The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-05-08
IODAf s BIRTHDAY PARTY

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 The first battle of the first war between the United States and Mexico was fought at Paio Alta sixty-f1ve years ago, May s. 46- After fierce conf1ict. in which 2 the sMexicans proved themselves brave foemen, Gen. Zachary Fay Ior's army triumphed over the Mexican forces under Gen. Aris- fa. The war was due to5a bound .ary dispute between Texas and Mexico. President Folks war policy was bitterly attacked in many parts of the sNortfs and was opposed by numerous Influential stat atesnaen. Senator Thoss Cor win, of Ohios delivered an sad-s dress opposing the war which was long considered an oratoricaI classic The speech closed with the sentence tYou may carry your banners to the loftiest peaks of the Cordilleras. they may wave with insoIent triumph in the halls of the Moutezumas, the armed men of Mexico may quail before them, but the weakest hand in Mexico. uplifted in prayer to the God Of justice. may call down against you a power in the pres ence of which the iron hearts of your warriors shall be turned in to ashes No such phenomenon occurred, and after year and four months of war. in which the invaders were not once defeated the United States acquired the territory comprising the present States of California, Utah and Nevada, the greater parts of Ari- zona and New Mexico and half of Colorado.
 Recent events south of the Rio Grande lend renewed interest to the adventurous career of Will liam walker. the famous and no- toriotls hlibuster and soldier of fortune whose ambition it was to overthrow the governments of Mexico and Central America. This picturesque character, whose life was more replete with adventures than that of any swashbucklfng hero of red b1ooded" roznance, as born in NashvfIIe, Tenn., ninety years ago today, May g., 1924. Tn his boyhood he was af-| ffliafed with Wander1ust and an sinsatiable thirst for excitement, and he early became a rolling stone He received an excellent education. studying law In his na- tive city abd d acquiring legal X knowledge that might have en- abled him to win fame and for- tune at the bar. He had no soon CT completed the law courses however than he determined to become a physician, and took up the study of medicine at the fa- nous university of Heidelberg, Germany. Upon returning to America he soon turned to jour naIisn Next he joined in the rush Of adventurous spirits to the gold fields of California, aband ing an editorial position on a . New Orleans newspaper to in dulge his desire for change and career as prospecvor he re- turned to Journa1ism as editor of the San Francfsco Herald, and 1a- ter settled as "a lawyer in Mary vile, Gal
 The practice Of the prosy pro- fession of law could not long sat- isfy walk CTS advent turous spirit, however, and he soon began com siderfng various projects which had in them the spice of danger which he craved- In 1851 he conceived the plan of conquest of Mexico. Five years befores after the concIusion of the Mex < iean war, the u nited States had made a tr eaty with it's neigl1bors ing republic whereby the Stars and Stripes were hoisted above a vast stretch of country extend- ing from the Rocky Mountains and Texas to the Pacific Coast. and including Arizona, New Mex ico, Utah, Nevada. California and a part of Colorado. It was the opinion of Walker = shared by many Ca1ffornians of that day. that the United States should have annexed the whole of Mexico and Central America, instead of a mere tract of 7o0,00O square s miles, and he set out to remedy this mistake. At the head of an army of ITO men he set out to effect the conquest of the Mexican State of Sonora, which he pro- posed to use as a base of opera tions against the remainder of the country The sch enne was a. dismal failure, and Walker then decided to annex Central Amer ica first and the Mexican repub- lie later.
 Nicaragua was chosen as the scene of operations. That coun- try was enjoying a revolution, and the s.demoeratic'' chief Cas- tellon, who was making war on the president, Chamorro, invited walker to come to his assistance, promising him large grant of land if the rebellion was success full In 1855 Walker landed at Dea1ejo with sixty-eight men, raised a native force. captured Granada, the capital, and made himself presid lent, His rule was ferocfous and arbitrary, and, a1- though his government was rec ognized by President Pierce, the flibuster soon had to flee the country and seek refuge on a