William Walker The Man who would Conquer Nicaragua Part 1 Filibusters

William Walker would go down in history as the man who looked to take over the country of Nicaragua only to be defeated by the combined forces of 5 Central American Republics. In this episode we look at the early beginnings of Walker's life to see what inspired such outlandish acts. While also looking at the phenomenon of filibusters: individuals who would lead private military campaigns to take over foreign countries and/or join active rebellions in other nations.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
My name is Eric Gasca and you're listening to the
Distorted History podcast and program. I can't give you many names,
and you're a bladery. Look, I'm Raisling. I'm got the

(00:24):
barah A long struggle for freedom, it really is a revolution.
Welcome to Distorted History, where this week we'll begin our
deep dive into one William Monker, a man who is

(00:44):
reportedly stile infamous in Nicaragua and Central America in general,
A man who is seen as the embodiment of American
imperialism in the region, as he sought to conquer their
country and expand the American save Empire. A man who,
in fact, with just fifty eight men, had invaded Nicaragua
and somehow meant to be name the president of their country,
only to eventually be overthrown by the combined forces of

(01:05):
five Central American republics. Yet at the same time, he's
also a man who is a more complicated figure than
you realize at for his glance. Indeed, I'd first heard
about William Walker through the dabb and nothing against Dave
and Gareth whatsoever, as I love what they do and
am actually subscribed to their patron But after researching Walker myself,
He's much more of a complex figure than I think

(01:25):
they realized, because despite what I initially thought and how
he's depicted in the episode, Walker wasn't some pro savory
guy motivated by expanding slavery and expanding the American save Empire, which,
to be fair to them, is kind of how he
eventually went down in history. Indeed, after a certain point,
he's just depicted led this crazy pro slavery dude who
just tries to take over other countries. The thing is,

(01:47):
as we will see, prior to his time in Nicaragua,
Walker actually seemed to hold anti slavery views, and indeed
he doesn't seem to try to legalize slavery in Nicaragua
until the end of his time there. One of my
main goals when doing the series n is to see
when and how he lost the plot before we get there, though, first,
like always, I want to acknowledge my sources for this series,

(02:08):
which include Michael Gobat's Empire by Invitation, William Walker in
Manifest Destiny in Central America, Frederick Rosngartens Freebooters Must Die,
the life and death of Will Walker, the most notorious
philibuster of the nineteenth century, Stephen Dando, Kansas Tycoons War,
how Cornelius Vanderbilt invaded a country to overthrow America's most
famous military adventurer. And Robert E. Bay's manifest Destiny's Underworld,

(02:32):
filibustering and anti Bellum America. And like always, these and
any other sources that I used will be listened on
this podcast, Blue Sky and kofee pages plus. For anyone
who doesn't want to be bothered skipping through commercials, there
is always an ad free feed available at patreon dot com.
Slash Distorted History. And with all that being said, let's begin.

(02:52):
William Walker was born on the eighth of May eighteen
twenty four in Nashville, Tennessee. His father, James Walker, was
an immigrant from Glasgow, Scotland, who had moved to the
US in eighteen twenty after his uncle and left to
me a dry goods business in Nashville. Jameson took over
the business and eventually used money from that venture to
start a very profitable insurance company. It was then the
thanks and no small part of this wealth that James

(03:14):
was able to win one Mary Noville, a member one
of Nashville's most prominent families, a family which could trace
its lineage back to the original English colonists who had
found in Williamsburg, Virginia. Indeed, Mary's father had even served
as a lieutenant under George Washington during the Revolutionary War,
while her brother had served as a US Senator before
going on to help found the Pennsylvania Inquirer, which decades

(03:35):
later would become the Philadelphia Inquirer. James and Mary then
would go on to have four children together, three sons, William,
Norville and James, and one daughter, Alice. Now it should
be noted that despite being a well to do family
living in Tennessee, the Walkers were no supporters of slavery. Indeed,
James is said to have abhorred the institution and would
make a point of firing free blacks. As for young William,

(03:58):
he was said to have been quite quiet and even
real find as a youth, so much so that some
considered him to be a mama's boy or a quote
unquote sissy. His father, James, meanwhile, was notably a member
of a Protestant sect known as the Disciples of Christ,
who believed in living their lives according to a strict
interpretation of the Bible. As such, James expected William, his
oldest son, to become a minister in the church. William, though,

(04:21):
had other concerns, namely his mother Mary's health. As Mary,
you see, had been ailing for several years from something
that the local physicians could not diagnose, much less care.
William than was determined to help his mother in cure
her mysterious illness, so he looked to become a doctor,
despite his own apparent passionate interest in politics. Now, it
has to be said that this was not an unreasonable goal.

(04:43):
After all, William, from an early age had begun the
process of making his way through his family's abundant bookshelves,
often doing so while reading aloud to his bed ridden mother. Plus,
e Walker household was one where the rules seemed to
be all work and no play. Indeed, William was not
allowed to take on an organiz sports and even most
games were forbidden for the Walker children. Instead, James emphasized

(05:05):
Bible study, morality, and chastity. As a result of this
upbringing in his own natural inclinations. By age twelve, William
could understand both Greek and Latin, which was enough for
his father to take him to the University of Nashville
to see if he could be admitted. The university administrators, though,
were understandably doubtful. They claims that James made of his
son's capabilities, and so they tested William by asking to

(05:26):
translate the land text of the Caesar Commentaries and Ciser Reservations,
in addition to some Greek passages of the New Testament,
all of which the twelve year old did without issue,
and so he was admitted. Not only that, but in
two years he would graduate Summakumade. From there, he would
by age sixteen, or what was essentially a master's degree,
as he studied, among other topics, the Bible, Latin and

(05:48):
Greek classics, geometry, trigonometry, ancient history, geography, philosophy, political economy, navigation,
international law, and oratory. In fact, William was the president
of his college's debate society. Meanwhile, Willeman also been studying
medicine under the tulage of the family's physician. However, seeing
as how he needed to know more than the local
doctors if he was going to help his mother, William

(06:11):
would within a month of graduating, moved to Philadelphia to
live with his uncle, John Norveld, the publisher of the
Pennsylvania Inquirer, as that way he couldn't raw at the
University of Pennsylvania's medical school, from where he would graduate
with his MD at age eighteen. Still, though he was
not done so, determined to learn as much as he
could so that he might help his ailing mother, William

(06:31):
sent off for Europe to continue his studies. He then
spent a year at the medical faculty of the University
of Paris before heading off to Heidelberg, Germany, to attend
lectures from top German doctors, and from there he went
on to Scotland to attend even more lectures at the
University of Edinburgh. Throughout this time, as you might expect
given a strike religious upbringing, William was far more interested

(06:52):
in his studies than the cultures he found himself surrounded by. Indeed,
he did not drink, smoke or gamble, and he steadfastly
avoided brout In particular, William was disturbed by the French
and how expressive they were when it came to their emotions,
so instead of taking in new experiences, William largely occupied
his time with stunnying and participating in numerous fencing contests

(07:13):
by the time he returned to the United States, and
William was not only highly educated, but was also fluent
in French, German, and Spanish. However, by the time that
he returned, his beloved mother Mary was on her deathbed,
where despite everything he had learned, there was nothing that
William could do to aid her. Devastated by his mother
Mary's death and his inability to aid her, William headed

(07:33):
for New Orleans where he started studying the law, doing
so with the aid of Edmund Randolph, whose grandfather had
served as George Washington's Attorney General. William would then earn
his law degree in two years, and Randolf would take
on William as his law partner. This new situation then
brought William in abundance of opportunities, one of which took
the form of a couple of local businessmen who were
looking to set up a new newspaper. As these men,

