L. W. Currey, Inc.

(Transcontinental Railroad) Cincinnatian, A. OUR PACIFIC POSSESSIONS. RAILWAY TO THE PACIFIC[.] OUR FUTURE RELATIONS WITH THE PACIFIC ISLANDS AND MEXICO. A LETTER RESPECTIVELY ADDRESSED TO HON. B. F. WADE, U.S. SENATOR, BY ONE OF HIS CONSTITUENTS. Washington: Henry Polkinhorn Printer, 1861. 22.6x14.7 cm, pp. [1-3] 4-23 [24: blank], original gray wrappers printed in black, sewn. First edition. Written by a Pacific Coast pioneer who went overland to California by Frémont's route in 1850. In his letter dated 18 March 1861 the author opines "that the most imperative duty of our General Government, at the present day, is, to construct, directly or indirectly, by grants of land and other assistance, a Great National Railroad, upon its own territory, from the head of the navigable waters of the Missouri, or a suitable point thereon, best for the interests of the country at large, to San Francisco, on the Pacific ocean; which highway shall cement the East, the South, the Center, the North, and the West by the ties of acquaintance, of good neighborhood, and of a common interest, the lack of which is now causing contending and hostile factions to rend our country, and the possession of which will place us far beyond the danger of separation in feeling and disunion of States which now threatens us" (pp. 14-15). The author proposes to "Americanize" the Hawaiian Islands "by the labor of our now free white countrymen, and if annexation takes place, when the islanders become willing or extinct, to effect it by the plow -- not by the sword" (p. 19). Very faint ink stamp of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio at the bottom edge of the front wrapper. Wrappers dusty, old vertical crease where folded for mailing, a very good copy. (#167385).

Price: $600.00