Notes on Colorado; and Its Inscription in the Physical Geography of the North American Continent.

52 pp. 12mo. With 'Spoken at the British Association of Science,' Liverpool, Sept. 26th, 1870' printed at head of title. Gilpin, a West Point drop-out, accompanied John C. Fremont in 1843 and fought with Doniphan's regiment during the Mexican War, after which he engaged in Indian fighting in the Rockies before becoming the first governor of the Territory of Colorado in 1861. He was, in short, "one of the most interesting characters to enter the gold region of the Rockies in the early days." (Dictionary of American Biography) He was also a visionary who saw the Mississippi Valley as the center of North American civilization and Denver as its capital city. The present address adumbrates these ideas, emphasizing the awesome beauty of Colorado, its pristine climate and mineral resources, and the favorable situation of the American West with respect to the Orient, concluding that "[t]he untransacted destiny of the American people is to subdue the continent - to rush over this vast field to the Pacific Ocean" and thereby "to absolve the curse that weighs down humanity, and to shed blessings round the world!" Howes G194, citing 1870 and 1871 printings without distinguishing between them. Graff 1557 states the work was published in 1871. Bradford 1902.