Allan A. Burton to William H. Seward, June 30, 1866

Mr. Burton to Mr. Seward

Sir: In number 646 of the Diario Oficial, which I have the honor to enclose, will be found a contract lately entered into in London between General Mosquera, then Colombian minister to Great Britain and now President of this republic, and Mr. Ambrose W. Thompson, of New York city, by which an association called “The Chiriqui Improvement Company” acquires the right to undertake certain enterprises in Colombia, and among them the construction of some sort of way across the isthmus by what is known as the Chiriqui route. The contract has been approved by the Colombian congress, as will be seen from Diario Oficial No. 676, herewith enclosed.

This or a similar project was brought before the thirty-sixth Congress of the United States at its second session.

I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,