Jycee, you've gotten me starting to think about how the currency is going to look in TTL. I tried my hand at designing a note but it doesn't look nearly as good as yours IMO. 
Union and Liberty: An American TL
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You know, I always knew Mount Rushmore alone wasn't enough to do TR justice.
Exactly what I think. Heck, the White House could be shaped like his head and it still wouldn't do him justice.
Jycee, you've gotten me starting to think about how the currency is going to look in TTL. I tried my hand at designing a note but it doesn't look nearly as good as yours IMO.
It is actually pretty cool. I think mine is a bit too modern. It looks cool but it would probably be part of a new series printed later on; yours would probably be the original design in the early 1900s. Also, I liked your idea of having the Roman numerals in it. I'm trying to fit them in my design but don't see how. Maybe on the reverse.
Also since this is AH the series of bills could go: 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 (like the Euro) instead of starting at 1. The Euro also has a 500 note but IMO that is too large an amount to have on a note. Unless TTL's USD is of less value than OTL's.
You know, I always knew Mount Rushmore alone wasn't enough to do TR justice.
I am always amazed how he is not in any of the bills. Some of the portraits there (Hamilton, Grant) are hard to understand why they are there, while another one (Jackson) raises some issues.
I think that putting Teddy on a bill would make it spontaneously explode from the sheer badassery. Then again, 20 dollar bills don't explode.
Thanks. I like the idea of your bill design being an updated, more modernized version of the bills. Inspired by this, I made a simple modification of my bill design for the $20 with Fremont. For the serial number, I was thinking the first two letters would be where the bill was printed (FP for Ferroplano, NO for New Orleans, etc.) and then the number.
That sounds like a good setup. I've never understood why we use dollar bills instead of coins. For as much as Americans use single dollars, coins are so much lighter and more compact.
Alright I did a take on 10 featuring Teddy using an update my design. The fasces used to be in OTL's dime until the fascists ruined the symbol for all. So assuming that fascism as we know it won't rise in TTL then I thought it be appropriate to keep them on a bill.Plus it looks cool.
I also added two watermarks (one is the broken map above the portrait and the other is the line on the left).
I also added two watermarks (one is the broken map above the portrait and the other is the line on the left).
Next update should be done tomorrow or Saturday. It'll be another story in The Undisclosed Adventures of Theodore Roosevelt!
Meanwhile, don't forget to vote for Union and Liberty in the Turtledove Awards.
Meanwhile, don't forget to vote for Union and Liberty in the Turtledove Awards.
The Undisclosed Adventures of Theodore Roosevelt #4: Troubled Waters
Here we go!
The Undisclosed Adventures of Theodore Roosevelt, Episode 4: Troubled Waters
Cornelius Vanderbilt walked up to the the bank of the Mississippi River. He grinned. "Soon this river will be flowing like it never has before!" Vanderbilt turned away from the river and looked at his companion. "The time is right, Sheffield. Now that the pyroglicerine is in place and I have the deed to the land in my pocket," Vanderbilt patted the breast of his coat, "I shall soon be the owner of the largest shipping port in the Gulf of Mexico!" Vanderbilt cackled. "Push the plunger!" Sheffield pushed the plunger down. A few seconds later, the ground shook as mounds of earth shot up from near the water in front of them. As they stood watching, the level of the tide slowly began to rise and the rush of the river grew louder.
The steamboat swayed on its mooring as the current tried to push the boat down the river. The music was blaring and everyone was dancing and chatting on the deck. Governor Parker leaned back against the railing, holding a drink in his hand. He had organized this little fundraiser during Carnival to woo the major business interests to his side. Parker took a big sip of his drink. The lights of Baton Rouge swayed as the boat rocked. Then something strange began to happen. The roaring of the Mississippi seemed to get slightly quieter, and the lights appeared to be moving upward at a very slow pace.
Parker felt his head. "It must be the liquor," he thought. But after another few minutes, the other guests on the boat started looking around confused as well. Parker looked at the shoreline of the river. It was definitely getting lower. "I will be right back!" Parker told his guests. He ran off the boat to the nearest telephone and called the person he knew could fix whatever was happening: Theodore Roosevelt.
The morning after Muir heard the news from governor Parker, he ran to get the President. Roosevelt was having a bout of singlestick with the Canadian ambassador on the lawn of the Executive Mansion. "Gentlemen." Muir cleared his throat and motioned the President toward him.
Roosevelt caught the ambassador's thrust and moved the stick away. "If you will excuse us, Sir Doyle, I have necessary matters of state to attend to." Doyle nodded and said goodbye as he walked back to the Executive Office Building. Roosevelt walked with Muir south toward the waiting airship.
