The Darkest Jungle Story aired: Wednesday, March 03, 2004
The Panama Canal has been called "The Path Between the Seas" and "The Eighth Wonder of the World" since 1914, when the Atlantic and Pacific were finally linked after 34 years of construction. It took the labor of 80,000 workers, 30,000 of which dies during the construction.
The canal was the fulfillment of an old dream, a way for ships to avoid sailing around the Cape of Good Hope at the bottom of South America. Years before, one of the most nightmarish attempts to make that dream come true was a now largely forgotten expedition in 1854, a journey which embraced courage and horror. It's chronicled in the new book "The Darkest Jungle: The True Story of the Darien Expedition and America's Ill-Fated Race to Connect the Seas."
