Who is minor keith

In , the long-awaited railroad was finished, there was a route from San Jose to Limon. But income was not being generated as expected on this jungle train from the passengers and coffee exportation. He experimented with his readily available resource, bananas once used to feed his workers, lining the routes of the railroad could now potentially become his new source of income. Running them through the railcars off on steamboat through the port to New Orleans, proved to be a success.

His new venture, the Tropical Trading and Transport Company was created and the train was being used solely for his banana business. With the help of Andrew Preston and Boston Fruit Company, bananas were gaining popularity in the United States, although his competitor, it helped gain momentum for his new export.

Not only were they being shipped to the United States through the help of Panama but he was doing business in Colombia and trading in stores along the coasts of Costa Rica. As well his position in society had increased as he became more influential, marrying the daughter of a former president. Tropical Trading and Transport Company was taking over the banana business throughout Central America. But as history repeats itself, obstacles eventually returned.

As much as the Costa Rican government and others tried to help him, his financial woes were still upon him. He decided to reach out to someone in the business who knew best, Boston Fruit Company. It was then on March 30 th , that the United Fruit Company was established, a joining of the two companies. The two companies were able to merge together to create one dynamic banana company, Andrew Preston as the president and Keith Minor as vice president.

Andrew Preston created the demand with the public through his creative marketing strategies and Keith Minor worked on leaning out the production, improving the process all the while being able to cover a wide area of territory. The United Fruit Company continued to progress establishing banana plantations in Guatemala extending its coverage throughout Central America. In Keith Cooper Minor passed away leaving behind a controversial yet influential legacy that played a major role in the economy of Costa Rica and of its history and culture.

James J. Parsons; Keith and Costa Rica. Hispanic American Historical Review 1 May ; 45 2 : — The vigorous and flamboyant railroad builders of the last half of the nineteenth century had an air about them that makes their twentieth century counterparts—the highway engineers, the agronomists, the AID and International Bank representatives, and consular officials—seem by comparison a dull and dreary lot.

For one thing they managed to identify with the countries in which they worked. They stayed longer, and often married there. And their own fortunes were at stake. They were seldom on salaries. Meiggs immediately turned the contract over to his nephew, Henry M.

He soon won the confidence of President Guardia and the London bankers. Construction on this difficult mile gap between the coastal plain and Cartago elevation 4, ft. It was his other activities—in real estate, banking, cattle, coffee, bananas, and public utilities—that more than made up the difference and made him a wealthy man. He had long been regarded as the daring little Yankee for whom nothing was impossible. The family ties of his wife, the daughter of a former president of Costa Rica, only served to reinforce his position.

The lushness of the tropical vegetation that it tunnels, the precipitous nature of the quebrada slopes, and the precariously perched fields and houses on them are breath-taking, the engineering feat that the railroad represents even more so.

With these deals he dominated the banana business in Central America by , but new problems were not slow to arrive. The Costa Rican government and several members of the local elite made efforts to help him in his new crisis but,, Keith's financial situation did not improve. The Boston Fruit Company was Keith's rival and he hoped a merger of the two companies would end his debt.

They agreed and the United Fruit Company was born in March 30th, The new company was led by Preston and Keith as Vice-president. Their diverse interests and skills complemented the other. As the company grew Keith continued with his railroad projects in Central America.

By he completed a road in Guatemala from Puerto Barrios to Guatemala City and this allowed the United Fruit Company to develop banana plantations in the Guatemalan lowlands. He also bought the Western Guatemala Railroad between Guatemala City and the Pacific Coast, creating an inter-coast system the line was eventually extended to the Mexican border, and connected Mexican lines in This corporation consolidated his Guatemalan lines and one line in El Salvador.

He eventually came to dominate the banana trade in Central America and Colombia. In , he was forced by a financial setback to combine his venture with Andrew W. The result of the merger was the powerful United Fruit Company, of which Keith became vice-president. In , Keith signed a contract with the President of Guatemala, Manuel Estrada Cabrera, that gave the company tax-exemptions, land grants, and control of all railroads on the Atlantic side of the country.

Other activities Keith also invested in gold mining in Abangares, in the Costa Rican province of Guanacaste. In he returned to railroad building, organizing the International Railways of Central America and eventually completing an mi 1,km railway system, but died before realizing his dream of a line from Guatemala to the Panama Canal. His work profoundly altered the economic life of Central American countries.

United Fruit Company was involved in the overthrow of the Arbenz government in Guatemala but this occurred some 25 years after Keith's death.