Background

William Gilpin's parents, Joshua and Mary (Dilworth) Gilpin, were of Quaker stock and lived in Brandywine, Pennsylvania, where William was born on October 4, 1813.

He was the brother of Henry Dilworth Gilpin, who served as Attorney General of the United States under President Martin Van Buren.

Education

William was sent to England for his elementary education. After his return to America, he attended and was graduated in 1833 from the University of Pennsylvania.

Career

William entered West Point on July 1, 1834, only to resign in good standing February 15, 1835. He then read law for a time in Philadelphia. For many years thereafter, he led a restless and eventful life, alternately engaged in warlike and peaceful pursuits.

He started on his career as a soldier in the Seminole War of 1836, serving first as second lieutenant by appointment of President Jackson, a friend of the family. Later he was promoted first lieutenant but resigned from the army in April 1838 and went to St. Louis, where he edited the Missouri Argus.

As a reward for his political services, he was appointed a chief clerk of the state House of Representatives. After this experience, he settled down to the practice of law at Independence, Missouri, but the call of adventure was too strong for him.

In 1843, he accompanied Fremont’s expedition on its way to the Pacific and traveled about on the coast in search of excitement and knowledge. As a major in Doniphan’s regiment of Missouri volunteers, he fought in the Mexican War and in 1847-48 engaged in Indian fighting in the Rockies.

He retired from military life a lieutenant-colonel of volunteers and returned to a relatively quiet life at Independence. It is said, however, that he occasionally traveled between Missouri and the eastern states and that he often lectured.

During this period also, he produced an extraordinary book, The Central Gold Region, first published in 1860. It was the work of a visionary. Gilpin saw the Valley of the Mississippi as the future home of civilization, and Denver, then so young, as its capital city.

By means of quaint maps and more quaint argument, he proved this thesis to his own satisfaction. Later, the book was reissued with the grandiose title Mission of the North American People (1873).

Gilpin’s adventurous life reached its climax when he arrived in Denver in May 1861 as the first governor of the newly organized Territory of Colorado.

Late in the autumn, he organized the 1st Regiment, Colorado Volunteers. The cost of the equipment of the soldiers, as well as their pay, was met by the governor by the issuance of drafts upon the national treasury. When these were repudiated by the treasury, Gilpin’s reputation suffered, though the drafts were honored in later years. After a serious wrangle, he was recalled in March 1862.

He lived in Denver for the remainder of his life.

Achievements

• Under Gilpin's direction, judicial districts were laid out, the first territorial legislature was convened, and the first census was taken. His great task was to save the district for the Union. Gilpin County in Colorado was named in his honor.

Works

More photos

• book

  • U S Power Multinational Corp (The Political economy of international relations series)

    (An examination of multinational corporations and foreign ...)

  • Remarks on forest scenery, and other woodland views, (relative chiefly to picturesque beauty) illustrated by the scenes of New-Forest in Hampshire. In ... books. ... By William Gilpin. Volume 1 of 2

    ( The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration...)

  • Three Essays: On Picturesque Beauty; On Picturesque Travel; And on Sketching Landscape: To Which Is Added a Poem, on Landscape Painting. Second Edition. by William Gilpin,

    (The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration a...)

  • The Lives of John Wicliff, and of the Most Eminent of His Disciples; Lord Cobham, John Huss, Jerome of Prague, and Zisca

    (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

  • Mission of the North American People, Geographical, Social, and Political

    (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

  • The Life of Bernard Gilpin

    (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

Views

In 1890, Gilpin published The Cosmopolitan Railway, in which he proposed uniting the world under the leadership of the United States by a system of railroads, one of which was to connect America to Asia at the Bering Strait.

Personality

It is said that Gilpin was connected with a huge Spanish land grant in the San Luis Valley and adjacent New Mexico, from which he realized a comfortable fortune.

Connections

On February 12, 1874, Gilpin married Mrs. Julia Pratte Dickerson of St. Louis.

Father:

Joshua Gilpin

8 November 1765 - 22 August 1841

Mother:

Mary Dilworth Gilpin

22 April 1777 - 21 April 1864

Brother:

Richard Arthington Gilpin

21 November 1812 - 15 May 1887

Brother:

Henry Dilworth Gilpin

14 April 1801 - 29 January 1860

Sister:

Elizabeth Gilpin Maury

27 March 1804 - 13 January 1892

Sister:

Sarah Lydia Gilpin

21 August 1802 - 13 April 1894

Wife:

Julia Pratte Gilpin

1836 - 21 December 1912

Son:

Willie Gilpin

Died on 6 July 1892.

References

• William Gilpin: Western Nationalist