The immense Gatun Lake, a part of the Panama Canal, was created when the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers dammed the Rio Chagres in the early 1900s.
Specifically, the prevailing belief about orchids during Powell's lifetime was described thusly: "There is one plant, which stands so far above all the rest for unique beauty and grandeur that it is universally regarded as the aristocrat of the floral kingdom, namely, the orchid.