(07:56):
you see, not only wanted Walker to join them as
a partner in this endeavor, but to also serve as
the editor of the proposed publication. Then there was Ellan
Galton Martin, who was friend in law partner Edmund Randolph
introduced him to as Ellen was reportedly a stunningly beautiful
young woman who was a belle of New Orleans, despite
having been left death thanks to a bout of scarlet

(08:17):
fever in her youth. Her wealthy parent Soau, had seen
to it that Allan had received a top notch education,
in addition to learning sign language, which had only recently
been introduced to the US. However, even without someone who
spoke sign language to converse with, Allan was still eager
to engage with her peers, as she was said to
regularly attend balls with a pad and pencil in hand,

(08:37):
which he used to communicate, a method which may sound
somewhat cumbersome, but, according to a family member of Ellen's,
typically resulted in a quote exchange of a lively reperte
with many. For his part, Walker was seemingly taken with
Allan immediately and would quickly learn sign language so that
he might better communicate with her. Indeed, the way in
which he treated Ellen was enough to win the approval

(08:59):
of her widow mother, Clorinda Glasgow Martin. It is said
then that William and Allen became inseparable, with Ellen in
particular encouraging him to take the opportunity to become the
editor of the proposed newspaper, The Crescent, which he did
inspire both by Ellen and likely his uncle John Norvella
as well. Now, the thing you have to realize is
The Crescent was an extremely liberal paper, especially for its

(09:21):
time and place. Indeed, among the paper staff was a
young Walt Whitman. Under Walker's guidance, in the paper looked
to take on corrupt politicians, judges, and comps. Among its
targets was arch pro savy politician John C. Calhoun of
North Carolina. In fact, William, through his paper even expressed
the opinion that savory should be abolished on a state
by state basis, a radical and potentially dangerous sentiment to

(09:43):
give voice to in the South at that time. Now,
the fact that Walker held such views as fairly surprising
for us looking back, knowing his later actions, namely making
slavery legal and Nicaragua a place that had abolished the
practice decades earlier. However, given his personal history up until
this point, it makes sen as remember his father was
very much against slavery and only employed free blacks. Plus,

(10:05):
William had also spent several years living in studying medicine
in Philadelphia, a city that famously was the home to
quite a few with abolitionist sentiments, not to mention it
was also the home to one of the largest free
black communities in the nation. Then there was a time
he spent in Europe, where once again being anti savory
was the norm. That being said, William Walker does not

(10:26):
seem to have been fully abolitionist. Instead, it seems like
he saw it best to try and not spread slavery
beyond its current bounds. Therefore, he would advise that the
best thing that save volding Southerners could do to preserve
the quote unquote slave property that they currently possessed was
to not try and expand into other territories. As for
The Crescent, in addition to being anti savory, it would
also advocate in its editorial as women's rights to vote

(10:48):
and own property, which again were radical positions to take
in those days, stances that likely made William enemies in
New Orleans. In fact, his radical views and most importantly,
his willingness to take on the rich and powerful, would
result in Walker being challenged to a duel on two
separate occasions while in New Orleans. Now it seems that
one of these disagreements had not reach the point of
actually dueling. However, the other incident saw Walker and his

(11:12):
opponents stand across from one another and fire a single
shot each. A duel then left both men uninjured, but
their honors satisfied. Meanwhile, Ellen was supportive of William throughout
all this, and when the two were engaged, to which
she would give her husband to be a gold crucifix
on a chain. However, in eighteen forty nine, before the
two could say their vows, a color of epidemic swept

(11:32):
through New Orleans, one so bad that all manner of
stores and theaters were shot down as signs warning of
the epidemic hung all throughout the city, and among the
victims of this terrible disease was none other than Ellen Martin,
who died on the eighteenth of April. Ellen's untimely death
then understandably left William absolutely crushed, that least of all
because medicine had once again failed to save a woman

(11:54):
that he loved. Walker then, for several weeks would find
himself unable to write a single word for their Crescent. However,
he would eventually throw himself completely into his work, likely
in an attempt to escape his grief, and has to
be said, though, that no matter what he did, Allan's
death seemed to have a profound effect on William, as
it was said to have dramatically changed his personality. Prior

(12:16):
to this tragedy, William had been most commonly described as serious, quiet, gentle,
and kind. After her death, though those who knew him
noted how he seemed to become almost paranoid at times,
while also becoming obsessed with the idea of heroic and
reckless action. Indeed, during this time of following Ellen's death,
Willim would write an editorial in praising one Joseph Bem,
a Polish general who had joined the revolutionary Hungarian army

(12:39):
and who with a small force, had fought a brilliant
campaign in which he ultimately defeated a far larger Austrian army,
and was clear than that William Walker was especially infatuated
with these exploits. It was almost like he had developed
a death wish so that he could be with his
beloved Ellen again, but in doing so, he'd also become
obsessed with the idea of dying in a heroic battle

(13:01):
of some sort. It would then be amidst the shift
in William Walker's personality that he would be given an
example of how to fulfill his new found obsession. As
filibusters had become a big thing in the news. New
Orleans in particular was especially a buzz, as the said
he would be the home of multiple efforts to try
and free Cuba from Spanish rule. Southerners in general were

(13:22):
particularly attracted to this cause, not least of all because
Cuba had slavery. May then imagine turning the large island
into two slaveholding states, thereby further increasing their power in Congress.
With the de Bow's Review epitomizing this view, as it wrote, quote,
the North Americans will spread out far beyond their present bounds.
They will encroach again and again on their neighbors. New

(13:44):
territories will be planted, declare their independence and be Annext
we have new Mexico and California, we will have own
Mexico and Cuba. The term filibuster first came into use

(14:20):
around eighteen fifty to describe the land pirates who took
part in revolutions and foreign countries for personal gain, a
word that seems to have come from the French and
Spanish words felibuster and philibustero. Which were themselves descended from
the old Dutch word for freebooterer or pirate. Now, the
phenomenon of filipbusters in the United States was in many
ways an outgrowth or an extension all the concept of

(14:42):
manifest destiny, a term that, as we saw in my
series on the Dinner Party, was first coded in July
eighteen forty five in a publication called The United States
Magazine and Democratic Review, in which one John O'Sullivan gave
a name to the pre existing belief that Americans were
too quote overspread continent. After all, the United States had

(15:02):
been expanding rapidly ever since its founding. The residents of
the nation then were generally of the belief that this
rapid expansion would and should continue. The phrase manifest destiny
then only served to condense this idea into an easily
repeatable form, a phrase that was then given even more
weight later that year, when Robert C. Winthrop of Massachusetts

(15:23):
used to win arguing only for the House of Representatives
about the fate of Oregon, stating as he did that
it was quote our manifest destiny to spread over the
whole continent, which, by the way, isn't actually a good justification,
as it's basically just saying we can take this land.
Simply because of vague and unnoble reasons as to the
term filibuster, it was first coined seemingly in response to

(15:46):
Arciso Lopez's attempts to overthrow a Spanish rule in Cuba
in eighteen fifty and eighteen fifty one. As e Venezuela's
efforts in Cuba involved hundreds of men who had been
recruited from the United States, which included the nephew of
US Attorney General John J. Crittenden of Kentucky, William critton Den,
who would be executed along with Lopez and some of

(16:06):
the other survivors of their failed second campaign to take
over the island, with the stories of their glorious attempt
and ultimate executions gaining national attention, even though the US
at the time was concerned with the fact that California
was trying to join the Union as a free state,
a situation which threatened to tip the bounce between the
free and slaved states. Yet, despite this, as more information

(16:26):
started coming out of Cuba, the ongoing sectional crisis and
the Compromise of eighteen fifty kind of turkey back seat. Meanwhile,
government officials were compelled to pay attention to the deeds
of these unsanctioned adventurers, as their actions actively endangered the
country's relations, not just with Spain, but with the other
European powers in general. Indeed, filibusters were basically by definition,

