Owen, Albert Kimsey

Albert Kimsey Owen (1848-1916) traveled to Mexico in 1873 on a surveying trip for the future Mexican Central Railroad and saw Topolobampo Bay, Sinaloa. Owen dreamed of a railroad linking the United States through Texas to this Mexican port and planned a cooperative colony to be founded on the rich agricultural land nearby. The Mexican government granted him permission to form the Texas, Topolobampo & Pacific Railway and Telegraph Company in 1881, and the first colonists began to arrive in 1886. Little progress was made on the railroad (which was not completed until 1961), and the colony eventually failed when the members were divided in their views on the ownership of land and water rights. In addition to his activities in Mexico, Owen wrote books and articles on a variety of subjects, including cooperatives, woman suffrage, and currency questions.

From the description of Papers of Albert Kimsey Owen, 1885-1909. (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens). WorldCat record id: 122383164

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