"It is urgent, Theodore. Governor Parker just telephoned from Baton Rouge. For some reason the water levels in the Mississippi River are decreasing dramatically."
Roosevelt rubbed his chin. "I wonder what could be causing this. Are you certain the governor is not simply drunk and imagining this?"
"Yes. He said that he had been getting word from New Orleans and other cities on the Delta that the river is running exceptionally low as well." They had reached the airship and began to board. As the airship rose into the sky and moved toward the southwest, Roosevelt and Muir continued discussing the matter.
"Have we received any reports from any other areas regarding the levels of the river?" Roosevelt asked.
"No. It's strange, it seems that only the very lowest reaches of the river are experiencing lowered river banks."
"Hmmm. I've seen a lot of floods in my time, but never any times where the river stops flowing. We will definitely have to investigate."
They continued their discussion of the phenomenon as the airship kept on toward Baton Rouge.
After mooring the airship on the Louisiana Capitol Building grounds, Roosevelt and Muir went to talk with the governor. Parker told them what had happened, and Roosevelt decided that they would need to follow the river upstream to see what had happened. The three men went up in the presidential airship to get a better view of the river.
Seventy miles up the river near Simmesport, Roosevelt looked down and saw the break in the banks of the Mississippi. "That's probably why the river is losing water."
"But that's never been there before." Governor Parker thought for a moment.
"Where does it lead?" Muir asked.
Parker followed where the new river channel headed. The new channel was already gathering more water than the old Mississippi. "It looks like it goes to Simmesport and connects up with the Atchafalaya River."
As the presidential airship hovered low over the new channel, Vanderbilt and Sheffield drove up to check on the channel. "Drat, it's the President!" Vanderbilt said as he saw the airship, the large presidential seal painted on its side. Sheffield stopped the automobile and Vanderbilt leaned out of the auto. "You can't stop me this time, Roosevelt! My plan is already in motion and Vanderbilt City will soon become the most powerful shipping port in the world!" Vanderbilt got back in the auto and drove off.
"What did he mean by 'Vanderbilt City'?" Roosevelt wondered.
"I'm not sure, but we need to see what he's up to and stop this diversion," Parker said. "I don't think either the Mississippi or the Atchafalaya can take much more of this without the Mississippi's course switching permanently."
Roosevelt looked at the channel watching the water rush through. He watched Vanderbilt's auto driving off into the distance. "Looks like we need to split up. Parker, you go to Simmesport and see if you can get some people to help block the channel. We'll go stop Vanderbilt." Governor Parker nodded and they lowered him down to the ground. "Now then," Roosevelt said turning to the pilot, "follow that auto!"
As Parker set out to Simmesport, the airship sped off southward in pursuit of Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt and Sheffield followed the meandering course of the Atchafalaya River as the airship loomed in the sky behind it, until they arrived at the mouth of the river. Roosevelt and Muir looked out the window to see a large factory complex in the city at the river mouth.
"This must be Vanderbilt City," Roosevelt said.
Muir brought out a map of the state. "It says here that that's Brashear City, if I'm correct and we've reached the mouth of the Atchafalaya."
The airship hovered over the factory. Roosevelt grabbed a revolver and a knife and opened the door to the gondola. "Muir, you go back up to Simmesport and help Parker get the channel closed up. I'll deal with Vanderbilt."
"Are you sure you can handle him alone, Mr. President?"
Roosevelt winked at Muir. "Oh come now, John. It's just like hunting moose." Roosevelt clutched his hat and jumped out of the airship. Muir signaled to the pilot to turn the ship around and head back upriver.
Vanderbilt walked around the floor of the factory, inspecting the large tanks of prepared pyroglycerin ready for packing. Each tank had a large name listed on the side. Vanderbilt stopped at the end, looking up at a large map of the south central United States displayed on the wall. Red dots marked where the planned channels were to be blasted out.
"I think we will divert the Red River next." Vanderbilt turned to Sheffield. "How is the pyroglyverin coming for it?"
"The tank is full and ready for packing, sir."
"Excellent."
Just as Vanderbilt turned around, Roosevelt crashed through the skylight in the center of the factory and landed on the catwalk.
Vanderbilt jerked his head up at the sound of the glass breaking. "Roosevelt! What is it with you and crashing through my window!"
Roosevelt stood up on the catwalk. "I just thought I'd drop by and see what you were up to." The President took the revolver out of its holster.
Vanderbilt looked for the stairway up to the catwalk. It was behind Roosevelt on the far side of the factory aisle. He started running across the floor. Roosevelt took his revolver and aimed at Vanderbilt. Roosevelt shot, but it hit the floor just behind Vanderbilt. Roosevelt shot two more times but kept hitting just behind Vanderbilt as he ran across the floor.
