American West History & Notables

On vacation through end of the month. But--I'll be back.

On June 30, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Land Grant (Senate Bill 203). With this legislation, 39,000 acres of the Yosemite Valley and the nearby Mariposa Big Tree Grove was put under the administration of the State of California "upon the express conditions that the premises shall be held for public use, resort, and recreation." In 1890 this became a reality.

More information
history
Senate Bill
geology and overview
contemporary issues

On 23 June 1845, a special session of the Texas legislature voted in favor of annexation by the United States. For almost ten years, Texas had been an independent republic.

For history links about the western United States, visit Writers West Directories

Arkansas became the 25th State
motto: The People Rule (Regnat Populus)
nickname: Wonder State
People have been living in the region that is now Arkansas for thousands of years; evidence of this, including pottery and stone implements, is in mounds and bluffs. In 1819, Arkansas was organized as a territory, and by 1836, the Territory had the 60,000 residents required to become a state.

Jeannette Rankin (d. 1973) was born on this day near Missoula, Montana. A graduate of the University of Montana, she was an ardent suffragist and the first woman member of Congress (elected 1916 and again in 1941). She voted against war with Germany in 1917, and was the only member in 1941 to vote against war with Japan.

Rankin in politics
biography

IRWIN P. BEADLE & Co. of New York, published its first (of more than 600) Dime Novel. Author of the first book was Ann S. Stephens, the title: Malaeska, the Indian Wife of the White Hunter. Read it online.

The Dime Novels were also referred to as The Pulps, so called because they were printed on cheap high-acid-content paper. These served as popular reading material, similar to today's paperback; cheap, portable, disposable, and often sensational.

More Information:
the pulps
dime novels - background
dime novel - history
dime novel overview

On this day, American Indians born in the United States were granted citizenship by an act of Congress.