This is the final installment of my 5 part blog series presenting one important historical event in each of the 50 states. This week covers South Dakota through Wyoming.
41. South Dakota
Event: Mount Rushmore
Year: 1941
Location: Keystone
One of America's iconic images is among the newest. Mount
Rushmore National Memorial was opened in 1941. The 60-foot high stone images of
Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and Thomas Jefferson
are framed against the Black Hills of South Dakota. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum
selected Mount Rushmore in the early 1920s because of the site's
dimensions—1,000 feet long and 440 feet wide. Work started on the project in
1927. The original plans from Borglum called for all four presidents to be shown
from the waist up, but there was not enough funding to realize his vision.
42. Tennessee
Event: Scopes Monkey Trial
Year: 1925
Location: Dayton
John Thomas Scopes, a high school science teacher in Dayton,
Tennessee, taught his students about evolution in 1925 to protest a new law
that would fine anyone who taught a "theory that denies the story of the
Divine Creation." Scopes was fined. He called on the American Civil
Liberties Union to help prove the law was unconstitutional. Former presidential
candidate William Jennings Bryan offered to help the prosecution. Clarence
Darrow represented John Scopes. The case garnered so much attention that it was
moved to the courthouse lawn over concerns the extra people in the court would
cause the floor to collapse. The defense wasn't allowed to question the
constitutionality of the law, so it called Bryan to the stand to defend his
beliefs. But Bryan couldn't do it, instead making contradictory statements
about his faith. The defense eventually requested a guilty verdict so it could
later be appealed. Scopes was ordered to pay the minimum fine of $100, but that
verdict was later overturned by the Supreme Court which was the ultimate goal
of the defense. [For those of you who have never seen the 1960 movie, Inherit The Wind, starring Spencer Tracy
as Clarence Darrow and Frederick March as William Jennings Bryan, it's an
excellent film about the Scopes trial.]
43. Texas
Event: Kennedy Assassination
Year: 1963
Location: Dallas
Texas certainly has many notable events in its history, but
there is one that certainly stands out above the others. Even though the
campaign for the 1964 election had not yet started and President John F.
Kennedy had not formally announced he was seeking re-election, the Democrat had
come to Texas seeking early support for a re-election bid, hoping to garner
support from staunchly conservative Texas. Kennedy's popularity was building
and he was greeted by enthusiastic crowds in Dallas. Then the unthinkable
happened when he was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald. Kennedy was prevented
from being able to fulfill his ambitious goals for the country. The
assassination of Kennedy traumatized the nation and haunted the city of Dallas
for many years. And even now, all these years later, conspiracy theories still
run rampant.
44. Utah
Event: Transcontinental railroad completed
Year: 1869
Location: Promontory Point
On May 10, 1869, the transcontinental railroad finally
connected both coasts of the United States at Promontory Point in Utah. The
task was completed by rival railroads Central Pacific and Union Pacific. The
Central Pacific, moving east from Sacramento, California, used mostly Chinese
laborers, which was controversial at the time because they were looked down
upon due to entrenched racism in the country. The Chinese persevered through
terrible conditions in the Sierra Nevada mountains and proved to be indefatigable
workers. The Union Pacific, which moved west from Omaha, Nebraska, used mostly
Irish workers and Civil War veterans.
45. Vermont
Event: First state to ban slavery
Year: 1777
Location: Statewide
Nearly a century before the Civil War, Vermont became the
first state to outlaw slavery, just after the Colonies declared their
independence. Vermont was, at that point, an independent republic. The
transatlantic slave trade had yet to reach its peak. Other states, such as
Pennsylvania, followed suit within a few years, using laws that only gradually
released current slaves while preventing any new ones from being brought to the
state. Despite the 1777 law, there now appears to be evidence that some
Vermonters still held slaves in the 19th century.
46. Virginia
Event: First English settlement in the United States
Year: 1607
Location: Jamestown
Early attempts by the English to establish a colony in the
New World had failed, including the "lost colony" of Roanoke in 1587.
The English tried again in 1606. King James I issued a charter to the Virginia
Company to create a settlement in the New World. About 100 colonists in three
ships reached a peninsula on the James River on May 14, 1607. The early
settlers fought off hunger and illness, and council leader John Smith forged an
understanding with Native American Chief Powhatan. More settlers and supplies
came to support the colony to finally secure England's toehold in the New
World.