(16:47):
Americans who either joined private military forces or alternatively raised
their own with the goal of invading foreign countries that
the US itself was at peace with. Such acts then
not only violated the nation's treaties with these other countries
and international law itself, but also the US's own Neutrality
Act of eighteen eighteen, which prohibited private warfare. After all,

(17:08):
it had been understood for a long time prior to
the creation of the United States, the countries could not
just sit back and allow their territory to act as
a stage and ground for the invasion of another territory
and expect to maintain peace for relations with said country,
and understanding that had very much been shared by the
American founders, especially since the country was extremely outclassed militarily

(17:29):
when it came to the European powers. To this end,
the eighteen eighty Neutrality Law contained provisions to imprison anyone
felt guilty of beginning or aiding quote, any military expedition
or enterprise against the territory or dominion of any foreign
princes or state, or any county, district, or people with
whom the United States are at peace, with the punishment

(17:49):
being a maximum sentence of three years with up to
three thousand dollars in fines, which was a considerable amount
of money in those days. Now, to be clear, just
becaused arciso lope. His efforts against Cuba finally codified the
term filibuster for such activities. That does not mean that
his was the first case of filibustering in American history.
For example, on seventeen ninety seven, Senator William Blunt of

(18:12):
Tennessee was impeached after the Adams administration received evidence that
Blunt was planned to invade lands beyond the boundaries of
the United States. Yet, despite this evidence, Blunt would never
be convicted because he argued that members of the Senate
could not be impeached, an argument that the Senate apparently
agreed with, as he declared that they did not have
the authority to prosecute this case. Now, when it comes

(18:35):
to the targats of these early filibuster expeditions. In general,
it would be the lens held by Spain and North America,
specifically their holdings in Florida, Texas, and Louisiana, which was
not a coincidence. As you see, Spain's colonial holdings had
become especially vulnerable following the eighteen oh eight invasion of
Spain by Napoleon Bonaparte. Seeing this chaos in Europe and
recognizing that the once powerful Empire could no longer spare

(18:58):
the time to focus on their colonial home holdings, said
colonial holdings would play host to a series or rebelliance
against Spanish rule from eighteen ten to eighteen twenty four,
rebellions which some Americans decided to involve themselves in, with
some doing so simply because he were inspired by such
revolutionary efforts and wanted to take part. Will understood so
in the hope that these colonies, once freed, would join

(19:20):
the United States. This idea of basically replacing Spanish control
with American control would be illustrated in eighteen nineteen when
James Long attempted to lay claim to Spanish control in Texas,
a move that was largely a response to the recently
negotiated treaty between Spain and the US that saw America
gaining Florida in exchange for surrendering any claim to Texas,

(19:40):
an agreement that Long in his allies did not support.
Now Long would fail in his attempt. However, it can
be argued that the eventual Texas Revolution was in fact
the most successful filibuster in American history. Indeed, at least
three out of every four soldiers in the Texas Rebel
armies of eighteen thirty six had arrived after the conflict
that started in October eighteen thirty five, meaning that the

(20:03):
vast majority of their army at that point did not
consist of individuals who were living in Texas, but where
active residents of the US would now involve themselves in
that conflict. This flood of incoming Americans was seemingly allowed
by federal authorities, despite Andrew Jackson claiming to have put
district attorneys and army officers on alert to prevent such
volunteer groups from heading off to join the ongoing conflict.

(20:26):
After all, it wasn't like it was typically just one
dude heading off on his own to join the fight,
as more often than not, these were groups of volunteers
were organized and led by some local leader of some sort,
which is to say that if federal officials had been
paying attention and actually wanted to put a stop to
such groups joining the conflict, they probably could have done something. However,

(20:46):
many simply assumed that Jackson did not actually mean what
he said, but was instead just paying lip service, a
supposition seemingly supported by the fact that not much effort
was actually put into stopping any of these volunteer groups. Meanwhile,
there as much attention as Spain's holding scott from would
be felibusters, Ira Allen of Vermont would cast his eyes
northward British Canada. To this end, Ira would travel to

(21:09):
Paris in seventeen ninety six seeking the aid of French
expeditionary troops for an effort to liberate Canada and turn
it into the Democratic Republic of United Columbia. As you see,
Ira planned to lead a force New Englanders north from
Lake Champlain while their French allies launched their attack from
Quebec and headed up the Saint Lawrence River. The whole
scheme that would fall apart when the British intercepted a

(21:30):
shipment while en roared across the Atlantic of fifteen thousand
muskets and twenty one canons to be used in this effort. Now,
this was a major blow to iris plans. Indeed, he
would spend several years after this trying to convince French
officials to send another shipment of arms. Buddy would receive
no further assistance, as it was now seen as being
too much of a risk. Yet, while Iris's attempts might

(21:52):
have been foiled, other Americans would attempt to take part
in the Patriot uprisings of Quebec and Ontario in eighteen
thirty seven. In fact, many a young labor with limited
prospects in the regions bordering Canada would be lurned to
join the Patriot cause with promises of Canadian land and
silver dollars. The problem for the would be American filibusters
and the Patriots trying to recruit them, though, was the

(22:12):
fact that now President van Buren was seemingly much more
serious about attempting to put a stop to such efforts,
likely at least in part because England was a much
more formidable foe than Mexico, so not wanting to cross Britain,
Van Buren would empower General Winfield Scott to oversee efforts
to prevent Americans from taking part in the conflict in Canada.
To this end, General Scott thried to confiscate any vessels

(22:35):
found to be carrying filibusters or carrying supplies for them,
which offentively stripped them of much of their support, as
the ship owners were not about to risk their vessels
and their livelihood for this mission, so without help from
such shipowners they would be. Filibusters were then left without
much in the way of supplies as winter in Canada
set in. This reality, however, would not stop on Thomas

(22:56):
Jefferson Sutherland from attempted to launch an attack from the
Detroit against Toronto. This attempt, though, would fall apart more
or less on its own and with the help of
some Canadian militia forces, as Sutherland ship would run and
ground in the Detroit River, at which point they were
attacked by some Canadian militiamen. A series of mishaps then
led to Sutherland's men disbanding and heading home. This, however,

(23:19):
did not stop others from making similar attempts. For example,
on the twenty second of February eighteen thirty eight, several
hundred men looked to use the American occupied Hickory Island
as a staging point to assault Kingston. As it turned out,
though most of these men had no real interest in
a fight, as most turned around and headed home upon
receiving word that a force of Canadian militia men were

(23:39):
heading their way. Meanwhile, two days later, another group of
one hundred and fifty men would cross the ice cover
Detroit River to lay claim to Fighting Island, where they
would remain for two whole days before ultimately being driven
back by Canadian forces. Then, on the twenty eighth of February,
some five to six hundred volunteers led by Canadian physician
Robert Nelson, departed from Vermont, with this force marching into

(24:03):
Canada armed with muskets, staln from Vermont State arsenal, and
cannons on slaves. Nelson would then name himself president of
the Independent Republic of Lower Canada, a country that would
not exist for very long, as soon advancing British forces
would send Nelson's American supporters fleeing across the border, where
they would ultimately surrender to US authorities on the first

(24:23):
of March. Meanwhile, an effort to take the community of
Prescott and modern day Ontario would result in the death
of twenty patriots and another one hundred and fifty seven
being taken prisoner, while the rest would flee from a
conflict over a windmill, with this defeat partially being the
result of a US marshall and federal troops stepping in
to prevent further reinforcements from crossing the border. Then, on

(24:45):
the third of December, Lucius Spears of Ohio would lead
a force of one hundred and thirty five men across
the Detroit River to attack Windsor, Ontario, where they would
burn barracks, some houses, any steamer before ultimately being defeated
in a clash that saw twenty one invaders dying in battle,
while a number of others would either be taken prisoner
or die from exposure as they fled. Yet still in

(25:06):
despite all these repeated setbacks, efforts to invade Canada would
continue for several more years until an eighteen forty two
treaty between the US and Britain resolved most of the
border disputes between the two countries. Meanwhile, following the Texas Revolution,
there wasn't much in the way of filibuster attempts in
a southerly direction until the Mexican American War of eighteen
forty six. As following the conclusion of that war, there

(25:29):
were a number of veterans of that conflict who weren't
especially eager to lay down their arms just yet. Their
eyes and turned to the Yucatan Peninsula, which had seceded
from Mexico in eighteen forty six and had thus not
taken part in the war. Indeed, in eighteen forty seven,
the residents of the Yucatan, including some rebelling Mayan Indians,
solicited the aid of American volunteers, offering them eight dollars

(25:52):
a month and three hundred and twenty acres of land
in exchange for their services. Others, though, looked to Cuba,
where a collection of Creole merchants, planters, and various other
professionals formed the Havana Club and began advocating for the
annexation of Cuba by the United States, efforts which included
attempts to recruit veterans from the recent war against Mexico
to join their scheme to overthrow Spanish rule over the island.