"Wait, wait! Stop shooting! This entire place could explode!" Vanderbilt yelled as he ran across the floor. At this thought, Roosevelt put the revovler back in its holster. Vanderbilt reached the other side of the factory and climbed up to the catwalk.
As Vanderbilt reached teh catwalk and began advancing toward Roosevelt, the President took out his knife. Vanderbilt took a knife of his own out of a coat pocket. Roosevelt and Vanderbilt postured at each other on the catwalk.
Vanderbilt took the first strike. He thrust the knife and lunged at Roosevelt, who stepped back to avoid it. While he clutched the knife in his right hand, Roosevelt brought his left around to swipe the knife out of Vanderbilt's but Vanderbilt drew his hand away too quickly. Vanderbilt attacked again, only for Roosevelt to dodge his blade. The fighting went on with both men moving back and forth on the catwalk, but Roosevelt slowly gained the upper hand.
As they continued lunging at each other with the knives and fists, Sheffield slunk off into the shadows.
"Your insidious plan will never succeed, Vanderbilt. As a conservationist and a force for good, I will never let you destroy the Mississippi River delta!" Roosevelt stood back a moment. "I already have people working to fill in your little channel."
"Oh, but I will. You can't stop the forces of the market, and I am the greatest corporate force that ever lived!"
"That's a lot of high and mighty talk for someone as low as you." Roosevelt made another thrust with the knife.
Vanderbilt continued fencing with Roosevelt for another few minutes, then heard a distant engine starting. Vanderbilt stopped attacking and only dodged the President's attacks. The engine got louder, and Sheffield brought the auto around the corner and onto the factory floor.
"Well, it seems my ride is hear. I'm sorry Mr. President, but our little meeting must end here. Along with your life." Vanderbilt jumped off the catwalk into the auto as Sheffield drove it through the factory. Roosevelt put his hand on the railing in order to jump off after them, but stopped when he heard a rumbling. A spray of fire shot up from the tank furthest to the wall as the pyroglycerin in the tank combusted.
"That can't be good." As the tanks around it began exploding, Roosevelt looked for a way out. The door that Sheffield and Vanderbilt had driven through had already closed, but Roosevelt spotted a hatch in the ceiling that led up to the roof just as the section of catwalk near it collapsed. With the explosions getting louder and closer, Roosevelt ran along the catwalk, put his foot on the railing, and jumped.
His hand caught the handle of the hatch and it swung open. Roosevelt managed to vault himself through the hole and onto the roof just as the nearby Sabine tank exploded. Flame and smoke burst through the roof as Roosevelt looked behind him. Roosevelt began running along the roof, with the tanks below bursting and more columns of fire shooting up through the metal roof. As he reached the end of the roof, Roosevelt jumped off as the entire building went up in flames. After he landed, Roosevelt got up and turned around, the large fireball where the building once stood reflecting in his pince-nez.
The President made his way back up to Simmesport. The work on filling in the channel was already far underway as he arrived.
"Is Vanderbilt taken care of?" Muir asked as Roosevelt joined Muir and governor Parker.
"Yes, he is. He had a huge pyroglycerin factory in Brashear City."
"What was he going to do with it?" Parker asked.
"It looked like he wanted to divert all the nearby rivers into the Atchafalaya so he could control a shipping empire from the city. But that plan went up in smoke." Roosevelt cracked a smile and laughed. The three men continued talking as they oversaw the rest of the work.
The Undisclosed Adventures of Theodore Roosevelt, Episode 4: Troubled Waters
Cornelius Vanderbilt walked up to the the bank of the Mississippi River. He grinned. "Soon this river will be flowing like it never has before!" Vanderbilt turned away from the river and looked at his companion. "The time is right, Sheffield. Now that the pyroglicerine is in place and I have the deed to the land in my pocket," Vanderbilt patted the breast of his coat, "I shall soon be the owner of the largest shipping port in the Gulf of Mexico!" Vanderbilt cackled. "Push the plunger!" Sheffield pushed the plunger down. A few seconds later, the ground shook as mounds of earth shot up from near the water in front of them. As they stood watching, the level of the tide slowly began to rise and the rush of the river grew louder.
The steamboat swayed on its mooring as the current tried to push the boat down the river. The music was blaring and everyone was dancing and chatting on the deck. Governor Parker leaned back against the railing, holding a drink in his hand. He had organized this little fundraiser during Carnival to woo the major business interests to his side. Parker took a big sip of his drink. The lights of Baton Rouge swayed as the boat rocked. Then something strange began to happen. The roaring of the Mississippi seemed to get slightly quieter, and the lights appeared to be moving upward at a very slow pace.
