1856 — April 15, Panamanian and American fight/riot, Panama City, Panama –16-20
— 30 New York Daily Times. “Awful Massacre at Panama.” 4-30-1856, pp. 1-2.[1]
— >20 Ficklin, M. “The Panama Massacre-The Watermelon Riot.” Westerly Journeys, 2006.
–16-20 Blanchard estimated range of fatalities.[2]
— 18 (16 US, 2 local). McPherson. Encyclopedia of U.S. Military Interventions in Latin…
— 18 US and Panamanians. Republic of Panama. “The Incident Over a Slice of Watermelon.”
— 16 U.S. Rep. of Panama. “The Incident Over a Slice of Watermelon.” Accessed 1-2-2015.
— 15 Wikipedia. “Watermelon War.” 9-10-2014.[3]
— 14 Galveston News. TX. “Highly…Bloody Riot at Panama, fourteen men…” 5-3-1856, p.2.
Narrative Information
Daley: “April 15, 1856 was one of those sultry hot tropical days often described by travelers to Panama….On that April day, about 1,200…passengers converged on the part of the city known as La Ciénega, which means muddy area, just outside the city walls. A lower-class neighborhood, Ciénega was the home of freed slaves, laborers, artisans, and newly arrived immigrants who crowded among its run-down huts. It also included the U.S.-owned Panama Railroad Station, the Ocean House Hotel, and the Pacific House Hotel where relatively cheap accommodations could be found. Women and children waited while their ‘husbands and protectors’ stood in line….” [End of first page of article which can be freely accessed.]
Donoghue: “A violent riot erupted in April 15, 1856, that pitted Americans associated with the Panama Railroad against working-class Panamanians. Sixteen Americans and two Panamanians died in this bloody confrontation. The incident led to the first major U.S. military intervention on the isthmus, Colombian reparations to Washington, and a new role for U.S. government as policeman of Panama.
“The origins of this incident date back to the 1850-1855 construction of the Panama Railroad by an American company, which brought large numbers of U.S. citizens into contact with Panamanians for the first time as they transited the region on their way to the California Gold Rush. The haughty attitude of many white Americans toward the local population of color increased ethnic and nationalist tensions within the railroad area known as the ‘Yankee strip.’ A sense of being invaded by Americans proved prevalent among many Panamanians who lived in Colón and Panama City, the two transit cities of the railroad. The rail owners’ employment of armed American mercenaries led by Randolph Runnels, a former Texas Ranger with a disparaging attitude toward Hispanics, heightened anxieties. The completion of the railroad resulted in the layoff of West Indian and Panamanian construction laborers, which added to the resentment of the local population….
“On the morning of April 15, 1856, the steamer Illinois anchored at Colón in the Caribbean side of the railroad. Over 800 U.S. passengers disembarked and boarded the train for Panama City where they would take a ferry from the coastal railroad station to the nearby Taboga Island and the steamship John L. Stephens bound for California. Before and after boarding in Colón, passengers drank at the local cantinas or on the train to Panama City. Among them was an American, John Oliver, also known as ‘New York Jack.’ While waiting in the Panama City railroad station for the ferry, the inebriated Oliver took a slice of watermelon from a black Panamanian fruit peddler, José Manual Luna, and after biting into it, complained of its sourness, threw the slice on the floor, and refused to pay 10 cents for it. When the vendor demanded payment, Oliver cursed him. The peddler warned Oliver that this was not the United States and, according to U.S. witnesses, took out a knife and threatened Oliver. One of Oliver’s friends tossed a dime at Luna just before New York Jack accosted the vendor with a pistol that he kept in his pocket. A Panamanian friend of Luna’s grabbed Oliver’s arm and, while the two struggled for the weapon, it discharged, wounding a bystander. A violent brawl ensued that encompassed all the Americans near Oliver and most of the Panamanians in the station.