(26:15):
To this end, they even approached US General William J.
Worth to see if he might lead this filibuster effort,
with General Worth even reportedly tendatively agreeing to take part,
as he promised to join their cause as soon as
he could resign from his post in the US Army.
In fact, some believed that Worth even approached another U
s Army officer, Robert E. Lee, about joining the campaign.

(26:36):
President Paul Calvery, even though he was very much a
supporter of Manifestocity, could not even give tacit support to
such efforts when he was actively in the process of
trying to purchase Cuba from Spain. Poulk then issued orders
to prevent soldiers who had taken part in the recent
war with Mexico from now turning their attention to Cuba,
not because he did not support the idea of America

(26:56):
laying claim to the island, but because he did not
do damages on going owing negotiations with Spanish officials, who
he figured would be less eager to sell Cuba to
the US if American soldiers were actively invading the island,
regardless of whether or not they had the approval of
the state. Indeed, American officials would even hand over what
information they had about those in Cuba who were actively

(27:17):
attempting to foe met this rebellion. Meanwhile, pok And, as
Secretary of State b Ukenan also looked to put a
stop to attempts by Americans to join the revolutionary efforts
in northern Mexico. Then looked to create the Republic of
the Sierra Madre or the Republic of the Rio Grande
as American involvement in such efforts, when making mockery of
their recently signed treaty with Mexico. The thing is, by

(27:38):
this point Americans had earned such a reputation for fomenting
and joining rebellions in foreign countries that when a number
of Americans traveled to Ireland, they were arrested by the British,
who mistakenly believed they intended to filibuster there as well,
Which brings us, at long last back to the man
whose efforts to conquer Cuba had led to the creation
of the name filibuster to describe these attempts. Narses so

(28:01):
Lopez had been born in Venezuela in seventeen ninety eight.
He was the son of a wealthy merchant and would
go on to become a commissioned officer in Spain's army
in that country, where it was said that Lopez's troops
loved the strong, handsome and charismatic leader. With the star
on the horizon. Lopez would move to Spain so as
to continue his military career, where he would go on
to become a general. Upon retiring from the military, Lopez

(28:24):
would be given a lucrative political post on Cuba, where
he proceeded to invest in several business opportunities, hoping to
further increase his wealth. Lopez, however, did not invest his
money wisely, as all the aforementioned business opportunities failed. Meanwhile,
Lopez also had a bit of a gambling problem, namely
the fact that he wasn't particularly good at it altogether.

(28:46):
Then this po Lopez and some serious debt, which also
caused him the fall out of political favor. The now
and bitter Lopez and found himself taking part in a
revolutionary plan against Spanish rule in Cuba in eighteen forty eight,
a move which was an entirely unreasonable. After all, Spain's
rule was rife with corruption and officials charging excessive taxes. Then,
in eighteen twenty five, Spain started stripping the residents of

(29:08):
the island of any voice they had in their government
by eliminating Cuban and the legislative assemblies, a move that
they then followed up in eighteen thirty seven by making
it so the colony no longer had a right to
send delegates to the National Congress. Spain, though, would uncover
this conspiracy and beginning crackdown on all revolutionary activity in
Cuba in eighteen forty eight, a situation that then forced

(29:30):
Lopez to flee for his life as he barely was
able to escape to the US. Yet just because he
had fled from Cuba did not mean that Lopez had
given up on his dreams of overthrowing Spanish rule on
the island, as the former general would find in the
US an already active movement that was not only dedicated
to overthrowing Spanish rule, but also to seeing to it
that Cuba was annexed by the United States. Over the

(29:52):
coming year. Then, Lopez would seem to organize a military
expedition to free Cuba. In doing so, he worked primarily
with a group known as a Cuban COUNTNSUL, which consisted
of other Cuban exiles and which was also an offshoot
of the afrommentioned Havana Club. Initially, in doing so, Lopez,
who did not speak English, relied upon the health of
Ambrosio Jose Gonzales, who was a member of the Havana Club. Indie.

(30:16):
Gonzas had initially come to America as a part of
the club's attempts to recruit US General William Worth, and
when that fell through, he shifted his focus to support
Lopez's efforts. Meanwhile, also seeking to eight in these efforts
was one Rose greenhow who in a little over eight
decades time, would serve as a spy for the Confederacy.
Rose specifically would try to convince famed arch defender slavery

(30:37):
Senator John C. Calhouna South Carolina to aid the Filibusters
in some way, which goes to show you the type
of people most interested in the success of this mission.
All the support would result in Lopez, by eighteen forty nine,
recruiting a force of some four hundred and fifty to
six hundred men who would gather together on an island
off the Mississippi coast in preparation of their invasion of Cuba,

(31:00):
with talk of another similarly sized group being organized elsewhere,
which Lopez would meet up with after the invasion began.
Now whether or not the second force actually existed or
not is unknown, because United States government put a stop
to their plans by having the US Navy blockade the
island they were using as their staging ground. The Navy
then declared the men on the island to be vagrants, mercenaries,

(31:21):
and lawbreakers, who they then warned that not only would
they not be allowed to board any ship capable of
taking them to Cuba, but they were also cutting off
the island from any incoming shipments of supplies. Left to
become increasingly hungry and with no ability to carry through
with their invasion plans, Lopez's force off of Mississippi was
then quickly dissolved as the men returned to the mainland.

(31:42):
Yet the collapse of his plans would not stop Lopez,
although the members of the Cuban exile community did now
question his leadership and began to argue that more planning
should be involved in any future attempts. Additionally, the wealthy
men financing these efforts were also worried about the political
situation in the US, namely the increasingly heated sectional crisis
over the question of the expansion of slavery, with these

(32:04):
men now worried what might happen to the US and
next cubat eight time when northern politicians who were against
the expansion of slavery into territories were in power. As
to be clear, the men behind this Cuban rebellion very
much wanted to keep Cuba's safe system intact. Meanwhile, these
filibuster expeditions were often heavily covered in American newspapers. Indeed,

(32:25):
throughout Lopez's time in the US, papers regularly reported on
his recruiting efforts in cities like New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia,
and Washington, d C. Which is likely a big reason
why of the federal government was able to crack down
so successfully on Lopez and halt his invasion plans. Yet,
even following this failure, lo Pez and his allies would
still make a declaration in the press that they were

(32:46):
organizing their HOTA for the promotion of Cuban political interest
in Washington, and then provided the press with their po
bocks for any interested parties to write to. Meanwhile, in
an attempt to further court the support of the American public,
Lopez and his allies looked to get prominent figures from
the Mexican American War like Jefferson Davis and Robert E.
Lee to join their cause again, just further illustrating the

(33:07):
type of freedom that these revolutionaries were calling for. However,
they could not get Davis or Lee to stick their
necks out for this particular cause. Lopez in eighteen fifty, though,
would make it another attempt to recruit an American hero
from the Mexican War, this time targeting one John Anthony Quitman,
who had since become the Governor of Mississippi, with equipment