47. Washington
Event: Mount St. Helens eruption
Year: 1980
Location: Mount St. Helens
The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens remains the largest
volcanic event in U.S. history. The explosion was triggered by an earthquake
underneath the mountain. It caused huge clouds of ash and pyroclastic flows. It
also triggered the largest landslide in recorded history. The volcano, located
in the Cascade Mountains, tossed more than 500 million tons of ash into the air
and blotted out the sun hundreds of miles away. All told, 57 people were killed
as a result of the eruption. [I visited Mt. St. Helens in May of 1990, 10 years
after the eruption. On the 2 lane highway to the eruption site, I drove through
lush forests and beautiful scenery. Then as I drove around a curve in the road,
it was like passing through a portal into another dimension of space and time.
Everything instantly—not leading up to or gradually changing, rather an instant
blink of the eye—changed from lush green forest to ash gray devastation devoid
of any other color. Tree trunks flattened against the ground, all pointing in
one direction rather than random, signaling the direction the blast traveled. A
few dead trees trunks still standing resembling a ghost forest. I pulled over
to the side of the road and got out of my car. I was greeted by an eerie
silence—not a sound from a single bird, not a whisper of a breeze rustling
through tree leaves, nothing but an eerie silence. I continued on to Spirit
Lake. The sparkling water of a beautiful mountain lake no longer existed. In
its place, I saw a body of gray-brown water covered by floating splintered tree
trunks. The feelings, the intense sensations, the emotional roller coaster of
that drive, has remained embedded in my memory for all these years.]
48. West Virginia
Event: John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry
Year: 1859
Location: Harper's Ferry
John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry was one of the key
incidents leading up to the Civil War. Brown, an abolitionist, came to Harper's
Ferry to seize the federal armory and arsenal. His plan was for slaves to rise
up in rebellion. The local militia resisted and U.S. Marines, led by then Colonel
Robert E. Lee, arrived and killed many of the raiders and captured Brown. He
was tried for treason, murder, and slave insurrection against the state of
Virginia (West Virginia was not its own state yet) and hanged.
49. Wisconsin
Event: Peshtigo Fire
Year: 1871
Location: Northeastern Wisconsin
The most destructive and deadly fire in U.S. history took
place in Wisconsin and Michigan in 1871. The Peshtigo Fire killed at least 1,200
people, though some estimates place the death toll at over 2,000. The area
around Peshtigo was largely supported by logging, so sawdust and branches
littered the surrounding forest. That summer had been unusually dry, putting
the area at huge risk of fire. The blaze started on Oct. 8 and moved so quickly
that many people were unable to outrun the flames. Coincidently, the Peshtigo
Fire took place on the same day as the Great Chicago Fire. Recovery efforts of
the American people, including Wisconsin's governor, were initially focused on
Chicago. Peshtigo never recovered. The event is largely forgotten to this day.
50. Wyoming
Event: Establishment of Yellowstone National Park
Year: 1872
Location: Northwestern Wyoming
Yellowstone National Park isn't just the first national park
in the U.S., but also in the world. According to legend, explorers came to
Madison Plateau in 1870. Struck by the beauty of the place, they decided
Yellowstone needed to be preserved. It's unclear if that story is true, but
President Ulysses S. Grant did sign a law establishing the park in 1872.
Yellowstone stretches well over 3,000 square miles, almost all of it in
Wyoming. It's also home to Old Faithful, a world famous geyser. [Note: Yellowstone
is technically the first national park, but not the first time the federal
government set aside land to be protected for all time. In 1864, Abraham
Lincoln took time from the Civil War to set aside Yosemite Valley and the
Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia Trees. The National Park Service did not exist
and the federal government had no means of administrating this. California had
been a state since 1850, so the federal government deeded the land to the state
to be protected for all time. In 1872, when the federal government set aside
Yellowstone, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho were not yet states—no governing
authority existed to take over Yellowstone. So, the National Park Service was
created thus officially making Yellowstone the first national park. California
returned Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove to the federal government when
the surrounding area was set aside as Yosemite National Park.]
As I said at the beginning of part 1 of this series, the important historical event for each state is a list I came across, I did not compile it. I thought the list would make interesting information for my blog. I hope you've enjoyed it.
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