continued from 1899: East of Rock Springs
The railroad baron,
as one might suppose,
was very, very wealthy.
He had more money than most people
could ever imagine having
He was famous across the country
as one of the richest men in America.
But he didn't inherit his enormous fortune
He had built it on his own
in a most American kind of way
working his way up
from a modest background
having come from a small town
outside New York City
His great-grandfather had emigrated from England
to be a merchant in New York
not long after the American Revolution
when George Washington was President
His father was a restless Episcopal clergyman
At the time the future railroad baron was born
his father was the rector and organist
at an old colonial church
out on Long Island
in the little village of Hempstead
That's where the future baron was born
on the 20th of February in the year 1848
Apparently that was a fortuitous day to come into the world.
The country had just expanded in the most dramatic of ways
Just a few weeks before, down in Mexico City,
the Mexican Government,
having lost the recent war to the United States,
had agreed to sell a huge chunk of its territory to the United States
---most of what would become the Southwestern U.S.,
including in particular that golden land known as California
With that the treaty,
and the one the U.S. had signed two years earlier with Great Britain
to split the Oregon Country between them
the territory of the U.S.A. would now reach
across the entire continent
from one ocean to the other,
Atlantic to Pacific,
both in the North and in the South
undisputed in its borders
February 2, 1848
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed at Villa de Guadalupe Hidalgo (now a neighborhood of Mexico City) ending the Mexican-American War.
Mexico cedes a large amount of territory including Alta California to the United States
Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits and Settlement between the United States of America and the Mexican Republic
 |
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| "Mapa de los Estados Unidos de Méjico by John Distrunell, the 1847 map used during the negotiations. (source) |
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| Alta California in 1848 |
"The treaty called for the US to pay $15 million to Mexico and to pay off the claims of American citizens against Mexico up to $3.25 million. It gave the United States the Rio Grande as a boundary for Texas, and gave the US ownership of California and a large area comprising roughly half of New Mexico, most of Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Wyoming and Colorado. Mexicans in those annexed areas had the choice of relocating to within Mexico's new boundaries or receiving American citizenship with full civil rights. Over 90% chose to become US citizens. The US Senate ratified the treaty by a vote of 38–14. The opponents of this treaty were led by the Whigs, who had opposed the war and rejected Manifest Destiny in general, and rejected this expansion in particular."
Jan 25, 1848
James W. Marshall of New Jersey discovers gold in the American River at Sutter's Mill near Coloma, California
Opening of the Sierra Nevada gold fields.
Almost 300,000 people come to California in the next seven years.
Sept. 13, 1847
Americans under Winfield Scott take Chapultapec Castle in Mexico CityMexico City falls two days later on Sept. 15.
With the defeat of its army and the fall of its capital, Mexico entered into negotiations to end the war
July 24, 1847
Mormons led by Brigham Young arrive in the Salt Lake Valley
"By the time Young arrived at the final destination, it had come under American control as a result of war with Mexico, although U.S. sovereignty would not be confirmed until 1848." (Wikipedia)
July 9, 1846
Americans take Yerba Buena (present-day San Francisco)
July 7, 1846
U.S. Navy occupies Monterey, Alta California
June 15, 1846
United States and Great Britain agree to divide the disputed Oregon Country at the 49th Parallel.
The Oregon Treaty signed in Washington, D.C.
officially extends U.S. territory to the Pacific Ocean
Treaty between Her Majesty and the United States of America, for the Settlement of the Oregon Boundary
styled in the United States as the
Treaty with Great Britain, in Regard to Limits Westward of the Rocky Mountains
also known as the Buchanan-Pakenham (or Packenham) Treaty or (sharing the name with several other unrelated treaties) the Treaty of Washington.
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| Copy of the 1846 Oregon Treaty in the National Archives (source) |
June 14, 1846
California Republic is proclaimed by American immigrants in Alta California
May 3, 1846
Mexican Army lays siege to Fort Texas on the north side of the Rio GrandeStart of active warfare between American and Mexican armies
Dec. 29, 1845
Pres. Polk signs Act of Congress annexing Texas as the 28th State
The outgoing Tyler Administration had begun secret negotiations with the Houston Administration about annexation in 1844.
Dec 4, 1844
James Knox Polk, Democrat, is elected President over Henry Clay, Whig, with the campaign platform of aggressively seeking to claim the entire Oregon County to latitude 54 degrees 40 minutes north. |
June 27, 1844
Joseph Smith, leader of the Mormons, is murdered by a mob while in jail in Carthage, Illinois.
May 2, 1843
Americans settlers in the Willamette Valley organize the first Provisional Government of Oregon |
| Map of the administrative districts of the Provisional Government of Oregon, as of 1843. |
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| The Oregon Country/Columbia District stretched from 42°N to 54° 40'N. |
First Performance of the New York Philharmonic
1840
Noah Webster publishes second edition of his dictionary
1838
"In 1840, the second edition was published in two volumes. On May 28, 1843, a few days after he had completed revising an appendix to the second edition, and with much of his efforts with the dictionary still unrecognized, Noah Webster died. The rights to his dictionary were acquired by George and Charles Merriam in 1843 from Webster's estate and all contemporary Merriam-Webster dictionaries trace their lineage to that of Webster, although many others have adopted his name, attempting to share in the prestige."
Horace Greeley, New York: "Go to the West: there your capabilities are sure to be appreciated and your energy and industry rewarded.
August 31, 1837
Ralph Waldo Emerson gives his speech "The American Scholar" to the Phi Beta Kappa Society at the The First Parish in Cambridge in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. declared this speech to be America's "Intellectual Declaration of Independence." (Wikipedia)
Mar. 6, 1837
Twice Told Tales published by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Mar. 3, 1837
President Andrew Jackson appoints a charge d'affaires to the new Republic of Texas, officially granting it diplomatic recognition.
Spring 1836
First migrant train to the Oregon Country is organized at Independence, Missouri
Apr. 21, 1836
Texas wins Independence from Mexico at the Battle of San Jacinto
Houston's Texicans defeat the Mexican Army under Santa Anna.
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| "Surrender of Santa Anna" by William Henry Huddle shows the Mexican president and general surrendering to a wounded Sam Houston, battle of San Jacinto |
April 6, 1830
Joseph Smith organizes the Church of Latter Day Saints in western New York
1824
Hudson's Bay Company establishes Fort Vancouver on the Columbia as its headquarters in the Oregon Country
August 24, 1821
Spain signs the Treaty of Cordoba, recognizing the independence of Mexico.
Aug. 12, 1821
Stephen F. Austin arrives in San Antonio with a party of American settlers to re-authorize his father's land grant in Texas.
October 20, 1818
U.S. and Britain sign the Treaty of 1818, agreeing to joint occupation of the Oregon Country
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| St. George's Church, Village of Hempstead, in the year 1734. |
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| "In the spring of 1644, thirty to forty families left Stamford, Connecticut, crossed Long Island Sound, landed in Hempstead Harbor and eventually made their way to the present site of the village of Hempstead where they began their English settlement within Dutch-controlled New Netherland. The settling of Hempstead marked the beginnings of the oldest English settlement in what is now Nassau County. Subsequent trips across the Sound brought more settlers who prepared a fort here for their mutual protection. These original Hempstead settlers were Puritans in search of a place where they could more freely express their particular brand of Protestantism. They established a Presbyterian church that is the oldest continually active Presbyterian congregation in the nation....[In 1776] he British attempted to occupy Hempstead after the Battle of Long Island and used St. George's as a headquarters as well as a place to worship." Wikipedia |
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