“Upon hearing of the fight, Panamanians brandishing machetes, knives, and pikes rushed the station, fueled partly by a rumor that William Walker, the infamous U.S. filibuster,[4] was invading the city via the train station. In fact a number of filibusters from the steamer Cortez had joined Walker’s expedition two weeks earlier by using the Panama Railroad to get to Corinto, Nicaragua’s main Pacific port. An urban civil war erupted as impoverished black and mulatto Panamanians and West Indians who lived in a neighborhood outside the city walls called El Arrabal joined the fray. Scores of Americans fled the station in desperation to a nearby hotel and other buildings or tried to board the ferry to Taboga Island and safety. Columbian authorities attempted to calm the locals as did Randolph Runnels, though to no avail. When local police intervened, some of them apparently joined the Panamanian side, settling scores against Americans for past humiliations. Panamanians also began to loot and burn adjoining buildings. Some of the armed Americans, local gendarmes, and a few of Runnel’s men fired into the crowd, killing two and wounding 14. But it still required the efforts of the local police and Runnel’s men until April 16 to restore order to the city.
“The U.S. commissioner, Amos Corwine, sent a report on this incident several weeks later, which recommended that Washington occupy Panama City to guarantee the security of the railroad under its rights as a signatory of the 1846 Mallarino-Bidlack Treaty. Corwine’s report painted the incident as an example of racial barbarity on the part of black Panamanians and a massacre of U.S. innocents. He also deplored the inability of New Granadan (Colombian) authorities to maintain order. The Franklin Pierce administration concurred and on September 19, 1856, landed 160 U.S. marines who occupied and restored operations at the railroad station in Panama City until Colombia agreed to compensate Washington with $412,394 for loss of life and damages to U.S. property. Bogotá also acceded to U.S. demands for greater American responsibility in ensuring the security and uninterrupted operation of the railroad and o the U.S. demand that local Panamanian officials exercise more authority in the area.
“This watermelon riot thus established the role of Washington s policeman of the isthmus for the next century and a half and also paradoxically gave greater local governance to Panamanians in the region until an 1863 reorganization of the Colombian state. American diplomats overreached with more demands that Panama become a virtual protectorate of Washington. The U.S. settlement of the crisis also failed to resolve the ongoing resentment of ordinary Panamanians toward the large American presence in their land as similar uprisings continued into the next century.” (Donoghue, Michael E. “Watermelon Riot, Panama (1856).” Pp. 688-690 in: Encyclopedia of U.S. Military Interventions in Latin America (2 Volumes). Alan L. McPherson, (Editor). 2013.)[5]
Ficklin: “On April 15, 1856 a riot erupted near the Panama Railroad Depot between native fruit vendors and passengers from the Steamship Illinois and stranded “Filibusters,” passengers from the Steamship Cortes. Before it was over at least twenty passengers were killed. Many of them were unidentified steerage passengers from the Illinois. Damage to the depot, track, hotels and stores was extensive. The number of native victims was not reported but according to Spanish-language newspapers fifteen perished.
“The surviving passengers from the SS Illinois sailed the next day to San Francisco on the steamer, John L. Stephens. The ship carried 1,138 passengers… The identities of 782 steerage passengers were not published.
“In the aftermath of the riot, local authorities took testimony from fruit vendors, victims and local police. U.S. State Department sent a representative to take testimony from local residents, hotel owners and rail officials. The San Francisco newspapers published unofficial testimony of rail and ship passengers.
“The State Department official concluded that the fruit vendors had pre-meditated the riot and were solely to blame for the massacre and destruction. Representatives of the native fruit vendors claimed that the stranded Filibusters had incited the riot out of frustration because they had been thwarted in their mission to join General Walker in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Several prominent San Franciscans provided alternate eye-witness accounts to newspapers. They suggested that both sides bore blame. One of the Filibusters boasted that he and 20-25 companions had shot at the natives both from the hotels and from the depot but his testimony, published in the California Daily Chronicle was ignored in the government report….
“Victims
“The victims of the riot included local residents of Panama, and rail passengers crossing the Isthmus to connect to steamers bound for the U.S. Some passengers from New York had arrived at the Atlantic port on the steamship Illinois on April 15, 1856 and had come by rail to the Pacific port that same afternoon. They were stranded for several hours due to a low tide that prevented the sailing of a ferry boat which would take them to the waiting Pacific steamer, John L. Stephens.
“Some passengers from San Francisco had arrived at Panama, unexpectedly, the previous week, having been diverted from their planned destination in Nicaragua. Some of these were Filibusters, recruits of the American General William Walker who had conquered Nicaragua and was attempting to invade Costa Rica as well. These passengers were still stranded in Panama on April 15.
“The following casualty lists are taken from various newspapers.