Parker felt his head. "It must be the liquor," he thought. But after another few minutes, the other guests on the boat started looking around confused as well. Parker looked at the shoreline of the river. It was definitely getting lower. "I will be right back!" Parker told his guests. He ran off the boat to the nearest telephone and called the person he knew could fix whatever was happening: Theodore Roosevelt.
The morning after Muir heard the news from governor Parker, he ran to get the President. Roosevelt was having a bout of singlestick with the Canadian ambassador on the lawn of the Executive Mansion. "Gentlemen." Muir cleared his throat and motioned the President toward him.
Roosevelt caught the ambassador's thrust and moved the stick away. "If you will excuse us, Sir Doyle, I have necessary matters of state to attend to." Doyle nodded and said goodbye as he walked back to the Executive Office Building. Roosevelt walked with Muir south toward the waiting airship.
"It is urgent, Theodore. Governor Parker just telephoned from Baton Rouge. For some reason the water levels in the Mississippi River are decreasing dramatically."
Roosevelt rubbed his chin. "I wonder what could be causing this. Are you certain the governor is not simply drunk and imagining this?"
"Yes. He said that he had been getting word from New Orleans and other cities on the Delta that the river is running exceptionally low as well." They had reached the airship and began to board. As the airship rose into the sky and moved toward the southwest, Roosevelt and Muir continued discussing the matter.
"Have we received any reports from any other areas regarding the levels of the river?" Roosevelt asked.
"No. It's strange, it seems that only the very lowest reaches of the river are experiencing lowered river banks."
"Hmmm. I've seen a lot of floods in my time, but never any times where the river stops flowing. We will definitely have to investigate."
They continued their discussion of the phenomenon as the airship kept on toward Baton Rouge.
After mooring the airship on the Louisiana Capitol Building grounds, Roosevelt and Muir went to talk with the governor. Parker told them what had happened, and Roosevelt decided that they would need to follow the river upstream to see what had happened. The three men went up in the presidential airship to get a better view of the river.
Seventy miles up the river near Simmesport, Roosevelt looked down and saw the break in the banks of the Mississippi. "That's probably why the river is losing water."
"But that's never been there before." Governor Parker thought for a moment.
"Where does it lead?" Muir asked.
Parker followed where the new river channel headed. The new channel was already gathering more water than the old Mississippi. "It looks like it goes to Simmesport and connects up with the Atchafalaya River."
As the presidential airship hovered low over the new channel, Vanderbilt and Sheffield drove up to check on the channel. "Drat, it's the President!" Vanderbilt said as he saw the airship, the large presidential seal painted on its side. Sheffield stopped the automobile and Vanderbilt leaned out of the auto. "You can't stop me this time, Roosevelt! My plan is already in motion and Vanderbilt City will soon become the most powerful shipping port in the world!" Vanderbilt got back in the auto and drove off.
"What did he mean by 'Vanderbilt City'?" Roosevelt wondered.
"I'm not sure, but we need to see what he's up to and stop this diversion," Parker said. "I don't think either the Mississippi or the Atchafalaya can take much more of this without the Mississippi's course switching permanently."
Roosevelt looked at the channel watching the water rush through. He watched Vanderbilt's auto driving off into the distance. "Looks like we need to split up. Parker, you go to Simmesport and see if you can get some people to help block the channel. We'll go stop Vanderbilt." Governor Parker nodded and they lowered him down to the ground. "Now then," Roosevelt said turning to the pilot, "follow that auto!"
As Parker set out to Simmesport, the airship sped off southward in pursuit of Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt and Sheffield followed the meandering course of the Atchafalaya River as the airship loomed in the sky behind it, until they arrived at the mouth of the river. Roosevelt and Muir looked out the window to see a large factory complex in the city at the river mouth.
"This must be Vanderbilt City," Roosevelt said.
Muir brought out a map of the state. "It says here that that's Brashear City, if I'm correct and we've reached the mouth of the Atchafalaya."
The airship hovered over the factory. Roosevelt grabbed a revolver and a knife and opened the door to the gondola. "Muir, you go back up to Simmesport and help Parker get the channel closed up. I'll deal with Vanderbilt."
"Are you sure you can handle him alone, Mr. President?"
Roosevelt winked at Muir. "Oh come now, John. It's just like hunting moose." Roosevelt clutched his hat and jumped out of the airship. Muir signaled to the pilot to turn the ship around and head back upriver.