(33:28):
actually seeming to agree to lead a secondary force in
a Cuba following Lopez's initial invasion, provided that Lopez was
actually able to spark a rebellion on the island. Furthermore,
it's rumored the equipment might have actually handed official Mississippi
state weapons over to the filibuster forces. Plus equipment also
seems to have had a US Naval officer spy on
the Spanish defenses in Cuba for him, as when Lieutenant

(33:50):
Hartstein would send the Mississippi Governor detailed reports on Spanish
troop movements and gun and placements on the island. That
being said quipment's involvement in the platas tech speculative, as
he never would lead a secondary force to assist in
taking control of Cuba, as Lopez's next attempt would not
be any more successful than his first, although he would
at least reach Cuba this time. For his second attempt,

(34:13):
Lopez had at his command an army of five hundred
and seventy men, a force that was pretty much in
line with the one that he looked to command a
year earlier and consisted primarily of American recruits, although it
would have some European immigrants in Cuban exiles mixed in
as well. Unlike the last time, though, instead of using
an island off the Mississippi Coast as his staging ground,
he had his men travel via three separate vessels so

(34:36):
as to not attract the US Navy's attention to an
island off of Mexico's Yucatan Pan Peninsula, which seems like
a sound enough plan to avoid interference from the American government. Things, however,
started going wrong almost immediately, as one of these ships
was swept off course and they ended up using a
different island twelve miles way as the staging ground, which,
to be fair wasn't a huge deal, but maybe not

(34:57):
the best omen for their success. Indeed, before they could
set off for Cuba, thirteen other recruits would desert after
being sent to get fresh water for the army, while
another thirty nine were just allowed to quit, which then
left Lopez with just under five hundred and twenty men
to launch his invasion with things and kicked off at
two thirty am on the nineteenth of May eighteen fifty

(35:18):
when Lopez and his invasion force landed without incident at Cardenas. Indeed,
they would meet no resistance until they launched a frontal
assault on the building in town that housed the local
government's offices, which, while not the greatest military strategy, was
one that was easy for the press to depict as
being brave and daring. By the end of the morning,
then Lopez and his men had captured the Kardena City Hall,

(35:40):
jail in custom House, in addition to taking in a
custody local government officials and members of the local garrison,
with some of the captured Spanish soldiers even reportedly volunteering
to join their cause. At first glanced in this seemed
like a great victory. Appearances, however, were deceiving as they
had suffered losses during the fighting, including several rebel office us. Plus,

(36:01):
while they had managed to capture the nephew of Cubist
Captain General. Before this individual had surmeddered, they had not
only managed to get Ward out of the attack, but
it also issued orders to cut the rare lines heading
west out of the province in order that effectively prevented
the filibusters from making a rapid strike on Evana. Meanwhile,
not helping matters was the fact that the local populace

(36:22):
was far less enthused about Lopez's attempted rebellion than anticipated,
meaning that few, if any, actively rallied to their cause. Instead,
most shunned them or just straight up fled from town,
not wanting to get caught in the inevitable crossfire. Indeed,
their victory at Cardena would prove to be exceedingly short lived,
as by noon, Lopez would receive word that some two

(36:42):
thousand Spanish soldiers were coming his way, a force four
times the size of his own. So he looked to
get his men back on board their ships so they
could make good their escape. However, before he could get
all of his men back on board the Spanish troops
arrived and attacked the lone remaining regiment that were still
on shore, which meant that Lopez and lost another thirty
four men. Meanwhile, the ship with Lopez and his remaining

(37:05):
men on board and its haste to flee, became granted
on its way out of the harbor, thus requiring the
filibusters on board to cast off tons of ammunition, which
you know as brine portman trying to fight a war
just to get themselves free. The Nelaana escape was such
that allowed the Spanish steam warship Bizarre to arrive and
pursue Lopez's ship all the way to Key West. The

(37:25):
filibusters and managed to escape these Spaniards clutches, but upon
arriving in the US, they learned that officials they were
making efforts to prosecute Lopez and some of his associates
for violating the Neutrality Act, which is all to say
that things had again gone pretty terribly. Lopez, however, was
not deterred, so even though Lopez and fifteen of his

(37:46):
allies would be indicted, he just kept doing what he
had been doing ever since arriving in the US. Come
April eighteen fifty one. Then Lopez was ready to make
another attempt, this time dreaming bigger than ever before. As
Ny was hoping to have some fortifying one thousand men
join him in his attempt to cast the Spanish out
of Cuba, an ambitious goal considering that he had just

(38:06):
a little over five hundred with him the last time. Now,
how close he ever came to reaching this goal is unknown,
although it does seem he would manage to recruit over
a thousand men for his effort. Among their rankser men
look to spread liberty, young men after adventure, and those
who were more than anything else, interested in the offered
bounty of four thousand dollars or that same value in

(38:27):
Cuban real estate. Of course, though amidst all this recruiting
and planning, Lopez and his allies had to be careful
not to tip their hand to federal officials, who were
clearly none too happy with them at this point. In fact,
federal officials would capture a ship carrying one to Bee
filibusters leaving from New York, which threw a bit of
a wrench into Lopez's plans. One would think then that

(38:48):
this setback would result in a delay as a load
to make up for this loss by getting more recruits,
rather than going off half conted with a force of
just a couple hundred like they had done with Lopez's
last failed attempt, which, to be fair, might have actually
been the planned, but external events intervened. As you see.
New Orleans, where Lopez had been staying throughout all this,

(39:08):
in the summer of eighteen fifty one, was a buzz
with a news that a rebellion against Spanish rule had
erupted in Cuban near Pritto, Principe, with the rumor having
it that the insurrection had purposely been launched on the
fourth of July as a signal of sorts to the Americans.
There was a tremendous pro Cuba sentiment in the city,
as supporters of Lopez and his efforts held rallies for

(39:29):
recruits and funds, and places like Lafayette Square and the
courtyard of the Bank's Arcade. Fueled by this news and
wanted to take advantage of this rebellion, Lopez look to
make another attempt immediately, rather than wait until he was
better prepared and had more men. Indeed, if anything, it
seemed like he might not need a huge force, as
one would already be there waiting for him, given the

(39:50):
reports that most of the towns in Cuba's interior were
in a state of rebellion and that there were now
several thousand rebels fighting against the Spanish who were suffering
considerable losses as result of this rush to take advantage
of the situation, Lopez would ultimately lead behind several hundred
volunteers who had arrived in New Orleans following his departure,
a situation which meant that Lopez only had four hundred

(40:11):
to four hundred and fifty men with him, a number
actually smaller than what he had with him on his
last attempt. That being said, Lopez didn't tend to make
a stop in Jacksonville, Florida on his way to Cuba,
so as to pick up additional men in artillery. However,
the general would learn while in transit that they didn't
actually have enough coal to reach Jacksonville and then make
it to Cuba. Lopez and had the ship stop off

(40:33):
of Key West while he decided how to handle this situation,
at which point the general again received the encouraging news
that the rebellion had spread even further. Lopez and basically
decided that it was best to strike now while the
proverbial iron was hot, ordering the ship to take him
and his men to Cuba first, and then worry about
getting the extra recruits and artillery from Jacksonville later. Meanwhile,

(40:54):
Lopez during the stop would receive even further encouragement from
US Senator in future, Confederate naval secretaries, even Mallory, who
displayed a support for the cause by gifting Lopez a
hair ring for good fortune, which, as best as I
can tell, is a piece of jewelry that in some
way incorporated human hair in it. Regardless the fact that
the matter was, Lopez was now heading for Cuba with

(41:15):
less men than he had on his previous failed attempt
and with no artillery, all because he was convinced that
a massive uprising was taking place and hoped to take
advantage of the situation. The problem was the American press's
reports of this uprising were massively exaggerated. In fact, by
the time Lopez arrived, the Spanish authorities on the island
had basically already crushed what was in reality a fairly

