Path of EmpireMost people in the United States have forgotten that tens of thousands of U. S. citizens migrated westward to California by way of Panama during the California Gold Rush. Decades before the completion of the Panama Canal in 1914, this slender spit of land abruptly became the linchpin of the fastest route between New York City and San Franciscoa route that combined travel by ship to the east coast of Panama, an overland crossing to Panama City, and a