William Walker: Grey-Eyed Man of Destiny Quiz

Answer: filibuster

Walker and his ilk were known as filibusters. This term is largely derived from the Dutch word "vrijbuiter", which evolved into the word "freebooter", a term used in the 17th century to describe the pirates who plundered ("free booty") the Spanish colonies of West indies. "Freebooter" eventually became "filibuster."

Answer: Tennessee

Walker was born in Tennessee in May of 1824. The exact date is not certain, although the most widely accepted is May 8th. Most filibusters came from southern states, as slave owners tried to retain a balance of power between free and slave states, by attempting to extend slavery southward beyond the established boundaries of the U.S.

Answer: Manifest Destiny

"Manifest Destiny" was the belief that America had a responsibility to share the benefits of their type of democracy with the less fortunate countries and peoples of the world. Some, like Walker (at least initially) truly did want to make the world a better place through American beliefs, but many simply used it as an excuse to seize more land, whether for personal use or to extend the tentacles of slavery.

Answer: Tobacco farmer

Walker graduated from the University of Pennsylvania's School of Medicine at the age of 19, making him one of the youngest physicians in the country. It has been stated that the reason he chose medicine was to cure his mother, Mary, of her many infirmities that left her an invalid, and at her death in the fall of 1845, his desire for medicine died with her.

His pursuit of law was one of having to find a "proper" career. When he quit medicine, his father, who had financed his education, refused to support any further studies. Walker moved to New Orleans and there studied and passed the bar.

However, he was too much of a romantic and idealist to allow himself to "get down and dirty" to achieve success. Although he did practice briefly in California, a life of filing motions and reading briefs did not appeal to him.

He then turned to the newspaper business. Newspaper men were the Rush Limbaugh's and Neal Boortz's of the 19th century. People wanted to know what they thought, and either strongly, and sometimes violently, agreed or disagreed.

However, when his fiancée, Ellen Gault, died of yellow fever in New Orleans in 1849, Walker lost much of his desire to change the world through words. She was his muse, his partner in thought and idealism. He did continue to work as a journalist and editor in his time in San Francisco, but not with the same conviction that he had when Ellen was alive.

Answer: Ellen Gault

Ellen Gault was a beautiful, young debutante that Walker met when he moved to New Orleans. They shared many convictions, including an aversion to the institution of slavery, a curiosity, since both were children of the South and grew up around slavery. Both were vocal about this belief, and Walker wrote many editorials calling for an end to slavery, a dangerous thing to do in the Deep South.

Another interesting fact about Ellen Gault is that she was a deaf mute, having lost her hearing to fever at a young age. Walker, in his desire to communicate his feelings to her, dived headfirst into learning sign language.

Although it is not known if they were ever officially engaged, Walker did ask Ellen's mother for her hand. Her mother refused on the grounds that Walker wasn't making enough money to support Ellen in the lifestyle she was accustomed to, but did not forbid their continued romance.

As stated earlier, Ellen died of yellow fever in New Orleans in 1849, at the tail end of a rather deadly epidemic. Before she died, she gave him a necklace with a cross on it.

He was wearing this cross when he was executed 11 years later.

Answer: Mexico

Walker's reasons for his campaign in Mexico were not materialistic, which set him apart from many other filibusters. They rested in his belief that American citizens residing in the northern part of Sonora, what is now the southern portion of Arizona and New Mexico, were in danger from the threat of Apache raiding parties.

In 1853, he and his partner, Henry Watkins, proposed to free the entire state of Sonora from Mexico. Short on manpower, he was forced to make a landing at La Paz in Lower (Baja) California, rather than at Guayamas in Sonora. Lower California was less populated and less well guarded. Walker planned to work his way across the land, gathering the support of citizens along the way.

By the time he reached Sonora, he hoped to have a large enough army to successfully launch a revolution.

It was not to be. Since the Mexican people were already untrusting of any American and any venture backed by Americans, Walker's movement gathered almost no local support. His own ranks were being decimated by disease and desertion, until he was left with only thirty-four men out of an original force of 300. Faced with no other options, Walker retreated to the United States, where he surrendered his command to U.S. military officials in San Diego in May, 1854.

He was charged with violating the Neutrality Law, but an enthusiastic (and pro-Walker) jury acquitted him later that fall.