(41:37):
minor rebellion plost. Not only were the Spanish forces in Cuba,
not distracted by a massive uprising, but because Lopez's ship
had taken a wrong turn and appeared off of Havan
on the eleventh of August, they were now anticipating his arrival.
Unaware of the actual situation on the island, Lopez and
his men went on the twelfth of August land near
the small village of Mario, about sixty miles west off

(41:59):
a Van, at which point Lopez senateship off to retrieve
the cannons and reinforcements he had left behind, thereby ensuring
that he had no means of escape should things go bad,
which they already were, as the Spanish already had a
force marching toward his position, with more coming by both
railroad and by sea. Lopez, so oblivious to this danger,
further compounded his mistake by splitting his already limited forces

(42:23):
as he left a quarter of his men behind. Morrio
under the command of American Colonel William Crittenden, the nephew
of US Attorney General John Crindon, who was a graduate
of West Point and who had served with distinction in
the Mexican American War before subsequently resigning from the US
military to join Lopez's war efforts. His job now then
was to hold the town and guard their supplies. Among

(42:44):
Lopez to three remaining men inland, believing that it was
only a matter of time before they would link up
with the local revolutionary forces who were also fighting against
Spanish rule. It wasn't long, though, before Lopez came to
the realization that the Spanish forces were much closer than
he had anticipated, and which when he sent were back
to Critton and the many had left behind to quickly
move up to join with him. However, by this point

(43:06):
it was already too late, as the Spanish forces would
attack both Lopez and the men he had left behind.
That being said, the Philibusters would actually manage to make
a good showing of themselves, as they not only managed
to repulse these attacks, but they would also inflict more
casualties on their foes than they themselves had suffered. Still, though,
it was only a matter of time, and Crittenden would

(43:27):
not help matters, as after pushing back their Spanish attackers,
he actually pursued the fleeing Spanish soldiers with his force
of only eighty men, only to get cut off from
Lopez and the main filibuster force, and which point Crittenden
and his men would flee back to the village of Mario,
where they attempted to head out to sea and four
fishing boats. However, before they could get very far, Crittenden
and his fleeing men were spotted by a Spanish steamer,

(43:49):
which turned their cannons upon the would be liberators and
force them to surrender. Now, per the terms of their surrender,
Crittenden and his men were to be treated as prisoners
of war and thus their lives were to be spared. However,
the Captain General of Cuba would reneg on this deal
and instead have critton Den and his men court martialed
and subsequently executed by firing squad. In fact, critten denan

(44:11):
is remaining fifty men, mostly Americans, would be denied the
right to speak to the American consul and were instead
given just half an hour to write letters to their
families before being killed. Meanwhile, Lopez and his remaining four
hundred men would find off a larger number of Spanish troops,
losing some forty four men in the process, and which
point to retreat it to a nearby coffee plantation that

(44:31):
Lopez had once owned, where he and his filmbusters once
again held off a force of nine hundred Spanish troops
and forced them to retreat. They then waited there for
a time, hoping that these supposedly rebelling Cubans would come
to their aid. However, when it became clear that wasn't happening,
Lopez withdrew his men into the nearby mountains. Any hope
of continuing resistance, however, would soon be dashed, although not

(44:53):
by anything the Spanish did, but instead by a severe
tropical rainstorm, the soath the filibusters remaining ammunition, making it useless.
The increasingly desperate filibusters and searched in vain for the
rebel forces that they had been led to belief had
risen up against the Spanish. Yet instead of allies, that
would only encounter and get another large force of Spanish troops,
who now easily defeated the would be filibusters, who by

(45:15):
this point had no ammunition and had not had a
proper meal in six days. Lopez himself, meanwhile, would try
to escape, only to only twentieth of August be haunted
down and severely been by a pack of bloodhounds before
being taken captive. He was then executed a few days
later by being strangled by Garat in a public square
as some twenty thousand spectators watched on his remaining one

(45:37):
hundred and seventy three men meanwhile would be sent to
a Spanish penal colony so as to serve sentences of
hard labor. However, Queen Isabella I would soon pardon most
of the Americans, following efforts by President Millard Fillmore, who
interceded on their behalf. The public perception of filibusters was,

(46:26):
to put it mildly mixed, as some saw them as
pirates and menaces, yet another example of the increasing lawlessness
that seemed to be gripping the country that manifested in
things like vigilante attacks and mob ryots. While one federal
official would describe the filibusters as quote desperate looking creatures
who would quote murder remained for ten dollars, many others, meanwhile,

(46:47):
especially those who believed in the idea of manifest destiny,
saw philibusters as heroes. As a result, following Narcisso Lopez's
failed attempt to conquer Cuba, there were more than a
few horror outraged by the executioner William Crittenden by the Spanish. Indeed,
many in New Orleans would cry out for revenge and
bloodshed as the only answer to this affront, with an
editorial in the Courier declaring that quote, American blood has

(47:11):
been shed. It cries aloud for vengeance. Of course, though
it wasn't just blood that would scociate the writer of
this editorial and those of a like mind, as it
would later add that quote, our brethren must be avenged.
Cuba must be seized. For some then, while was a
question of honor and revenge, it was also about finishing
their mission and expanding the US by claiming Cuba. In fact,

(47:34):
with any month of Lopez's execution, a group calling themselves
the Order of the Lone Star would form in Lafayette, Louisiana,
a group consisting of no one who actually knew Lopez personally,
but who were nonetheless sympathetic to his cause, as they
were dedicated to extending the quote area of liberty, which
for them was likely as much about spreading democracy as

(47:55):
it was about gaining more territory where slavery was legal.
The group than quickly so spread along the Gulf coast,
with at least one brand of the organization forming as
far away as New York City. That being said, ultimately
the Lone Stars would not actually do anything, likely because
they were persuaded by the idea that President Franklin Peers
might be able to acquire a Cuba from Spain. Still,

(48:16):
the fact that the organization spread so wide so quickly
very much spoke to the popularity of filibusters, at least
among certain segments of America. Meanwhile, John Anthony equipment following
Lopez's defeat would reconnect with the Cuban exiles, who had
in no way given up on their dreams of liberating
their homeland from Spanish control. In fact, that seems to
once a had equipment on their side. The Cuban conspiracy

(48:38):
more or less absorbed the Lone Star Organization quipment's involvement,
though Hinge on the group actually imagined to recruit enough
men to carry out a proper revolution in Cuba, as
he blamed Lopez's repeated failures on him being too hasty.
They would soon learn, though, that being too cautious also
really didn't work either, as when they repeatedly delayed their
plant invasion in the name of getting more recruits, they

(49:01):
only ended up losing more men who simply grew tired
of waiting. Their plans were also founding another curveball when
Spanish authorities managed to put down another internal rebellion on
Cuba that had been planned to take place in February
eighteen fifty five, a rebellion that would have obviously made
Equipments and his allies jobs much easier. Ultimately, then Equipment
would resign from his position within the conspiracy, in no

(49:23):
small part due to the continued interference from the US government,
who again did not exactly appreciate its own citizens, unilatterally
violating its international agreements. That being said, well, the US
government officially disapproved of filibusters statements bias sized officials would
also effectively encourage them and their actions. Franklin Pierce, for example,
in his inaugural address in eighteen fifty three, would declare

(49:45):
that territorial expansion was an objective of his administration, making
him the first US president to make such a declaration
so openly. Meanwhile, James Buchanan, the man who succeeded him
at president, would declear that quote expansion is in the
future the our country, and only cowards fear and oppose it.
The general agreement seemed to be then the quote unquote

(50:06):
backwards territories, especially those rich and natural resources, should be
taken over. This was because, regardless of their other motivations,
at the core of these expansionist plans was a racist
understanding that white Protestants were superior to other races and groups.
It was than their right and responsibility to take such
valuable lands from lesser people for the benefit of all.

