Stilwell was a high-pressure promoter of railroad and real estate ventures centered in Kansas City of the 1880s and 1890s. After 1900 he undertook the Kansas City, Mexico, and Orient Railway to the little-known port of Topolobampo on the Gulf of California, hoping to develop northern Mexico and tap the Far Eastern trade. Unfortunately Stilwell’s gambling instincts, his loose organization, and Wall Street rivals combined with topographical difficulties to ruin his half- finished project. The Mexican government finally completed it in 1961.
Bryant’s biography devotes two chapters to the KCM&O, adding only details to previous accounts. He has not used Mexican sources. Still, his understanding view of American promotional activities may be useful to students of underdeveloped countries.