“Sacramento Daily Union, 5 May 1856, 1:3:
“Mortally wounded
G.O. Field, residence not known
Mrs. Graves, Wayne Street; Jersey City
A. Lauteson, Strong, Maine
Pat J. O’Neil, Cortes passenger
N. Pribble, Harriet County, OH
Rev. John Selwood, SC–missionary to Oregon, Episcopal Church (survived)
Master____Selwood, NY
Robert Marks, railroad hand
George Beatty, , Philadelphia (has sister on board)
Moses Lewis, MI (in charge of J.N. Thompson, Esq., Santa Clara, CA
“Wounded who will probably recover–now on board J.L. Stephens.” [13 names “and others left behind in Panama.”]
“San Francisco Chronicle, 2 May 1856:
“Killed and wounded
Mr. Thompson, gent. wounded
Miss Phillips, hand shattered
Mr. Parker, cut in head and shot
Joseph Stokes, killed
Mr. DuBois, foreign res. of Panama, killed
American consuls’s secty, wounded
Mr. Fenner, RI (left behind with wife and family, destitute)
“San Francisco Herald 2 May 1856, 2:1:
“Killed
Robert Marks, Panama Railroad employee
George Beatty, Philadelphia
Martin Selwood, nephew of Rev. John Selwood
Thomas Lyon, aged 22, Roxbury, MA
Stokes, Cortes, filibuster
[We omit lists of wounded and missing.]
(Ficklin, Marilou West. “The Panama Massacre – The Watermelon Riot.” Westerly Journeys (Gold Rush Voyages to and from California). 2006.)
Republic of Panama: “On April 15, 1856, an man named Jack Olivier, visibly intoxicated, along with three or four other fellow Americans, decided to buy a slice of watermelon from José Manuel Luna. Olivier proceeded to eat it, but then refused to pay its cost of a real (5 U.S. cents). This caused a big argument, which ended when Olivier pulled out a gun, shot a local man, and then fled the scene.
“At that moment, the Illinois train pulled into the station from the city of Colón, carrying Americans who also became involved in the dispute.
“This provoked a massive fight between the Panamanians and the Americans, who seeing that they were outnumbered, retreated and took refuge in the nearby railroad station. The villagers came after them, setting fire to the station where they were sheltered. The New Granada guard arrived at the scene and the Americans began shooting. This caused a small group of Americans in a garrison in the area to repress the Panamanians.
“News of this incident spread to neighboring cities, and even so far as the city of Colón, located some 80 km from where the events began, and a wave of rioting broke out there as well. The riots lasted for three days, and afterwards both cities suffered serious damages from fire, destruction, and looting. Only the walled neighborhood of San Felipe was safe, home to foreigners of the ruling class.
“The death toll was 16 Americans, with 15 wounded, and 2 Panamanians, with 13 wounded. This was the first Panamanian insurrection against the Americans, and the only one that they won, at least at the citizen level.
“Reports from the governments of the United States and New Granada were contradictory, as both held the other responsible. Nevertheless, it is important to note the attitude of the United States in rejecting the official testimonies of Panamanian consuls in the UK, France, and Ecuador, who all supported New Granada’s position and accused the Americans of being aggressors. These consuls claimed that the local police were innocent of the U.S. government’s charges that they had taken the side of the Panamanians.
“According to the official report on July 18, 1856 by Amos B. Corwine, special commissioner appointed by the U.S. government, the police and the mob had planned an attack on the railway station and the black population took the dispute as a pretext to assault the Americans and plunder their property. The report reached the conclusion that the government of New Granada was incapable of maintaining order and providing adequate protection during the transition. Unless New Granada could prove their competence and willingness to provide adequate protection and complete and swift compensation, the report recommended the immediate occupation of the isthmus.” (Republic of Panama. “The Incident Over a Slice of Watermelon.” About Panama (official website of the Republic of Panama). Accessed 1-2-2015.)
Aguirre: “….there is at least one interesting feature of Panamanian Governor Francisco de Fábrega’s testimony about the April 1856 riots that bears mentioning. Fábrega reiterated several times that he had neither the power nor the means to control the situation. Fábrega makes a peculiar effort to point out how few were the police under his command. Fábrega’s testimony clearly implicated the government of the State of Panama and the Republic of New Granada as utterly unprepared to maintain order in the port cities, having at the ready a mere twenty five police to control thousands…” (Aguirre, Robert W. III. The Panama Canal. Volume Fifteen, International Straits of the World, Gerard J. Mangone (General Editor). 2010, p. 145.)