(50:28):
As for their philosophy, in addition to enriching themselves, they
were also convinced that they would be making the lives
of these inferior people better by showing them a better way.
William Monger then, was very much not immune to this
kind of thinking, as while he would write editorials condemning
Lopez his efforts, he did not do so because he
was against the acquisition of Cuba. Instead, he and the

(50:50):
Cressit preferred the annexation of the island through negotiations and
compromise with Spain. Plus again, he was at this point
very much against the expansion of slavery. Walker's disapproval of
Lopez and was more of a condemnation of this specific case,
rather than a blacked denunciation of all filibusters. If anything,
Walker was likely drawn to the seeming heroics and bravery

(51:11):
of the filibusters, something which again was seemingly at the
front of his mind following the untimely death of his
beloved Ellen Plosi. Had become convinced, following the failures of
various European revolutions against absolute monarchy and feudalism in France,
parts of Italy, and in various German states, than it
now fell to the US to convert quote the world

(51:32):
to democracy, which meant not just spreading a republican form
of government where people had an actual say in their government,
but also the elimination of the aristocratic class and the
special privileges that they enjoyed. In particular, Walker was convinced
that it was America's destiny to conquer the entire Western hemisphere,
and he would very much come to believe that it
would be filibusters who would carry out this campaign, as

(51:55):
he very much disagreed with the government's attempts to prevent
American citizens from violating the country's Neutrality Act and their
various treaties with other countries. Instead, it was Walker's opinion
that there was no law that could deny a man
of the right to quote take his share any foreign
quarrel which appeals to his love of liberty, or detestation
of tyranny, or even to his mere sword, estimate of

(52:15):
glory or gain. Meanwhile, the New Orleans Daily Crescent, the
paper which Walker served as editor, would change ownership in
February eighteen fifty I suspect because its more liberal views
weren't exactly popular in the city or in the South
in general. And which point Walker decided to follow the
example of his old friend in law partner Edmund Randolph
and join the thousands of others heading west to California,

(52:39):
arriving in San Francisco by steamship after crossing over Panama
in June eighteen fifty. Now, upon arriving, rather than heading
to the already very crowded goldfields or even joining Edmund
in his newly established law practice, Walker was instead introduced
by Edmund to one John Nugent, who had just recently
started publishing the San Francisco Herald, a paper which notably

(52:59):
supported the free soil wing of the Democratic Party, which
meant they opposed the expansion of savory into new territories,
but were not necessarily in favor of abolishing the South's
peculiar institution, a position which matched his own beliefs, and
so Walker accepted the job to be the publications editor,
like he had been of The Crescent. Meanwhile, it would

(53:20):
be here in San Francisco where Walker's views on American
expansion were further solidified. Walker, seeing looked around and saw
how rapidly California was being developed by the incoming crush
of American settlers. Their success here in the rapidity of
it than convinced Walker that American settlers on their own
could forge their own successful colonies even without the support
of the US government. At the same time, Walker remained

(53:42):
staunchly free soil in his views, as illustrated by the
paper he chose to work for. However, that did not
mean that he supported free blacks moving into these newly
acquired territories, a stance that was fairly common among free soilers.
Master stance had less to do with African Americans and
how much they suffered under the coqurel system of slavery,
as it did how they saw slavery as being unfair

(54:03):
to other whites who would have to compete against those
who utilized slave labor. That being said, Walker was not
opposed to immigration, as he very much supported the idea
of people from other countries being assimilated into American culture.
As a result, Walker would be highly critical of both
the anti Chinese movement and the anti Catholic know nothings. Additionally,
Walker was also critical of the quote unquote immorality that

(54:27):
sprung up around the gold Rush, namely all the drinking, gambling,
and prostitution that was common in such boomtowns and the
establishments that sprung up to service such needs. This then
rod Walker into further contact with moralizing reformers like suffragists
and supporters of prison reform. However, at the same time,
Walker was also supportive of vigilantism, as he stated that

(54:47):
quote the great object of the people is to strike
terror into evil doers, a stance likely in part inspired
by the environment he now found himself in, as San
Francisco at the time was a particularly wild play, which
is understandable because within the span of just a few
years its population had gone from eight hundred people to
fifty thousand. San Francisco then understandably struggled to keep up,

(55:11):
and in particular, crime was rampant in the city. Outrage
over this situation, as you might expect, was common. However,
the way in which Walker responded to this situation through
his rawsy editor of the San Francisco Daily Herald would
get him into some degree of trouble. For example, in
January eighteen fifty one, Walker and an editorial would basically
imply that a Judge Morrison had stolen money from the

(55:33):
estate of a dead foreigner. As you see, the estate
had been entrusted to the judge to watch over, maintain,
and preserve. But Walker suggested that Judge Morrison had instead
quote unquote pickled it, which was quite the accusation and
one that the judge took offense to. In fact, Judge
Morrison had his employee, a known sharpshooter named Will Hicks Graham,
challenged Walker to a duel with revolvers at eight paces,

(55:56):
which wasn't the best news for Walker, as while he
was a trained fence and had even dueled in New Orleans,
in doing so, he had used dedicated single shot doing pistols.
The duels in San Francisco, though, were apparently different, as
instead of firing a single shot each and that being enough.
These contests would typically feature multiple shots being fired until
one was satisfied or the other went down. That being said,

(56:19):
Walker reportedly showed no fear as he faced his crack
shot opponent. Indeed, it said that his face was expressionless
and his gray eyes intense as he stood across from
his more skilled opponent, while a crowd washed on from
a quote unquote safe distance away. Meanwhile, the ref, overseeing
this contest, as he raised his handkerchief up in the air, declared,
quote upon my signal, gentleman the ref and swung his

(56:42):
hand holding the piece of fabric down, signaling the beginning
of the duel. In response to Twoman raised her heavy
revolvers and shot simultaneously. Walker would miss, but his opponent,
Graham shot would strike the gray eyed man in the leg. Walker,
though refused to go down, which meant they both had
to keep shooting. Walker then missed yet again, only to

(57:02):
take yet another bullet to his leg, which this time
collapsed out from underneath of him. The duel then at
last was done. Graham, satisfied, walked away untouched, while Edmund
Randolph and the crowd gathered around Walker to see how
gravely he was injured. Luckily for Walker, though neither of
his wounds were serious. Indeed, it seems that the first
shot had actually just passed through his trousers, and while

(57:24):
the other shot had connected, the wound overall was fairly minor,
as it was basically just a superficial wound to the
fleshy part of his thigh. Now, such duels, it seems,
were apparently fairly common in San Francisco at the time,
either that or Walker simply found himself among a circle
of people prone to dueling. As his opponent in this duel,
Will Hicks Graham would participate in another such contest as

(57:46):
a few months after this, outside of a military barracks,
where seven shots were ultimately fired and his opponent was
left seriously wounded. Meanwhile, the following year, Walker's boss, John Nugent,
would participate in two duels, one of which was against
Caliph for his US Senator, and a contest featuring rifles
instead of revolvers that ultimately left Nugent's arm shattered. Which

(58:07):
is all to say that Walker seemed again all fairly
lightly all things considered. However, this exchange, which seemingly not
in part any lessons unrestrained to Walker. Indeed, he would
soon get himself involved with yet another judge, this one
being the public Administrator of San Francisco, Levi Parsons. Now
it seems that their issue started when the building where
the Herald was printed out of fell victim to a

(58:28):
fire that had consumed some twenty blocks in the city,
a fire in which had apparently been started by the
criminal element in the city. In response, Walker directed his
anger specifically at Judge Parsons, who he blamed for being
too leanient on criminals, and an editorial titled quote the
press is a nuisance, which itself was a reference to
a statement that the judge had made to a grand jury. Now,

(58:50):
Judge Parsons was none too pleased by this attack, and
thus had Walker declared in contempt of court, thereby allowing
him to Sendence, a newspaper man to jail and find
him from five hundred dollars. This was obviously a massive
judicial overstep, and one that had the opposite of its
intended effect, as it made Walker a bit of a
local hero. After all, he had simply been saying things

(59:12):
that many of them agreed with. And had proven himself
braved by saying them out loud and refusing the pay
his fine. Indeed, in March eighteen fifty one, some four
thousand residents of San Francisco would gather in a public
square near the prison that called for three cheers for
Walker and three groans for Judge Parson, which is the
first time I've heard of there being an opposite to
the three cheers thing. For his part, Walker would ultimately

(59:35):
be released by Superior Court judges after spending six days
in jail, although he would still have to pay the fine. Walker, though,
would opt not to keep up this particular fight, as
following this he left not only the newspaper business but
also San Francisco as well, moving instead to Marysville, California,
to resume his work as a lawyer with one Henry P. Watkins.

