although many said the route was not navigable, he personally piloted a small steamboat up the San Juan river to test the route. Vanderbilt’s Nicaragua route was cheaper than Panama – he immediately slashed the prevailing fair of $600 to $400. By one recent estimate Vanderbilt’s route was 600 miles and 2 days shorter to California than through Panama, though another contemporary account related that while the Nicaragua route had the advantage, in distance, over the Panama route, of about one thousand miles; the passage from San Francisco to New York was accomplished in the shortest time by way of Panama."
(http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/panama-canal-nicaragua-1.htm)

See the sources below for additional information.

Posted in: California travel Comments(1) July 2010


One Response to “how many days did it take to travel from Nicaragua to California during the California Gold Rush?”

  1. Bearwithme Says:
    July 14th, 2010 at 7:10 am

    Sailing by ship from Central America to San Francisco would take approximately three to four months, if a ship was immediately available upon reaching the West coast of Central America.

    Here is a quote from the link below: "From the East Coast, a sailing voyage around the tip of South America would take five to eight months, and cover some 18,000 nautical miles. An alternative was to sail to the Atlantic side of the Isthmus of Panama, to take canoes and mules for a week through the jungle, and then on the Pacific side, to wait for a ship sailing for San Francisco."
    (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Gold_Rush)

    The third link below describes the route through Nicaragua and may be useful in your research. Here is a quote from that link: "With the advent of the California gold rush in 1849, Nicaragua proved a popular interoceanic shortcut. Cornelius Vanderbilt’s Atlantic and Pacific Steamship Company (APSSCo.) transported supplies and prospectors from the Atlantic, along Nicaragua’s San Juan River, then across Lake Nicaragua to the Pacific…During the Gold Rush, Vanderbilt reduced the travel time to California by establishing a new route through Nicaragua. Although many said the route was not navigable, he personally piloted a small steamboat up the San Juan river to test the route. Vanderbilt’s Nicaragua route was cheaper than Panama – he immediately slashed the prevailing fair of $600 to $400. By one recent estimate Vanderbilt’s route was 600 miles and 2 days shorter to California than through Panama, though another contemporary account related that while the Nicaragua route had the advantage, in distance, over the Panama route, of about one thousand miles; the passage from San Francisco to New York was accomplished in the shortest time by way of Panama."
    (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/panama-canal-nicaragua-1.htm)

    See the sources below for additional information.
    References :
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Gold_Rush
    http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/funfacts.html#anchor265185
    http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/panama-canal-nicaragua-1.htm

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