Owen's Relationships

Owen’s scrapbook on Mexico is essentially a collection of articles that support his plans for building a railroad in Mexico. Many of the articles contain information and data on why Mexico would be the best next trading port for items from Asia. The articles within are mainly focused on Mexico and the trade relations with the United States, which help supports Owen’s purpose for building a railroad to Topolobampo. One article in particular, “Washington Matters: Our Relations with Mexico,” has commentary from Mexico’s President, Porfirio Diaz, promoting Topolobampo as a place ideal to set up a port, which is underlined with a blue colored pencil. As noted in Cat’spaw Utopia, Owen had managed to get the backing of Diaz: “As one of few Americans who had supported United States’ recognition of Diaz, Owen’s name had come to Diaz’s attention. They met, and once again Owen’s charm won him the personal friendship of a nation’s leader” (Reynolds 15). The news clipping represents this well. Owen’s friendship with Diaz created an opportunity for Topolobampo’s importance as a potential port for future trading with Asia to enter into the conversation in the United States. There were many discussions about railroads from the United States to Mexico, but Owen made it possible for the conversations to focus in on Topolobampo. Diaz had his own agenda in mind for a railroad and liked Owen, and after a series of events, Ulysses S. Grant offered to help Owen with his goal to build a railroad to Topolobampo (15). This all goes to show how persistent and driven Owen was to make his dream turn into a reality. 

On a small piece of paper in the middle of the Mexico scrapbook, where the collection of various clippings has already ended, there is a lone news clipping of Mrs. Louise B. Owen’s case win over land ownership in Mexico. Handwritten next to the clip is Owen’s handwriting: “Harbor of Topolobampo.” In his continued obsession with building a railroad to Topolobampo, Owen married Mrs. Louise Bigelow Tyler in 1897, who was a wealthy widow. Owen managed to buy more land with her money near Topolobampo, “…but she called Topolobampo a ‘vulture’ that was eating at their lives” (Reynolds 111). In the article found in the Mexico scrapbook, dated May 16, 1903, Owen is still frantically trying to buy and maintain the lands of Topolobampo by any means necessary. When it came to even his personal relationships, everything seemed to be for the benefit of his railroad project. With a man so determined to build something so massive, it makes one wonder how Mrs. Louise B. Owen was able to handle it along with Owen’s other “friends” in his endeavors. It is apparent that Owen was a charming and charismatic man able to convince others of his plans being successful, but was he able to maintain and have friendships even in his old age? Even in this small article that he clipped out, his mind is still fixated on Topolobampo. Everything is centered around the small coastal city in Mexico. In 1916, Owen was still fighting for his railroad project until his death July 12^th of that year.

In an unnamed scrapbook, only the inside cover marked with “Notebook No.1,” there is an article displayed first denouncing Owen “as an unspeakable fraud.” In a letter from Alvan D. Brock, with the title of Late Director of Credit Foncier Co., Owen is directly held responsible for wrongdoings in the colony by listing 16 things he is charged of doing. Brock writes extensively as to why Owen is to blame, portraying his as a heartless man taking advantage of everyone in the colony. Brock even points blame to Marie Howland for hiding the ‘truth’ of Topolobampo. For his own doing in the colony, he writes, “May God forgive me for my silence so long. I can only please in excuse that I was mentally and physically prostrated by disease…and I promise to make up now, in some degree, for my criminal neglect, which, even now, haunts my sleep and has retarded my restoration to health.” For all the blame he puts on Owen, like many former colonists did after the failure of the city, he barely takes ownership of his own responsibility. Not to defend Owen and what was done, but while Owen was away from the colony, the directors and shareholders were in charge of their own well-being as well. His anger towards Owen is not uncalled for, but the treatment of Owen in his letter tips the scale so much that it seems almost a personal attack on Owen by Brock: “…I mean to appeal to that noble fraternity all over this broad land to help unmask your Machiavellian schemes, until the name Albert K. Owen shall be execrated and spit upon by every honest man and woman therein.” Such language cannot be read without looking at Brock’s character and suspecting his stake to clear his own name in what went wrong.