Attempts to build a canal across Nicaragua to connect the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean stretch back to the early colonial era. Construction of such a shipping route—using the San Juan River as
An 1895 cartoon advocating United States action to build the Nicaragua Canal
Momotombo 1900 Edition Stamp
William Walker (filibuster)
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William Walker was an American journalist and mercenary. In the era of the expansion of the United States, driven by the doctrine of manifest destiny, Walker organized unauthorized military expedition
Attempts to build a canal across Nicaragua
…quickly becoming one of the main avenues of trade between New York City and San Francisco. Civil war in Nicaragua and an invasion by filibuster William Walker intervened to prevent the canal from being completed. Continued interest in the route was an important factor in the negotiation of the Clayton–Bulwer…
Walker in c. 1855–1860
President Walker's house in Granada, Nicaragua. On October 12, 1856, during the siege of Granada, Guatemalan officer José Víctor Zavala ran under heavy fire to capture Walker's flag and bring it back to the Central American coalition army trenches shouting "Filibuster bullets don't kill!". Zavala survived this adventure unscathed.
William Walker's grave in the Old Trujillo Cemetery, Trujillo, Honduras
The Costa Rica National Monument represents the five united Central American nations carrying weapons and William Walker fleeing.