The year was 1868 and in the U.S. Andrew Johnson was serving the last year of his presidential term following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. It was a turbulent year with the country still bitterly torn and struggling with issues left by the Civil War in an era known as The Reconstruction. Pitted against Congress, Johnson was impeached on eleven counts by the House for firing the Secretary of War, but was later acquitted by the Senate. For a more in depth look at Reconstruction and the political events of 1868, see The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson website, which includes excerpts from periodicals of the day.
In November of 1868, the Union General Ulysses S. Grant won the presidential election. Americans continued to move westward and in 1868 Wyoming Territory was organized from parts of Dakota, Utah and Idaho Territories. The young territorial government would go on to make history the following year when it became the first in the world to pass legislation allowing women the right to vote. Continue reading