  West of Slavery The David J. Weber Series in the New Borderlands History Andrew R. Graybill and Benjamin H. Johnson, editors Editorial Board Juliana Barr Sarah Carter Maurice Crandall Kelly Lytle Hernández Cynthia Radding Samuel Truett The study of borderlands—p laces where different peoples meet and no one polity reigns supreme— is undergoing a renaissance. The David J. Weber Series in the New Borderlands History pub- lishes works from both established and emerging scholars that examine borderlands from the precontact era to the present. The series explores contested boundaries and the intercultural dynamics surrounding them and includes projects covering a wide range of time and space within North America and be- yond, including both Atlantic and Pacific worlds. Published with support provided by the William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.   West of Slavery e The Southern Dream of a Transcontinental Empire Kevin Waite The University of North Carolina Press Chapel Hill © 2021 The University of North Carolina Press All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Designed by April Leidig Set in Kepler by Copperline Book Services, Inc. The University of North Carolina Press has been a member of the Green Press Initiative since 2003. Cover illustration by Diego Rios Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Waite, Kevin (Historian), author. Title: West of slavery : the Southern dream of a transcontinental empire / Kevin Waite. Other titles: David J. Weber series in the new borderlands history. Description: Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, [2021] | Series: The David J. Weber series in the new borderlands history | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2020044309 | ISBN 9781469663180 (cloth ; alk. paper) | ISBN 9781469663197 (paperback ; alk. paper) | ISBN 9781469663203 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Slavery—Southwestern States—History—19th century. | African Americans—Southwestern States—Social conditions—19th century. | Indians of North America—Southwestern States—Social conditions—19th century. | Peonage—Southwestern States—History—19th century. | Southwestern States—Politics and government—19th century. | Southwestern States—Relations—Southern States. | Southern States—Relations— Southwestern States. | United States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865. Classification: LCC E449 .W155 2021 | DDC 306.3/62097909034—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020044309 For Mom and Dad This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments xi Introduction The Continental South 1 Part I From Memphis to Canton One The Southern Dream of a Pacific Empire 13 Two The Great Slavery Road 41 Three The Lesser Slavery Road 63 Part II Making the South Continental Four The Southernization of Antebellum California 91 Five Slavery in the Desert South 123 Six The Continental Crisis of the Union 149 Part III War and Reunion Seven West of the Confederacy 181 Eight Reconstruction and the Afterlife of the Continental South 209 Epilogue In the Shadow of the Confederacy 239 Notes 249 Bibliography 309 Index 353 Illustrations Figures White and black miners in El Dorado County, California 35 Camel caravan in Nevada 75 Butterfield stagecoach in San Francisco 86 Biddy Mason 101 Brigham Young Monument 128 Drum Barracks 187 “The Reconstruction Policy of Congress, as Illustrated in California” 222 Victims of the Los Angeles Chinese massacre of 1871 235 Confederate memorial, Hollywood Forever Cemetery 243 Maps The Continental South xix The Gadsden Purchase, 1853–1854 53 Routes of the Pacific Railroad Surveys, 1853–1854 55 The Butterfield Overland Mail Road, 1858–1861 79 The proposed division of California and New Mexico 156 The Confederate invasion of Arizona and New Mexico 192 Confederate monuments of California 244