Mary Seacole in Independence Hotel, Cruces, Isthmus of Panama - 1851, at night
from Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands, pages 9; 22:
Early in [1850] my brother [Edward] had left Kingston [Jamaica] for the Isthmus of Panama, then the great high-road to and from golden California, where he had established a considerable store and hotel [The Independent Hotel]. Ever since he had done so, I had found some difficulty in checking my reviving disposition to roam, and at last persuading myself that I might be of use to him (he was far from strong), I resigned my house into … more >>
Mary Seacole, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands (London, July, 1857), p. 9; 22. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1628581464189 accessed: 8 October, 2024
Listeners
Listening to
hide composersThe Fandango, sung and danced | performed by Spanish women |
Experience Information
Date/Time | 1851, at night |
Medium | live |
Listening Environment | in the company of others, outdoors, in public |
Notes
Prior to the establishment of the Panama Canal, Cruces was a staging post for travellers drawn to the California Gold Rush. Seacole stayed at Cruces for two years, noting in her memoir, ‘‘Four crowds generally passed through Cruces every month. In these were to be found passengers to and from Chili [sic], Peru, and Lima, as well as California and America. […] The great majority of the travellers were rough, rude men, of dirty, quarrelsome habits; the others were more civilized and more dangerous. And it was not long before I grew very tired of life in Cruces, although I made money rapidly, and pressed my brother to return to Kingston. Poor fellow! […] He stayed only to find a grave on the Isthmus of Panama (p. 37)’.