of Tehuantepec, with the aim of building a road, railway or canal for the purpose of connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans for trade. Pressure was greatest during the Mexican–American War, when these transit rights were part of the first attempts at talks to end the war. However, this was not included in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. During negotiations for the Gadsden Purchase, the issue came up again but transit rights were again denied. Despite strong interests in the area, the U.S. Army never invaded Tehuantepec, even though troops had gone as far south as southern Veracruz. However, the war drained the south of the country of soldiers and lessened control from Mexico City. As a result, the Isthmus area rebelled against rule from the city of Oaxaca. In 1850, the first plan to separate the Tehuantepec area from Oaxaca took shape. The result was regaining of a certain amount of autonomy. A second attempt took place in 1853. Tehuantepec gained municipal status in 1857 and town status in 1857. The Reform Laws secularized most of the lands of the Dominican order in the area. Tehuantepec's "Golden Age" began in the early 20th century with the building and operation of the trans-Isthmus railroad, which then provided the shortest trade route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. At its height, the line carried fifty trains per day, making one of the busiest railways in history. The goods and travelers brought money to the town and it grew. However, the boom ended shortly thereafter with the completion of the Panama Canal in 1914. The Pan-American Highway came through the area in the middle of the 20th century, which connected it with the rest of Mexico and by extension all the Americas. Shortly after, a modern highway connecting it to the city of Oaxaca was constructed. The southern Isthmus area of Tehuantepec and Juchitán have had sporadic bouts of unrest since the late 1960s, paralleling conflicts which were occurring in other parts of Mexico. This trend continued from the 1970s to the 1990s, mostly focused on the activities of the Tehuantepec diocese under bishop Arturo Lona Reyes, who led from 1971 to his retirement in 2000. The Diocese of Tehuantepec was part of a movement to mobilize the poor and indigenous in the 1980s and 1990s, allied with other elements of the Catholic Church in Oaxaca, the CEDIPIO and others. This movement