Newspapers
April 30: “By the arrival of the steamer Empire City we have very important news from Panama. The Empire City left the Balize at 10 A.M., 21st, and arrived at Havana on the 24th, at 3 P.M. She found there, awaiting her arrival, the United States Mail Company’s steamer Philadelphia, from Aspinwall [Panama]….
“The Philadelphia brings the startling intelligence of a fray between the American transit passengers and the natives at Panama, in which some 30 of the former were slain outright and 20 wounded….
The Massacre, Statement by Mr. Rawson, one of the Passengers.
“We have received from Mr. N. Rawson, passenger from San Francisco to New-York, per steamers Cortes, Philadelphia and Empire City, the horrible outrage committed on the passengers at Panama:
“One of the most frightful butcheries and robberies of Americans took place at Panama on the night of the 15th of April. On the afternoon of that day the passengers per steamer Illinois arrived at the Railroad Depot at Panama, on their way to the steamer John L. Stephens, but owing to the low tide they were detained on shore. A portion of the passengers by the Cortes from San Francisco were also stopping at the several hotels in the vicinity of the Depot.
“There could not have been less than ten or twelve hundred Americans congregated about the Railroad terminus. About sunset a difficulty occurred between one of the Illinois passengers and one of the negroes, which was freely joined by friends on both sides, and a general row now commenced. Pistols, bowie-knives, swords, muskets, clubs, and rocks were freely used, and with deadly effect. The Americans were generally unarmed, having only a few small revolvers, and consequently after a short struggle had to yield the ground. The natives were reinforced by large numbers. They now made an attack upon the different hotels and drove all the inmates out, many of whom sought safety as they supposed in the Depot Building. About this time the Police (God save the term) was called in requisition, but instead of attempting to restore order, it is positively known that a portion of them joined the negroes and made the assault upon the depot. The Police and negroes fired upon the crowd, and drove every man, woman and child from the building, whom, in their fright, ran in every direction, some to the boats and others to the thick brush and woods, where they remained during the night and with the expectation of being murdered when daylight appeared. A large number were fortunate enough to get on board the small steamer, and were conveyed to the J. L. Stephens.
“After plundering all to be found in the hotels, the black mob attacked the depot building, which contained a large amount of baggage and treasure, all of which the rascals obtained. They then commenced to tear up the railroad track and to pull down the telegraph poles, and destroyed both railroad and telegraph offices. They were aware that the Express goods would be brought over from Aspinwall that night, and had laid their plans to seize them. They tore up the track in the vicinity of the depot in order that the engine might run off, but through the exertions of Messrs. Brinkerhoff and Williams (conductors on the road) the Express train was stopped by their signals before reaching the fatal point, and the lives of those on board, and the goods, were saved; and the train put back to Aspinwall, where it remained at the time the Philadelphia sailed.
“I have no means of knowing the number killed and wounded. There were 25 Americans found dead immediately around the depot in the morning, most of whom were passengers from the Cortes; but this number is probably not half that were murdered. Of the number of natives killed but little could be ascertained; but few comparatively, I think, were slain.
“During the night some scattering Americans were picked up from time to time by the Police, and escorted to the gates of the city, but with the requisition of from $5 to $20 each for so doing, and in several instances they were robbed of all money, watches and other effects found upon their person, and their lives threatened in case of resistance.
“Soon after the commencement of hostilities, the Governor of Panama and the American Consul went on the ground, but their exertions to quiet the riot proved ineffectual. It is asserted by some of our passengers, that the Governor, in the first instance tried to restore order, but afterward encouraged the murder and plunder. My slight acquaintance with Gov. Deas forbids me from giving any credence to the latter report.
“The Spanish portion of the inhabitants of Panama were frightened. Every house and place of business was instantly closed and barred, and but few ventured out upon the balconies during the night.
“The hotels in the city were closed and guarded until morning.
“Of the amount of money and other effects lost by the passengers, I can give but an imperfect idea. It is supposed by many that not less than $100,000 would cover the amount. True it is, that a large sum was lost, much more probably than ever will be ascertained….” (New York Daily Times. “Awful Massacre at Panama.” 4-30-1856, pp. 1-2.)
