A popular concept of the California Gold Rush portrays the overland migration coming by wagon, yet according to the evidence, more people journeyed by sea. A typical wagon journey took about 140 days while a voyage by paddle wheel steamer, a short land trip and another paddle wheel steamer could be done in as short as 40 days over the Isthmus of Panama or Nicaragua route once the shipping lines were established in about 1850. Before farms could be set up, cities and industries built, etc. an early maritime traffic in passengers, food, lumber and building supplies were established with Pacific rim countries like Chile, Mexico, Hawaii and the future state of Oregon. Tools, clothing, and everything needed for an 1850 standard of living for miners and an expanding population would in most cases have to initially be imported from the East coast of the United States or Europe. Sea transport was about the only way cargo of any kind could be delivered to California. High value cargo like gold and passengers usually went by the Panama or Nicaragua route. Bulkier, lower value cargo, usually went by sailing ship around Cape Horn. A standard sailing ship took an average of about 200 days to go this route while the faster Clipper ships averaged about 140 days. Carrying any significant amount of goods cross country by wagon over of bad road was a slow, costly process that was seldom done. Not until the First Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869 was there any easy way to move cargo across land to California. Even today, bulky or heavy cargo is usually sent by ship because it is cheap and efficient, though slower than other methods.(Note: Paddle wheel steamers did not reach California by sea until long after the gold "rush" had ended. See later in this article for the date which was long after the "rush")