Answer: Nicaragua

On May 4, 1855, Walker and fifty eight men, soon to be known as "The Immortals," set sail for Nicaragua, arriving in mid-June. His little band of fighters had an immediate impact on the Civil War in Nicaragua. Although outnumbered most of the time, Walker's men were experienced, with many having served in the Mexican-American War, and were better armed. By October of that year the Democratic forces, led by Walker, had managed to take control of the Legitimist capital of Granada, located on the northwest shores of Lake Nicaragua. Technically governed by a Nicaraguan, Walker, as commander-in-chief of the military, was the true power in Nicaragua.

His hold on power, strong at first, became more tenuous throughout his time in Nicaragua, and the Democratic leaders became more and more distrustful and fearful of Walker.

This, in spite of the fact that when they had offered him the presidency in 1855, he had turned them down. Walker eventually did ascend to the presidency. In the spring of 1856, inconsistencies in the presidential election led to calls for a new one, this time with Walker on the ballot.

The other candidates balked, knowing that Walker's popularity with the people would lead to his election. According to Walker, he pressed for a new election only to protect his men from retribution by the Nicaraguan leaders. In his words, it was obvious "that there were many in Leon desirous of exciting popular passions and prejudices against the Americans...all things tended to show that, in case Nicaragua were invaded by San Salvador and Guatemala, the Americans might find the machinery of the government they had created and sustained turned against themselves." When President Don Patricio Rivas asked for help from Guatemala to keep him in power, Walker declared the Rivas government invalid and called for a new election. It was just as the Democrats had feared. Out of 23,000 votes, Walker received 16,000.

Answer: Franklin Pierce

President Pierce was frantically trying to win the Democratic nomination in 1856, but he faced strong opposition. Hoping that by recognizing the Walker government he would strengthen his power base in the South, Pierce granted that recognition. When this failed to gain him the support he needed, as well as when the fact that the U.S. minister to Nicaragua, John Wheeler, had neglected to inform the administration that Walker, and not Rivas, was in control was learned, the offer was withdrawn.

Answer: He nullified the part of the constitution that outlawed slavery.

This action ran counter to Walker's long-held belief that slavery was wrong. It was public knowledge that he had written in favor of abolition while he was with the Daily Crescent in New Orleans. His half-hearted attempt to defend his decision in later writings only served to further muddy the waters. Walker asserted that it was his hope that this action would have a two-fold effect: First, to spur American immigration into Nicaragua by the landowners of the southern states of America, thereby connecting them, fiscally and otherwise, to his Nicaraguan government, should those states ever break away from the Union; and, secondly, to declare his intentions to the northern states in the U.S. that Nicaragua would not seek annexation, but rather, would be a free and sovereign nation. Whatever his intentions were, this action only served to erode the support that he had amongst the indigenous population of Nicaragua, and further polarized the forces for and against him.

Answer: Before a Honduran firing squad.

In 1860, after the publication of his book, 'The War in Nicaragua', he again ventured into Central America, this time to assist in the overthrow of the government of Honduras. It was his hope that, after ridding the country of their dictator, he would then be able to begin to create a federation of the Central American states into one country. From Honduras, he planned to move south, retaking Nicaragua. With almost one hundred men under his command, he captured the port city of Truxillo.

But the supplies that were expected never came.

In an effort to hold off an advancing force of Honduran soldiers, Walker attempted to hook up with the leader of the Honduran rebels, former president Trinidad Cabañas. When this failed, he surrendered to British officials, who turned Walker over to the Honduran government. Sentenced to death by firing squad, he was executed on the morning of September 12, 1860. I hope you have enjoyed this quiz. For more info on William Walker and the Filibuster movement, I recommend the following books that I used as my sources: 'The World and William Walker', by Alvin Z. Carr; 'Sad Swashbuckler: The Life of William Walker', by Noel B. Gerson; 'Filibuster and Financiers: The Story of William Walker and His Associates', by William O. Scroggs; 'The War In Nicaragua', by William Walker.

There is also a movie about William Walker, titled, appropriately enough, 'Walker', starring Sam Neill and Marlee Matlin. I haven't had the chance to see it, so if you have, please drop me a line and let me know what you thought of it, or this quiz. Thanks for playing!