May 3: “The steamship Granada arrived in New Orleans on the 29th ult. [April] from New York by way of Havana, at which latter place she received the mail from Aspinwall with dates from that place to the 15th ult. The mail itself contained no news of importance, but the Panama Herald furnishes the very important intelligence of a bloody riot at Panama, on the evening of the 15th ult. between Americans bound to and from California, and the natives. The express mails were destroyed, many passengers losing their baggage, fourteen being killed and about thirty wounded, and two miles of the railway being torn up….
Fuller Details of the Panama Riots.
“We find in the Panama Herald of the 20th; the following full account of the riots which occurred in that city, on the 15th inst.
The Fatal Encounter on Tuesday Evening.
“On Tuesday afternoon the passengers for San Francisco, per steamer Illinois, from New York, arrived at Panama, but owing to the state of the tide they were unfortunately not able to embark immediately, the steamer Taboga being unable to leave the wharf until between eight and nine o’clock. As is usually the custom, the passengers availed themselves of the delay to procure refreshment, and all the hotels and eating houses in the neighborhood of the station were filled to excess, whilst the vendors of fruits, spirits, refreshments, &c., were all busily engaged in supplying the demands made upon them.
“Everything went on quietly until about six o’clock, when according to the most reliable accounts, a passenger, rather the worse for liquor, got into a difficulty with one of these peripatetic traders, drew his revolver, and fired at him. The circumstance has been variously stated; some asserting that the negro drew his knife first, or otherwise provoked the quarrel. The crowd, as is usual under such circumstances, immediately sought safety in flight.
“The man who fired the shot being seen shortly afterwards in the bar-room of the Ocean Hotel, an indiscriminate attack was made upon the party assembled there. More shots were fired, knives and machettes used, and gradually the affray became general.
“All the negroes of the Cienega Playa Prieto and the Arabal rushed for their arms, and to the depot and store-houses of the Railroad Company.
“In a few moments the Pacific House was attacked, broken open, and pillaged; the store of Mr. McAllaster suffered a similar fate, and the Ocean Hotel was seriously damaged.
“Mr. Theodore Sable, the Secretary of Colonel Ward, U.S. Consul, who was on the spot attending to the delivery of the mails, immediately rode up to town to inform the Consul, who, without loss of time, proceeded to the spot. In the meantime the Governor, with the police and arrived, and as they took up a prominent position shots were fired at them. Mr. Sable was wounded in the thigh slightly, and a bullet perforated his coat. Don Pedro Obario was also wounded, a shot struck the Governor’s hat, and Col. Ward’s horse was seven times hit.
“The depot, in the meantime, or, about this time, was broken into by the natives; four or five persons were shot and as many wounded, and Mr. Center, of the R. R. Co., Mr. Gorwine and Mr. Knight, of P. M. S. S. Co., had a narrow escape, the persons standing next them having been shot dead. Mr. Dubois, a Frenchman,, a long resident on the Isthmus, who was in the depot, was shot at the door, and Mr. Robert Marks, also an old resident here, employed as watchman for the company, was shot as he defended the entrance of the station, but not before, as it is said, he had killed two of his assailants.
“Whilst this was going on, the few passengers in the railroad depot, who were armed, having almost expended their ammunition, could only return a stray shot to the volleys poured in upon them by the police force, the national guard, (every man fighting for himself,) and the armed populace of the suburbs and city. The work of plunder all the time went on, the company’s office was rifled, and all the books, papers and furniture destroyed; trunks, carpet-bags, express freight and packages were broken open and their contents made away with, and the rails in some places taken up, and the telegraph wires cut to prevent communication with Aspinwall.[6] [today’s Colón].
“This butchery was kept up until 9 o’clock, by which time fourteen Americans were killed, twice as many wounded, whilst, as far as we can learn, only three natives were killed, and about a dozen wounded.
“An attempt was made at various times to set fire to the station, and at last, the passengers fearing they would be burnt to death, made a sally from the depot, in which many were fearfully wounded by the knives and machettes of the natives, and the night being clear and bright, they, with difficulty, escaped into the bush from their pursuers.
“We cannot, to-day, specify individually, the acts of persons who took an active, though unwilling part in this unfortunate affair, but shall do so in our next….
