Gatun Locks from telegraph.co.uk by Peter Hughes

I am happy to announce that I resumed writing, The Last Zonian, Here’s Where the Story Ends. It is the stories of Panama Canal Company employees and their families. We are known as Zonians.

On September 7, 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed two treaties between the United States and Panama. The Neutrality Treaty and Panama Canal Treaty that directed the turnover of the Canal to the people of Panama by the year 2000. The Panama Canal Treaty specified that on October 1, 1979, the US unincorporated territory known as the Panama Canal Zone would be abolished and cease to exist. Meaning, it was the end of any new persons being identified as a Zonian. The 1979 treaty is referred to as The End of an American Era. Additionally, on December 31, 1999, full control of the Canal operations would pass to Panama.