Vanderbilt walked around the floor of the factory, inspecting the large tanks of prepared pyroglycerin ready for packing. Each tank had a large name listed on the side. Vanderbilt stopped at the end, looking up at a large map of the south central United States displayed on the wall. Red dots marked where the planned channels were to be blasted out.
"I think we will divert the Red River next." Vanderbilt turned to Sheffield. "How is the pyroglyverin coming for it?"
"The tank is full and ready for packing, sir."
"Excellent."
Just as Vanderbilt turned around, Roosevelt crashed through the skylight in the center of the factory and landed on the catwalk.
Vanderbilt jerked his head up at the sound of the glass breaking. "Roosevelt! What is it with you and crashing through my window!"
Roosevelt stood up on the catwalk. "I just thought I'd drop by and see what you were up to." The President took the revolver out of its holster.
Vanderbilt looked for the stairway up to the catwalk. It was behind Roosevelt on the far side of the factory aisle. He started running across the floor. Roosevelt took his revolver and aimed at Vanderbilt. Roosevelt shot, but it hit the floor just behind Vanderbilt. Roosevelt shot two more times but kept hitting just behind Vanderbilt as he ran across the floor.
"Wait, wait! Stop shooting! This entire place could explode!" Vanderbilt yelled as he ran across the floor. At this thought, Roosevelt put the revovler back in its holster. Vanderbilt reached the other side of the factory and climbed up to the catwalk.
As Vanderbilt reached teh catwalk and began advancing toward Roosevelt, the President took out his knife. Vanderbilt took a knife of his own out of a coat pocket. Roosevelt and Vanderbilt postured at each other on the catwalk.
Vanderbilt took the first strike. He thrust the knife and lunged at Roosevelt, who stepped back to avoid it. While he clutched the knife in his right hand, Roosevelt brought his left around to swipe the knife out of Vanderbilt's but Vanderbilt drew his hand away too quickly. Vanderbilt attacked again, only for Roosevelt to dodge his blade. The fighting went on with both men moving back and forth on the catwalk, but Roosevelt slowly gained the upper hand.
As they continued lunging at each other with the knives and fists, Sheffield slunk off into the shadows.
"Your insidious plan will never succeed, Vanderbilt. As a conservationist and a force for good, I will never let you destroy the Mississippi River delta!" Roosevelt stood back a moment. "I already have people working to fill in your little channel."
"Oh, but I will. You can't stop the forces of the market, and I am the greatest corporate force that ever lived!"
"That's a lot of high and mighty talk for someone as low as you." Roosevelt made another thrust with the knife.
Vanderbilt continued fencing with Roosevelt for another few minutes, then heard a distant engine starting. Vanderbilt stopped attacking and only dodged the President's attacks. The engine got louder, and Sheffield brought the auto around the corner and onto the factory floor.
"Well, it seems my ride is hear. I'm sorry Mr. President, but our little meeting must end here. Along with your life." Vanderbilt jumped off the catwalk into the auto as Sheffield drove it through the factory. Roosevelt put his hand on the railing in order to jump off after them, but stopped when he heard a rumbling. A spray of fire shot up from the tank furthest to the wall as the pyroglycerin in the tank combusted.
"That can't be good." As the tanks around it began exploding, Roosevelt looked for a way out. The door that Sheffield and Vanderbilt had driven through had already closed, but Roosevelt spotted a hatch in the ceiling that led up to the roof just as the section of catwalk near it collapsed. With the explosions getting louder and closer, Roosevelt ran along the catwalk, put his foot on the railing, and jumped.
His hand caught the handle of the hatch and it swung open. Roosevelt managed to vault himself through the hole and onto the roof just as the nearby Sabine tank exploded. Flame and smoke burst through the roof as Roosevelt looked behind him. Roosevelt began running along the roof, with the tanks below bursting and more columns of fire shooting up through the metal roof. As he reached the end of the roof, Roosevelt jumped off as the entire building went up in flames. After he landed, Roosevelt got up and turned around, the large fireball where the building once stood reflecting in his pince-nez.
The President made his way back up to Simmesport. The work on filling in the channel was already far underway as he arrived.
"Is Vanderbilt taken care of?" Muir asked as Roosevelt joined Muir and governor Parker.
"Yes, he is. He had a huge pyroglycerin factory in Brashear City."
"What was he going to do with it?" Parker asked.
"It looked like he wanted to divert all the nearby rivers into the Atchafalaya so he could control a shipping empire from the city. But that plan went up in smoke." Roosevelt cracked a smile and laughed. The three men continued talking as they oversaw the rest of the work.
Any comments on the latest TR story? I've got another regular update ready to put up tomorrow.