“The funeral of Mr. Dubois, who was shot on Tuesday evening at the railroad station, took place yesterday morning…
“On the same evening the remains of Mr. Robert Marks were also interred….
“Against the above riot Col. Totten, the chief engineer of the Panama Railroad, has protested to the authorities of Panama, calling on the Government for protection of the passengers of the California steamers, and has received a reply to the effect that measures have been taken to prevent any further disturbances. The following report to the Governor of the State, Don Francisco de Fàbrega, contains some important statements:
Spokesman’s Office, Panama Railroad, Panama, April 16 [blurred], 1856.
“To His Excellency Governor of the State of Panama: as your Excellency well knows….[next five lines at bottom of page too blurred to read]. The passengers were 940 in number including a large number of women and children who came from New York on the steamship [not clear – probably the Illinois] and had just crossed the isthmus by the railroad. They were waiting at the railroad terminus at Playa Prieta, for the tide to come in, to go on board the steamer for California, and in the meantime they were engaged in registering their tickets, receiving their luggage, and taking refreshments at the neighboring hotels and eating houses.
“While in this situation [?] they were attacked by the armed mob, as above stated.
“It matters not at present whether the disturbance originated with one party or the other, it is sufficient that a disturbance existed, and that other means failing, it became the duty of the authorities when called upon to exert their influence to quell it.
“Your Excellency must have known that most of the passengers were unarmed and that the depot was filled with helpless men, women and children.
“That some of the passengers attempted to defend themselves, their wives and children and that those who had or could procure arms fired upon the mob who were firing upon them, was perfectly natural and right. Bu it appears that they merely acted in self defence and that they were restrained as much as possible by the officers of the Railroad and Steamship Companies, who, having no arms, had not the power to defend themselves or the property under their charge, yet it appears, from indisputable evidence, that your Excellency ordered the police to fire upon the depot, that this order was obeyed, and that by this outrage many of the passengers were killed and wounded.
“While the police were firing upon the depot and passengers on one side, the mob broke into the depot on the other, where, in cold blood, they murdered many of the defenceless passengers, while on their knees supplicating for mercy.
“The mob then commenced despoiling the depot of whatever it contained; they robbed the freight deposited there, the safes of the Company, and the clothes and effects of the officers who occupied the building. They also destroyed the books and papers of the Company, and cut the telegraph wires.
“After the mob had taken possession of the depot, the police stopped firing upon it, and entered it also, and there they witnessed the pillage and destruction going on, without making an effort to prevent it, and even, it is said, assisting in sharing in the spoils.
“During the whole continuance of the riot, the mob were engaged in robbing the individual passengers, without distinction of sex, depriving them of such baggage and effects as they had with them, and their persons of such valuables as they had about them – even taking the rings from the fingers and ears of females. This also was done in the presence of your Excellency and the police, without an effort being made by you to prevent it.
“I was not present at that disgraceful transaction. The above statement is made from the evidence of reliable persons who witnessed it, and whose testimony I cannot doubt.
“Your Excellency well knew the character of the people composing that mob. You know that their design was robbery – and robbery brought blood – and you permitted an indiscriminate massacre and pillage on defenceless strangers, and helpless woman and children, which would have disgraced the most savage country on earth, and which it was your duty and in your power to prevent.
“Two days have passed since the committal of these outrages, and I have yet to learn whether your Excellency has taken any steps to arrest those who were engaged in them, or purpose any.’”
(Galveston News. TX. “Highly Important From Nicaragua; Bloody Riot at Panama, fourteen men killed and thirty wounded…” 5-3-1856, p. 2.)
May 3: “The steamship Louisiana…Arrived from New Orleans last night….The most interesting news by this arrival is that from Central America – the reported victory by Walker and the riot at Panama.” (Galveston News. TX. “Arrival of The Louisiana.” 5-3-1856, p. 2.)
