Our school histories acquainted us with the fact that in 1853 the United States Government purchased from Mexico an area about 45,000 square miles in extent, forming what are now the southern parts of Arizona and New Mexico, for $10,000,000, and that this large tract of land came to be known as the "Gadsden Purchase."

But how many of us know that Colonel James Gadsden, who negotiated the purchase, was one of the earliest advocates of a railroad to the Pacific Ocean? It was because of Gadsden's enthusiasm for such a railroad that he was appointed by President Franklin Pierce to become United States Minister to Mexico, chiefly for the purpose of negotiating the purchase, so that the proposed rail route from Charleston, S. C., his home city, to San Diego, in southern California, would be entirely within United States territory.

Gadsden was born in Charleston in 1788, the grandson of General Christopher Gadsden, Revolutionary patriot. Following his graduation from Yale University in 1806 he became a merchant in his native city. He served as an officer of engineers in the War of 1812 and as an aide on the staff of General Andrew Jackson in the first Seminole war. In 1820 he became Inspector General, and in 1822 Adjutant General, of the United States Army, with the rank of colonel. In 1823 he superintended the removal of the Seminoles to southern Florida. In the second Seminole war he was Quartermaster; General of the Florida Volunteers.

In the early 1830's, when the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company was projecting the South's pioneer railway line westward from Charleston, Gadsden manifested a keen interest in the project. In 1836 he was engaged in surveying the line to its western terminus. In 1840 he became president of the railroad. It was then 136 miles in length and represented an investment of $3,000,000-a huge sum for that day.

As president of the South Carolina Rail Road-then the longest railroad in the world-Colonel Gadsden focused his eyes upon the great undeveloped regions of the West and dreamed of a transcontinental railroad that would extend all the way from Charleston to San Diego on the Pacific Ocean, there to command the rich trade of the Orient. Known as the 32d Parallel Route this project had the hearty support of John C. Calhoun, Robert J. Walker, Jefferson Davis and other great men of the South.

Gadsden's enthusiasm for the railroad to the Pacific led him to carry on extensive correspondence with editors, statesmen and other influential friends, whip- ping up interest and gaining support for his project. Years before there was a mile of railroad west of the Mississippi River, Gadsden was urging his scheme before railroad conventions and meetings in Charleston, Montgomery, Vicksburg, Memphis and other cities.

When the 32d Parallel Route to the Pacific was surveyed, the engineers found that the Gila River Valley, then Mexican territory, offered the most desirable location from the standpoint of topography and distance. Jefferson Davis, then Secretary of War, caused President Franklin Pierce to appoint Gadsden the United States Minister to Mexico for the express purpose of conducting negotiations looking to the purchase. His successful accomplishment of his mission helped to pave the way for the great project which had been the overshadowing ambition of his life.

Gadsden died in Charleston in 1858, by which time a chain of railroads extended from Charleston as far west as Montgomery, Ala. Had he lived 24 years longer he would have witnessed the fulfillment of his dream, for by 1882, an unbroken chain of railroads, approximately paralleling the route which he had advocated, connected Charleston with southern California.