Part Sixty-Nine: Our Nieghbors Up North
Here's the next regular update. It's a big one.
Part Sixty-Nine: Our Nieghbors Up North
A Company Project:
The latter half of the 19th century also was an important time for the area north of the United States, then united under the British crown as British North America. The period saw a great amount of development of the regional economy and a large influx of immigrants, just as in the United States, led to the settlement of the interior plains of British North America. A large part of the development of the western reaches of British North America came with the extensions of the railway from Hudson Bay and the eastern dominions out to the Pacific Ocean.
The Hudson Pacific Railway is for the most part the successor to other routes that had been used by trappers and settlers to cross the northern plains since the English and French arrived in North America. After the British defeat in the Oregon War, the Hudson Bay Company and Great Britain saw that maintaining a solid transportation link between Canada and the western coast of North America as well as the development of a naval base on the Pacific coast was a necessary goal to maintain British control of the northern Pacific. For this purpose, the only settlement suitable was Fort Simpson on the border with Russia.
There was also debate between the Hudson Bay Company and Great Britain over where the railroad itself was to connect at the eastern end. The HBC initially proposed that the railroad should follow the route of the York Factory Express and connect to the Hudson Bay port of York Factory, the colonial headquarters of the Hudson Bay Company[1]. The British government wanted to keep the railroad along the southern edge of British North America and connect the railroad with already existing rail in Canada. As Parliament had been granting more powers within the administration of British North America to the Hudson Bay Company, the HBC's plan was decided upon in 1875 under the auspices of HBC governor Stafford Henry Northcote. The railroad was completed in 1882, with extensions to the east being constructed in 1885.
The Mormon Revolution:
With the growing powers of the Hudson Bay Company in western British North America, the policies in Prince Rupert's Land started to become rather harsh on the Mormons who had migrated there. The power of enforcement of the laws in Rupert's Land had been given to the Hudson Bay Company since 1821, but starting in the 1860s, the British government gradually granted legislative powers to the HBC as well[2]. As more immigrants came into the eastern plains and the western gold mining towns, HBC governor William Garnett decided it was necessary to enforce stricter, more conservative policies. These policies did not sit well with the Mormon community in Winnipeg and the surrounding area.
While the Mormon opposition to the HBC's conservative laws grew, the Hudson Bay Company continued to pass legislation in an attempt to curb some of the American immigration to British North America and increase the control that the HBC had over the territory, both economically and politically. In 1865, the Colonial Transit Act imposed a regulation that all goods being exported from Rupert's Land and New Caledonia had to pass through Hudson Bay Company office cities. The only HBC offices at the time were in York Factory on Hudson Bay and Fort Simpson on the Pacific Ocean. As most of the international exports from the Mormon populated areas was to the United States, the law was very inefficient for the economy of the Mormon towns, and an appeal to the colonial office in York Factory for the creation of an HBC office in Winnipeg was denied[3]. Regulations such as these continued to be passed, and the region exploded into open rebellion in 1880.
The Mormon Revolution was led by Lewis Farnsworth, a local leader from the Mormon community in Whitmer. As the region was sparsely populated and was surrounded by several large lakes, the rebellion was easily defensible against attacks by HBC or British soldiers. The successful defense of the small isthmus in the Battle of Cedar Lake by the Hudson Bay Company defined the northern extent of the Mormon raids during the rebellion. However, the rebellion also cut off much of the communication between the Hudson Bay Company and Winnipeg, and the rebellion is remembered as a period of lawlessness in the city. After 17 months of open rebellion against the Hudson Bay Company, the new governor of the HBC Lord Dufferin[4] called Farnsworth to a meeting in London. Farnsworth made his case to Lord Dufferin who took the issue in front of Parliament. In 1886, the British government agreed to establish the Dominion of Deseret in the lands in southeastern Rupert's Land with large Mormon populations, including Winnipeg. Whitmer, as the original Mormon settlement in the area, was made the capital of the new Dominion, and soon a railroad connected it with Winnipeg in the south.
The Yukon Purchase:
With the Hudson Bay Company gaining more control over the lands in northwestern North America, the economic productivity of the territory began to decline with the decline of the fur trade. As more people in the region concentrated in the towns and began settling the Great Northern Prairie, the main driver of the economy and the Hudson Bay Copmany's profits from the region switched from fur trapping to grain exports and mining the northern Rockies. At the time, however, the far northwestern region of the Hudson Bay Company's jurisdiction was not very accessible to settlers coming from the east and was mostly settled by Russian fur trappers from Alyeska and Sitka.
