Henry Meiggs (1811-1877), an American pioneer railroad builder in Chile and Peru, was a characteristic example of the "robber baron" type of entrepreneur.

Henry Meiggs was born in Catskill, N.Y., on July 7, 1811. He was drawn to California by the gold rush of 1849 but, like many others who made fortunes from this experience, did not himself look for gold. He went into the business of providing transport for the gold miners and quickly succeeded in accumulating a fortune which he lost even more quickly than he had acquired it. In 1855 he fled from California one step ahead of his angry creditors.

Meiggs next turned up in Chile. A man of great organizational and entrepreneurial talents, as well as having a profound lack of scruples, he was soon active in planning and executing projects for building bridges and establishing the first extensive railroad lines in his new homeland. He...