Sources
Aguirre, Robert W. III. The Panama Canal. Volume Fifteen, International Straits of the World, Gerard J. Mangone (General Editor). Leiden, The Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2010. Google digital preview at: https://books.google.com/books?id=0m_IEf9CnG0C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Daley, Mercedes Chen. “The Watermelon Riot: Cultural Encounters in Panama City, April 15, 1856.” Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 70, No. 1, Feb. 1990, pp. 85-108. First page accessible free-of charge and remainder purchasable at JSOR at: http://www.jstor.org/discover/2516368?sid=21104982923551&uid=70&uid=3739864&uid=4&uid=2&uid=2129&uid=3739256
Donoghue, Michael E. “Watermelon Riot, Panama (1856).” Pp. 688-690 in: Encyclopedia of U.S. Military Interventions in Latin America (2 Volumes). Alan L. McPherson, (Editor). Santa Barbara, CA. ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2013. Google digital preview accessed 1-2-2015 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=utC5YT7wFgAC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Ficklin, Marilou West. “The Panama Massacre – The Watermelon Riot.” Westerly Journeys (Gold Rush Voyages to and from California). 2006. Accessed 1-2-2015 at: http://www.westerly-journeys.com/goldrush/goldpanama.html
Galveston News. TX. “Arrival of The Louisiana.” 5-3-1856, p. 2. Accessed at:
http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=152441931
Galveston News. TX. “Highly Important From Nicaragua; Bloody Riot at Panama, fourteen men killed and thirty wounded…” 5-3-1856, p. 2. Accessed at:
http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=152441931
New York Daily Times. “Awful Massacre at Panama. Sixty American Passengers Supposed to have been Murdered. Plunder…Outrages by the Native Police.” 4-30-1856, pp. 1-2. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=3103818
Republic of Panama. “The Incident Over a Slice of Watermelon.” About Panama (official website of the Republic of Panama). Accessed 1-2-2015 at: http://www.visitpanama.com/about-panamaen/historial-facts/item/2113-incidente-de-la-tajada-de-sand%C3%ADa.html?lang=en
Wikipedia. “Colón, Panama.” 9-18-2014 modification. Accessed 1-2-2015 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Col%C3%B3n,_Panama
Wikipedia. “William Walker (filibuster).” 12-19-2014 modification. Accessed 1-2-2015 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Walker_%28filibuster%29
[1] Not used for estimate of deaths purposes – not borne out by later reporting and accounts.
[2] It seems that there were at least 16 American fatalities and 2 Panamanian. Some accounts have the American fatalities higher – such as over twenty or even as high as thirty. Other accounts have Panamanian fatalities as several. Our focus is on American fatalities here and it appears that there were on the order of 16-20.
[3] The only source noted (as “Further reading”) is: Daley, M (Feb 1990). “The Watermelon Riot: Cultural Encounters in Panama City, April 15, 1856”. The Hispanic American Historical Review 70 (1): 85-108. The article, by Mercedes Chen Daley), can be purchased at JSTOR at: http://www.jstor.org/discover/2516368?sid=21104982923551&uid=70&uid=3739864&uid=4&uid=2&uid=2129&uid=3739256. The HAHR is published by Duke University Press.
[4] “William Walker (May 8, 1824 – September 12, 1860) was an American lawyer, journalist and adventurer, who organized several private military expeditions into Latin America, with the intention of establishing English-speaking colonies under his personal control, an enterprise then known s ‘filibustering.’ Walker became president of the Republic of Nicaragua in 1856 and ruled until 1857, when he was defeated by a coalition of Central American armies. He was executed by the government of Honduras in 1860.” (Wikipedia. “William Walker (filibuster).” 12-19-2014 modification.)
[5] Cites as references: Conniff, Michael L. Panama and the United States: The Forced Alliance. Athens: Univ. of Georgia Press, 2001; Maurer, Noel, and Carlos Yu. The Big Ditch: How America Took, Built, Ran, and Ultimately Gave Away the Panama Canal. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2011; McGuinness, Aims. Path of Empire: Panama and the California Gold Rush. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2008; and McPherson, Alan. Yankee No! Anti-Americanism in U.S.-Latin American Relations. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003.
[6] According to Wikipedia, Aspinwall, today’s Colón, “was founded by Americans in 1850 as the Atlantic terminal of the Panama Railroad, then under construction to meet the gold rush demand for a fast route to California. For a number of years early in its history, the sizable United States émigré community called the town Aspinwall after the Panama Railroad promoter William Henry Aspinwall, while the city’s Hispanic community called it Colon in honor of Christopher Columbus. The city was founded on the western end of a treacherously marsh islet known as Manzanillo Island….Much of the city was burned during the Colombian Civil War of 1885, and again in a massive fire in 1915.” (Wikipedia. “Colón, Panama.” 9-18-2014 modification.)