As such, when the British government granted the Hudson Bay Company the authority to enter into treaties with foreign powers regarding their jurisdiction in 1890, governor Andrew Carnegie[5] went into negotiations with Alyeska governor Alexander Sibiryakov to formalize the border between Russian and British territory in North America. Over the next months, the border was hammered out and ended with the Treaty of Saint Petersburg, signed by Queen Victoria, Tsar Nicholas II, Carnegie, and Sibiyakov in 1895. Sibiryakov's priority was to make sure as much of the Yukon River watershed fell into Russian territory, and he almost succeeded at gaining all the land that drained into the Yukon.
The Treaty of Saint Petersburg set out the border as following the Portland Channel and Coast Mountains up to the northernmost point where it crosses the 130th meridian west, then along the 130th meridian to the continental divide, and following the continental divide to the Arctic Ocean. The far northern portion of the border remained undefined as the divide does not reach the Arctic Ocean, but the Mackenzie River and its tributaries were identified as being within British North America. In return for the territorial concessions made by Great Britain and the Hudson Bay Company, Russia paid the British Crown five million pounds and conceding Russian claims to any land south of the Hari River valley in Afghanistan.
[1] York Factory is the main port for goods and people going to and from Hudson Bay.
[2] Found the 1821 info on Wiki in the Rupert's Land article, but not sure exactly what act it was or to what extent their initial powers were.
[3] The Winnipeg office was abandoned after the Oregon War.
[4] In OTL a governor-general of Canada and Viceroy of India.
[5] The first Canadian to be governor of the Hudson Bay Company.
Part Sixty-Nine: Our Nieghbors Up North
A Company Project:
The latter half of the 19th century also was an important time for the area north of the United States, then united under the British crown as British North America. The period saw a great amount of development of the regional economy and a large influx of immigrants, just as in the United States, led to the settlement of the interior plains of British North America. A large part of the development of the western reaches of British North America came with the extensions of the railway from Hudson Bay and the eastern dominions out to the Pacific Ocean.
The Hudson Pacific Railway is for the most part the successor to other routes that had been used by trappers and settlers to cross the northern plains since the English and French arrived in North America. After the British defeat in the Oregon War, the Hudson Bay Company and Great Britain saw that maintaining a solid transportation link between Canada and the western coast of North America as well as the development of a naval base on the Pacific coast was a necessary goal to maintain British control of the northern Pacific. For this purpose, the only settlement suitable was Fort Simpson on the border with Russia.
There was also debate between the Hudson Bay Company and Great Britain over where the railroad itself was to connect at the eastern end. The HBC initially proposed that the railroad should follow the route of the York Factory Express and connect to the Hudson Bay port of York Factory, the colonial headquarters of the Hudson Bay Company[1]. The British government wanted to keep the railroad along the southern edge of British North America and connect the railroad with already existing rail in Canada. As Parliament had been granting more powers within the administration of British North America to the Hudson Bay Company, the HBC's plan was decided upon in 1875 under the auspices of HBC governor Stafford Henry Northcote. The railroad was completed in 1882, with extensions to the east being constructed in 1885.
The Mormon Revolution:
With the growing powers of the Hudson Bay Company in western British North America, the policies in Prince Rupert's Land started to become rather harsh on the Mormons who had migrated there. The power of enforcement of the laws in Rupert's Land had been given to the Hudson Bay Company since 1821, but starting in the 1860s, the British government gradually granted legislative powers to the HBC as well[2]. As more immigrants came into the eastern plains and the western gold mining towns, HBC governor William Garnett decided it was necessary to enforce stricter, more conservative policies. These policies did not sit well with the Mormon community in Winnipeg and the surrounding area.
While the Mormon opposition to the HBC's conservative laws grew, the Hudson Bay Company continued to pass legislation in an attempt to curb some of the American immigration to British North America and increase the control that the HBC had over the territory, both economically and politically. In 1865, the Colonial Transit Act imposed a regulation that all goods being exported from Rupert's Land and New Caledonia had to pass through Hudson Bay Company office cities. The only HBC offices at the time were in York Factory on Hudson Bay and Fort Simpson on the Pacific Ocean. As most of the international exports from the Mormon populated areas was to the United States, the law was very inefficient for the economy of the Mormon towns, and an appeal to the colonial office in York Factory for the creation of an HBC office in Winnipeg was denied[3]. Regulations such as these continued to be passed, and the region exploded into open rebellion in 1880.
