PRESIDENT ZACHARY TAYLOR’S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS – CALIFORNIA GOLD MINES
“OLD ROUGH AND READY” ON DIVIDING UP THE RICH MINERAL LANDS OF CALIFORNIA
THE PRESIDENT PREDICTS FUTURE MAJOR CITIES ON THE WEST COAST
RECOMMENDS A RAILROAD TO CONNECT THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC
ALSO WANTS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A BRANCH MINT TO HANDLE THE CALIFORNIA GOLD
New York Weekly Tribune
Saturday, December 29, 1849
This remarkable 8-page newspaper contains Pres. Zachary Taylor’s Annual Message to Congress smack on the front page and continuing a bit on the last. Headed: “PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE,” the former military hero known as “Old Rough and Ready” refers to the frenzied California Gold Rush: “I recommend the establishment of a branch mint in California, as it will, in my opinion, afford important facilities to those engaged in mining, as well as to the Government in the disposition of the mineral lands.” (In 1854, the new San Francisco Mint would begin coining gold pieces–over $4 million dollars just the first year.) The President also recommends a railroad to join the East and West Coasts (completed in 1869 at Promontory Point, Utah), and then says the following: “The great mineral wealth of California, and the advantages which its ports and harbors…afford to commerce…make it certain that there will arise, in a few years, large and prosperous communities on our Western Coast.” (And, indeed, we now have Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and other “large and prosperous communities!”) The speech also talks about the possibility of constructing a ship canal through Nicaragua, the right of passage of gold miners and others to cross the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and Panama, agreed to in the Treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican War, the U.S. Navy (it’s fully manned), and his thoughts on the still ongoing (illegally) Atlantic Slave Trade and how to stop it!
8 pp., original and complete, and loaded with news and editorial comment, including a long judgement of President Taylor’s State of the Union. Fine condition–a truly fascinating journal to read…after almost 160 years!