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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| The Ghost Of William Walker |
| 2006-06-08 |
| Five handguns used in Nicaragua a hundred and fifty years ago by mercenaries trying to conquer Central America have been stolen, police said on Tuesday. Thieves robbed the Colt revolvers from the Hacienda San Jacinto, a historic site on the edge of Managua where gunmen in the pay of William Walker battled Central American soldiers in the 19th century. "The losses are five antique revolvers from the year 1812," said senior police official Edmundo Vindel. "They are antique weapons that are of interest only to the nation." Tennessee-born Walker joined a civil war in Nicaragua in 1855, and with an army of only a few hundred soldiers had himself declared president. With the slogan "five or none" he then set out to conquer the region's four other tiny countries: El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica. Aided by U.S. railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt, who had large business interests in the region, Central American armies eventually forced Walker to flee. Museum director Julio Valle-Castillo called on the thieves to return the historic arms. "You're doing wrong. Return the pistols to a place where we can find them ... because they won't work as weapons," he said. The defeated Walker was eventually turned over the Honduran government, who executed him by firing squad in 1860 at the age of 36. A student of a right-wing professor of Central American history had the chutzpah to wear a t-shirt with a picture of William Walker on it in front of a left-wing professor who damn near had a stroke. WW is sort of the "anti-Che". |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #2 Actually, at the time Vanderbilt was still more of a tycoon in the steamboat and ferry business than the railroads. His major interest in Nicaragua in the timeframe cited was transporting immigrants and "49ers" across the isthmus to facilitate California/Eastern US freight and passenger traffic. Although he dabbled in railroads before then, he didn't really get started building a true railroad empire until the 1860s (when he was in his 70s!). |
| Posted by: Dar 2006-06-08 13:14 |
| #1 The movie based on Walker was dull and preachy. It would be nice if someone did a proper movie about what he did, some of it was amazing when you consider the odds. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2006-06-08 11:03 |