(59:57):
Walker however, seemed to find the lawy bit boring, as
keep in mind, following the death of Allen, the once
shy and reserved William Walker increasingly seemed to idolize the
idea of braef, heroic and dangerous actions, none of which
being a lawyer seemed to provide opportunities for California. Though,
as it turned out, would provide Walker with an outlet
for these desires, as the New State was at the

(01:00:18):
center of the US anti Savy filibuster movement, which may
sound strange considering that a fair amount of filibusters originated
in the Southern States, where the ideas of chivalry, honor,
and resolving things through violence were deeply embedded in the culture,
a fact which made them more militaristic in mindset and
more apt to pursue such means as to expand and
preserve their so called peculiar institution. After all, the belief

(01:00:42):
was that their slave culture was doomed if it were
restricted from expanding, with the idea being that if all
slave labor was concentrated into a singular area, they would
exhaust the soil through the overplanting of crops like cotton
and sugarcane. The only way then to ensure the continuation
of their system and their way of life was by
constantly acquiring more land. Plus, there was also the desire

(01:01:03):
to acquire additional territory so as to keep the balance
of power in their favor when dealing with the more
anti Savory North. The thing is, though not all those
who believed in the idea manifest destiny and felibustering shared
this desire to expand savory as there were those who
saw their mission as spreading democracy and freedom. These were
people who believed in the concept of manifest destiny and

(01:01:25):
saw it as being kind of their responsibility to spread
American style civilization to other lands, with the people of
California being especially likely to share these views. After all,
they had all come here in mass and turned this
quote unquote untamed land into a new state and record time,
doing so largely without save labor in its various complications.

(01:01:46):
Walker would then receive further inspiration for this brand of heroic,
if rooted, and racist concepts mission of spreading democracy in
quote unquote civilization in eighteen fifty three, when San Francisco
newspapers extensively started covering the events taking place in Sonora, Mexico,
where the Apache were waging war on the residents of
that region. Now for more information see my series on

(01:02:07):
the Apache Moors, but sufficed to say that the Native
Americans in question had a long standing hatred for the
people who had initially invaded their lands, with many, including
the Alexa Geronimo, feeling far more animosity towards the people
in Mexico than they felt toward the United States. As
for the coverage of these events, in September eighteen fifty three,
for example, the San Francisco newspaper The Alta California published

(01:02:31):
a sensationalized story about the Apache killing some eighty residents
of Sonora in a single week, a tragedy and an
outrage that some suggested the government of Mexico was doing
nothing to put a stop to a situation, which would
then justify someone coming in from the outside to act
as a savior for this region. Furthermore, the situation in
Sonora was likely of special interest to William Walker, given

(01:02:54):
that he and his law partner Henry Watkins, had been
commissioned to negotiate with the governor of Sonora so as
to obtain land there for an American mining and cattle company.
After all, Sonora, for all details of Apache at Tanks,
was notably rich in mineral wealth, namely gold and silver
deposits that could be mined for a considerable profit. Indeed,
Walker would be inspired by account Gaston de Rousta Burbana Franz,

(01:03:18):
who had attempted a filimuster expedition in Sonora, in which
he looked to make the Mexican state an independent country
like Texas had Dunn, an expedition which notably involved French
gold miners, even though he would claim he was just
doing so in the name of freedom and civilization. Most notably,
before the account had made his attempt, Walker had actually
offered the French nobleman his assistance. However, the frenchman declined,

(01:03:40):
pointing to the fact that Americans were so detested by
the Mexican people at that moment that any involvement from
Walker and his countrymen would be more of a hindrance
than a help. Yet, even without American involvement, the Account's
plan would fail. In fact, he had been executed by
the Mexican government for this attempt. This Hori did nothing
to stop Walker from more and less following in his footsteps,

(01:04:02):
as he and his partner in law, Henry P. Watkins,
would arrive in the port city of Guimus under the
pretense of negotiating to acquire land for an American cattle
and mining company, which was actually pretty much the same
cover the French cadd used, which is probably partially the
reason why the local officials of Guimus were suspicious of
the pair in general and Walker in particular. It also

(01:04:23):
didn't help Walker's case at the Mexican Consulate in San
Francisco and also warned them of Walker's coming, with the
local port captain in Guimus writing a superiors that quote,
there is undoubtedly an intention to invade this portion of
the Mexican territory, as he identified Walker in particular as
the primary figure in what they feared to be an
American invasion. These various Mexican officials were right to be suspicious,

(01:04:46):
as not only was Walker eyeins and Nora, but it
also proven to be quite persuasive when talking about his plans,
as Walker, you see, seemed to have this strange kind
of magnetism about him, with one acquaintance from San Francisco
stating that quote, as he proceeded, you felt convinced that
he was no ordinary person. Indeed, Walker had even convinced
the American consul of the region of his plans to

(01:05:08):
install an American colony in Sonora. Now, the Mexican authorities
likely did not know all these details, but just a
glimpse of this picture was enough. As a result, while
Walker and Watkins continued to claim that they only wanted
to visit a tract of land to see if it
was suitable for setting up a mining operation. The pair
would be forbidden from traveling to the interior of the
Mexican state and told the local officials could speak with

(01:05:31):
their superiors, a conversation that obviously did not go in
the favor of Walker and Watkins, as the local officials
would be ordered to detain both Americans. Given this kind
of reaction, then you can see why Walker was suspicious
when the Commandant General of Sonora inexplicably seemed to back
off from his previous suspicions and even went so far

(01:05:51):
as to invite Walker and Watkins to undertake an overland
journey to meet him in another sonor In city further inland,
an invitation that Walker probably right lee viewed as being
a trap due to the APACHE actively conducting raids in
the region that they would be traveling through, raids which
included killing all the men at a ranch that lay
not all that far away from Guamus. Not only that,

(01:06:12):
but the Mexican authorities were offering nothing in the way
of an escort to this other city. Basically, then it
seems like they were making this invitation in the hope
that the hostile Apache would take care of the troublesome
Americans for them, thereby putting a stop through their plans,
all the while keeping their own hands clean. Given these
suspicions about the hospitality of their host Walker and Watkins

(01:06:33):
opted to leave Sonoran head back to San Francisco rather
than undertake the journey further inland. Yet, despite this apparent setback, Walker,
following this trip, if anything, seemed more convinced than ever
that quote a comparatively small body of Americans might gain
a position on the Sonor in frontier, regardless of whether
they had the approval of the Mexican government to occupy

(01:06:54):
said land or not. It is then, with Walker making
plans to undertake his first filibuster mission, and I will
hit pause on the story for now, which means that
next time we will see Walker's first attempt at laying
claim to another country's territory and how disastrously wrong set
attempt goes. However, that also means set for now that
will have to remain a story for another time. Thank

(01:07:21):
you for listening to distorted history. If you would like
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thank you for listening and until next time. The Inla