Williamm Gwin News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

When Spanish navigator Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo became the first European to sight the region that is present-day California in 1542, there were about 130,000 Native Americans inhabiting the area. The territory was neglected by Spain for more than two centuries (until 1769) because of reports of the region’s poverty and a general slowdown of Spanish exploration. The merchant Sebastián Vizcaíno sailed from Mexico to the southern California coast in 1602, naming San Diego, Santa Catalina Island, Santa Barbara, and Monterey. Working with inaccurate maps, Vizcaíno and several later explorers ...

Display at Cheyenne Depot Museum (vannoy photo) On October 24, 1861, the Western Union Telegraph Company completed the link between the Eastern and Western Telegraph lines at Salt Lake City, Utah. The transcontinental line allowed instantaneous communication between Washington, D.C., and San Fran

Though far from the main fighting, California made an outsized contribution to the Union victory, mostly in the form of gold and troops.