Lansford Hastings
Encyclopedia
Lansford Warren Hastings (1819–1870) is best remembered as the developer of Hastings Cutoff
, a shortcut across what is now the state of Utah
, a factor in the Donner Party
disaster of 1846.
, Ohio
, he was a descendant of Thomas Hastings
who came from the East Anglia
region of England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony
in 1634. Hastings was trained as a lawyer
. In 1842, Hastings traveled overland to Oregon
. While there, he briefly represented Dr. John McLoughlin
, preparing his land claim near Willamette Falls
and surveying Oregon City, Oregon
(which would become the first incorporated city west of the Rocky Mountains
). He left in the spring of 1843 for Alta California
, a sparsely populated province of Mexico
. By the time he returned to the United States
in 1844, he had decided to help to wrest California from Mexico and establish an independent Republic of California, with himself holding high office.
Hastings's dream of empire soon collapsed when California was conquered by the United States military during the Mexican–American War
. In 1848, Mexico ceded California to the United States under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
.
, where he served as postmaster and as a territorial judge. During the Civil War
, Hastings sided with the South
. In 1864, he travelled to Richmond, Virginia
, where he met with Confederate President Jefferson Davis
to gain his support for a plan to separate California from the Union and unite it with the Confederacy. However, the so-called Hastings Plot came to nothing, as the war ended early the following year.
After the end of the war, many disgruntled former Confederate
s left the United States to establish colonies in Brazil
. Hastings visited the region, made arrangements with the Brazilian government, and wrote The Emigrant's Guide to Brazil (1867) to attract potential colonists. He died at St. Thomas
in the Virgin Islands
in 1870, possibly of yellow fever
, while conducting a shipload of settlers to his colony at Santarém.
Hastings Cutoff
The Hastings Cutoff was an alternate route for emigrants to travel to California, as proposed by Lansford Hastings.In 1845, Hastings published a guide entitled The Emigrant's Guide to Oregon and California...
, a shortcut across what is now the state of Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, a factor in the Donner Party
Donner Party
The Donner Party was a group of American pioneers who set out for California in a wagon train. Delayed by a series of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–47 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada...
disaster of 1846.
Early life
Born to Waitstill and Lucinda (Wood) Hastings in Mount VernonMount Vernon, Ohio
Mount Vernon is a city in Knox County, Ohio, United States. The population was 16,990 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Knox County. The city is named after Mount Vernon, the plantation owned by George Washington.-History:...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, he was a descendant of Thomas Hastings
Thomas Hastings (colonist)
Thomas Hastings was a prominent English immigrant to New England, one of the approximately 20,000 immigrants who came as part of the Great Migration. A Deacon of the church, among his many public offices he served on the Committee of Colony Assessments in 1640 and as Deputy for Watertown to the...
who came from the East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
region of England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
in 1634. Hastings was trained as a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
. In 1842, Hastings traveled overland to Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. While there, he briefly represented Dr. John McLoughlin
John McLoughlin
Dr. John McLoughlin, baptized Jean-Baptiste McLoughlin, was the Chief Factor of the Columbia Fur District of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver. He was later known as the "Father of Oregon" for his role in assisting the American cause in the Oregon Country in the Pacific Northwest...
, preparing his land claim near Willamette Falls
Willamette Falls
The Willamette Falls is a natural waterfall on the Willamette River between Oregon City and West Linn, Oregon, in the United States. It is the largest waterfall in the Pacific Northwest and the eighteenth largest in the world by water volume. Horseshoe in shape, it is wide and high with a flow...
and surveying Oregon City, Oregon
Oregon City, Oregon
Oregon City was the first city in the United States west of the Rocky Mountains to be incorporated. It is the county seat of Clackamas County, Oregon...
(which would become the first incorporated city west of the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
). He left in the spring of 1843 for Alta California
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
, a sparsely populated province of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. By the time he returned to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1844, he had decided to help to wrest California from Mexico and establish an independent Republic of California, with himself holding high office.
The Republic of California
Hastings wrote The Emigrants' Guide to Oregon and California to induce Americans to move to California, hoping they could effect a bloodless revolution by sheer numbers. He described California in glowing terms and gave practical advice to overland travelers. Contrary to popular belief, he did not promote the cutoff that bears his name in his book. He merely described it in a single sentence as a possible route: "The most direct path would be leave the Oregon route, about two hundred miles east of Fort Hall; thence bearing west-south west, to the Salt Lake; and thence continuing down to the bay of San Francisco." (Hastings, pp. 137–138). However, Hastings wrote this statement before he had traveled the route himself, and he may have been unaware of the difficulties in crossing the Wasatch Range and the salt flats of western Utah.Hastings's dream of empire soon collapsed when California was conquered by the United States military during the Mexican–American War
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known as the First American Intervention, the Mexican War, or the U.S.–Mexican War, was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848 in the wake of the 1845 U.S...
. In 1848, Mexico ceded California to the United States under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico City, that ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848...
.
Later years
After serving as a captain in the California Battalion during the Mexican War, Hastings again took up the practice of law. He married Charlotte Toler in 1848 and was a delegate to the 1849 California Constitutional Convention. In the late 1850s he moved his family to Yuma, ArizonaYuma, Arizona
Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. It is located in the southwestern corner of the state, and the population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2008 Census Bureau estimated population of 90,041....
, where he served as postmaster and as a territorial judge. During the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Hastings sided with the South
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
. In 1864, he travelled to Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, where he met with Confederate President Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis...
to gain his support for a plan to separate California from the Union and unite it with the Confederacy. However, the so-called Hastings Plot came to nothing, as the war ended early the following year.
After the end of the war, many disgruntled former Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
s left the United States to establish colonies in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. Hastings visited the region, made arrangements with the Brazilian government, and wrote The Emigrant's Guide to Brazil (1867) to attract potential colonists. He died at St. Thomas
Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Thomas is an island in the Caribbean Sea and with the islands of Saint John, Saint Croix, and Water Island a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of...
in the Virgin Islands
Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...
in 1870, possibly of yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
, while conducting a shipload of settlers to his colony at Santarém.
External links
- Roy Tea's Hastings Cutoff Page
- Hastings Cutoff Trail Guides by Roy D. Tea
- Lansford Hastings on the Hastings Family genealogy page
- The Emigrants' Guide to Oregon and California from American Studies at the University of Virginia.
- Descendants of Thomas Hastings website
- Descendants of Thomas Hastings on Facebook