Key Events in American History: 1870

President: Ulysses S. Grant

VP: Schuyler Colfax

Date, Event

Jan 8th The U.S. mint in Carson City, NV officially opens

Jan 10th John D. Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil

Jan 15th A political cartoon (for the first time) symbolizes the Democratic party with a jackass in Harper's Weekly

Jan 23rd The Baker Massacre: Col. Eugene Baker slaughters 175 Blackfeet Indians while avenging the murder of a fur trader

Feb 3rd The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution passes guaranteeing Blacks the right to vote

Feb 9th Congress establishes the National Weather Bureau

Feb 12th Utah Territory gives women the right to vote

Feb 25th The first black to be elected to the Senate, Hiram R. Levels, takes his seat (replaces Jefferson Davis)

February Levi Strauss uses dye and begins selling "blue jeans"

Jun 22nd The Department of Justice is created by Congress

Jun 24th The Denver Pacific Railway is completed joining Denver to the Transcontinental Railroad at Cheyenne, WY

Jun 26th Christmas is declared a federal holiday in the United States

Jul 24th The first railway cars from California arrive in New York City via the Transcontinental Railroad

Aug 15th The Kansas Pacific Railroad is completed providing a critical link to Denver

Sep 1st Calamity Jane weds Wild Bill Hickok

Sep 18th Old Faithful Geyser is observed & named by Henry D. Washburn during an expedition to Yellowstone

Reconstruction era (1865-1877)

The 1870 U.S. Census reports the United States to have a population of 38.5 million

The 1870 U.S. Census reports the Arizona Territory to have a population of 9,658

Nov 23rd Stefan Banic (Inventor, Military Parachute)

Dec. 5th Willie M. "Bill" Pickett (Cowboy/Wild West Show Performer)

Jun 9th Charles Dickens (Author, "A Christmas Carol," "Oliver Twist," "A Tale of Two Cities," "Great Expectations")

Aug 14th Admiral David G. Farragut (Admiral, Civil War, Noted for "Damn the Torpedoes, Full Steam Ahead")

Oct 12th Robert E. Lee (Confederate Commander, American Civil War)