"Robinson started with the Panama Railroad and saw the Canal from start to finish." -Lincoln Review (1982)
"A charming chronicler of the events of a lifetime on the Isthmus." - Panama and the canal in picture and prose (1913)
"Wonderfully interesting book." - The Instructor (1913)
"Probably no man knows more about Panama from personal experience than Tracy Robinson." - The Independent (1908)
"After you have read Robinson's book you will all the more appreciate the results of the work on the canal." – On the Canal Zone (1908)
"An iconic figure in the Panama Canal Zone and was a sought-after source for many authors and historians working on the subject." -Panama Canal Bibliography
"Robinson ... must have seen a good deal of life during his years on the Isthmus." -The Path Between the Seas (2001)
"His account of the Panama Railroad is especially interesting." -The Alienist and Neurologist (1905)
Living for half a century in Colon, Panama, Tracy Robinson (1833-1915) knew more about Panama from personal experience than any other man of his time. Acquainted with all the people of importance crossing the Isthmus in the days of the California gold fever, of the era of graft and extravagance under the French Canal Company, of revolutions and shipwrecks and robberies, and the American purchase of the Canal project, as well all the strange life of the great tropical thoroughfare, Robinson was an iconic figure in the Panama Canal Zone.
When Robinson first came to Panama in 1861, life on the Isthmus had some interesting and peculiar features. The geographical isolation being practically complete, except by sea, only a narrow strip of country along the Panama Railroad was all that modern civilization could boast of having captured. The jungle still held sway and defied the schoolmaster.
Among those who have from time to time held official positions in different companies, or who have engaged in other business pursuits, in this important outpost of civilization there had seldom been one such as Robinson who caught the spirit of the place and had the surprising energy to write interestingly of his surroundings as he did in his 1907 book "Panama: A Personal Record of Forty Six Years."
His book gives as good a general notion of the course of things at Panama up to the beginning of the canal enterprise as it existed in 1907. The book derives its chief value from the fact that it is the only authentic record of the work of the building and running the Panama Railroad that exists and as history it is incontrovertible, being the writing of an eyewitness. The historian shows a keen knowledge of human nature. He had "inside information," to borrow from sporting parlance, of everything that happened on the Isthmus; thus he was in the best position to judge the deeds and motives of those who made up the population, floating and resident, of this pioneer settlement.
In describing one revolution that broke out, Robinson writes:
"I was then in charge of the Panama Railroad, as acting superintendent. The morning after the news came that a revolution had broken out, an American war vessel that had arrived in the night, was seen at anchor in Colon harbor. I sent off an early note, addressed to the commanding officer, informing him of what had occurred, and requesting him to stand by. He would most certainly obey his instructions, and would land a Gatling gun, with a force of marines, at once, if necessary...."