The Mormon Revolution was led by Lewis Farnsworth, a local leader from the Mormon community in Whitmer. As the region was sparsely populated and was surrounded by several large lakes, the rebellion was easily defensible against attacks by HBC or British soldiers. The successful defense of the small isthmus in the Battle of Cedar Lake by the Hudson Bay Company defined the northern extent of the Mormon raids during the rebellion. However, the rebellion also cut off much of the communication between the Hudson Bay Company and Winnipeg, and the rebellion is remembered as a period of lawlessness in the city. After 17 months of open rebellion against the Hudson Bay Company, the new governor of the HBC Lord Dufferin[4] called Farnsworth to a meeting in London. Farnsworth made his case to Lord Dufferin who took the issue in front of Parliament. In 1886, the British government agreed to establish the Dominion of Deseret in the lands in southeastern Rupert's Land with large Mormon populations, including Winnipeg. Whitmer, as the original Mormon settlement in the area, was made the capital of the new Dominion, and soon a railroad connected it with Winnipeg in the south.
The Yukon Purchase:
With the Hudson Bay Company gaining more control over the lands in northwestern North America, the economic productivity of the territory began to decline with the decline of the fur trade. As more people in the region concentrated in the towns and began settling the Great Northern Prairie, the main driver of the economy and the Hudson Bay Copmany's profits from the region switched from fur trapping to grain exports and mining the northern Rockies. At the time, however, the far northwestern region of the Hudson Bay Company's jurisdiction was not very accessible to settlers coming from the east and was mostly settled by Russian fur trappers from Alyeska and Sitka.
As such, when the British government granted the Hudson Bay Company the authority to enter into treaties with foreign powers regarding their jurisdiction in 1890, governor Andrew Carnegie[5] went into negotiations with Alyeska governor Alexander Sibiryakov to formalize the border between Russian and British territory in North America. Over the next months, the border was hammered out and ended with the Treaty of Saint Petersburg, signed by Queen Victoria, Tsar Nicholas II, Carnegie, and Sibiyakov in 1895. Sibiryakov's priority was to make sure as much of the Yukon River watershed fell into Russian territory, and he almost succeeded at gaining all the land that drained into the Yukon.
The Treaty of Saint Petersburg set out the border as following the Portland Channel and Coast Mountains up to the northernmost point where it crosses the 130th meridian west, then along the 130th meridian to the continental divide, and following the continental divide to the Arctic Ocean. The far northern portion of the border remained undefined as the divide does not reach the Arctic Ocean, but the Mackenzie River and its tributaries were identified as being within British North America. In return for the territorial concessions made by Great Britain and the Hudson Bay Company, Russia paid the British Crown five million pounds and conceding Russian claims to any land south of the Hari River valley in Afghanistan.
[1] York Factory is the main port for goods and people going to and from Hudson Bay.
[2] Found the 1821 info on Wiki in the Rupert's Land article, but not sure exactly what act it was or to what extent their initial powers were.
[3] The Winnipeg office was abandoned after the Oregon War.
[4] In OTL a governor-general of Canada and Viceroy of India.
[5] The first Canadian to be governor of the Hudson Bay Company.
Certainly. Been working on a map of BNA to show the new borders, will post it later today.
It was mostly the Hudson Bay Company's conceding that made the separate dominion happen. There were also threats by some of the rebels to request annexation to the United States, and Parliament was willing to accept the terms since it was only granting autonomy.
Here's the British North America map showing the different dominions and the major rail network. The border of Labrador will be fleshed out more later, but that's probably a good representation of it for now.
That was a great update!!
The development you've in Canada is certainly interesting. My guess is Deseret might actually grow to be quite prosperous. It seems to be the link hub to all the other dominions. Will Rupert's Land/Hudson end up as its own dominion or part of Deseret?
Also, since the Deseret mormons have their own Dominion, which I guess allows them to rule themselves as they see fit, how different will their culture evolve to the Mormons in Espejo, California?
What's the demonym for someone from Deseret, btw? Desertese?
The development you've in Canada is certainly interesting. My guess is Deseret might actually grow to be quite prosperous. It seems to be the link hub to all the other dominions. Will Rupert's Land/Hudson end up as its own dominion or part of Deseret?
Also, since the Deseret mormons have their own Dominion, which I guess allows them to rule themselves as they see fit, how different will their culture evolve to the Mormons in Espejo, California?
What's the demonym for someone from Deseret, btw? Desertese?
Nice update, wilcox!
I think I always ask questions that are answered elsewhere on the thread, but what are relations like between French and English speakers in Canada? Given how small Canada is ITTL, the Francophone and Anglophone populations would probably be much closer to equal, would they not?
I think I always ask questions that are answered elsewhere on the thread, but what are relations like between French and English speakers in Canada? Given how small Canada is ITTL, the Francophone and Anglophone populations would probably be much closer to equal, would they not?
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