"Making a wilder West -- alternate history scenarios?" Topic

So, I've been developing my background for a Western-themed campaign when I stumbled across this interesting piece of forgotten history: During the Civil War, there were calls to establish a "Northwestern Confederacy" ‑ basically a third nation made of midwestern states that would have been independent of both the Union and the South. The idea may have had wide support at one point, but its leaders were not up to the task of inciting a rebellion. link

But what if it did succeed? How would that have shaped the Wild West?

In my game, the newly formed Independent States of America competes with both the C.S.A. and the U.S.A. for western land. That leaves many of the future states along the Rocky Mountain front -- Colorado, Wyoming and Montana – as disputed territory. There is no cavalry to protect settlers from Indian raids. Indeed, new settlements are illegal under an 1865 treaty, while existing settlements are divided in their loyalties. California and Oregon remain part of the Union, but since both are now effectively cut off from the rest of the U.S.A, there are growing calls for them to become an independent republic. (Perhaps the Pacific States of America?)

I've been trying to dream up scenarios for an even more lawless West than the one we ended up with. I basically wanted Deadwood, but on a much larger scale. I briefly toyed around with the 13 original colonies never ratifying the Constitution, so we ended up with separate nations as a result, but I think that would have slowed down both technological progress and Western settlement to the point where the Wild West would have been very different from the one we know.

The Civil War seems a fairly common jumping off point for a lot of these alternate history scenarios. It is close enough in time you could still get a recognizable West, but the consequences were so huge they could have drastically changed history. Anyone have any other ideas about how you could make the West wilder?

Two ideas I like:

1) "The Great American desert" that was supposed to cover most of the trans-Mississipi west exists in a very broad fashion, and is full of prehistoric life – mammmoths certainly, dinosaurs if you want 'em.

2) Dr. Moreau has moved from his island lair after the 'incident', and is now based at Hole in the Wall, where he pays Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch to keep the experiments in and visitors out.

Interesting ideas. As for that first one, Jefferson was expecting Lewis and Clark to find mammoths. Maybe they did, and more.

No land bridge so that people did not come here, and so the megafauna still exist.

The land bridge was actual land and is still there so Russia holds large parts of the North American Continent when Columbus arrives on the other side. Say everything west of the Mississippi and south to the great deserts of the southwest.

All the slave states seceed and the South wins the war in 1964 and Lincoln is defeated in the election.

The Souix and several other tribes get their acts together and drive all the Whites out of the west in 1864, with the execption of California, Texas and a few other city states.

Thousands of slaves revolt in 1863 and go west taking hundreds of thousands of women and children with them to the Texas Panhandle where they set up their own free nation.

Like a Pancho Villa of the 1860's Mexican revolutionaries and bandits raid the border as far north as Phoenix and Los Angeles.

After the North wins the war many people called for an attack on Canada since our army was massive, modern and experienced. That attack happens and after three more years of war Canada falls to the USA who pays Britian an indemnity so they can save face. American ironclad ships made the difference. Now the Indians can't flee across the border and the US Army has a much larger area to patrol.

Mike Bunkermeister Creek
Bunker Talk blog

Always remember that to people in the year AD 1856, they had no idea what geographers or newspaper reporters or scientists would know in 1876. so, as far as I am concerned, as far as VSF or alt-history is concerned… you can make it up.
so, Mister Jefferson's mammoths may indeed be out there, as well as the Great American Desert.
And in the South Atlantic is Hy-Brasil.
If educated loonies can believe in the Hollow Earth…

If you want the North invading Canada, don't forget the Phinnertite deposits in Alberta and the Niagara peninsula!

John: "If you want the North invading Canada…"

Here in the North we prefer to call it by its proper name, The War of Canadaian Agression.

1. The Western states form an alliance with some of the Native American tribes.

2. Chinese immigrants are brought over in large numbers to bulk up the army.

3. An alliance is formed with one or more European powers.

4. Maybe an alliance with Mexico pre Maximillian.

1. The Republic of Texas remains independent, attracts more population than in our timeline, makes a land-grab for New Mexico, California, Oregon. Texas Rangers fight Imperial Mexicans, Comanches, the US Cavalry? Texas allies with the Sioux? Crazy Horse gets a battery of Texican horse artillery?

2. Deseret attracts more population than in our time-line, makes a serious bid for independence. Gets support from Imperial Mexico. Combine this with option 1, since an independent Deseret would tend to block an American advance on New Mexico and California, leaving these lands either to Texas or Mexico.

Old California actually gets its act together before the Mexican-American war and becomes a British Colony or Protectorate instead of being thrown to the US when Mexico lost that war – it was too much trouble for the Mexicans to administer and the locals were actively trying to get someone to take notice of them as a sovereign state.

Oregon territory(including what is now Washington state) remain British territory when the British don't fall for the US Presidents bluff – the British actually had garrison posts up into the Rockies there, as had the Russians along the coast.

Redcoats vs the Red Men. Would the British recognize the US treaties with the Plains Indians as binding, and send military assistance to the Indians?

Or even the Russian-American Company remained financially viable and you have a mixture of Russian and Spanish colony/states along the west coast running inland to the watershed of the Rockies. Perhaps the Pope gets involved and kicks the Spanish out, setting up a series of Papal States along the West Coast. If the Orthodox Patriarch (and the Czar) get involved. sectarian wars between the Catholic and Orthodox natives & colonists.

The Chinese explored the western shore of North America in the 15th centuary and what if they had returned to trade and colonise before even the Spanish showed up? I'd make California a Chinese Ming overseas province with it's capital on San Francisco Bay.

Have Thaddeus Lowe and Count Zeppelin do their thing better. Indian tribes will need light artillery to stave off being overrun. They'll need a population boost and pan-immunity of disease-have the 'Civilised Nations' find a way for this to happen.
'Trusted Lieutenants' of Nemo and other Great Minds could form Enclaves in these territories and coastlines like in you Moreau example. This could spur 'spotty' tech development and resource exploitation in these areas. Native Americans and ancient settlers could have a Psi-rapport with the MegaFauna..'Chief Crazy Indricotherium' doesn't work, the animals will all need different names….Jeremiah Johnson with a Smilodon companion, that would be a movie.
Russia will need a middle class to sustain a colony so their history will need work
Deadlands is well done but maybe something less esoteric will do-steal well.

A great area for Gunslingers and Painfully Bright Adventuress'.

Actually, Texas owned most of New Mexico as a Republic. Remember, they sold off parts of it and Colorado to pay off some debts. Those straight line borders around the Panhandle and above West Texas didn't exist… I wish we had kept part of the Rockies though ;-)

If it wasn't for the desert areas in northern Mexico, you can bet that a land grad down in Old Mexico would have been viable.

Another interesting idea would be to have the French speaking provinces in Canada split off from the rest….

What if the Louisiana Purchase never occurred and we had battles over sovereignty?

Spanish Louisiana enduring into the 19th century is another interesting possibility. Perhaps the Spanish sent some troops to Illinois during the AWI to cooperate with George Rogers Clark, in a (successful!) campaign against Detroit, then took over the Illinois territory as a quid pro quo. If the colony attracted more settlers, the Spanish might start shipping grain crops from Illinois down the Mississippi, and New Orleans would develop into the greatest port in North America. The Spanish worked to subvert the western American settlers into seceding, perhaps Aaron Burr and James Wilkinson would have been the men to lead that rebellion. Perhaps the Spanish would have supported Tecumseh's Indian confederacy…this is all a bit earlier then the Wild West, but it could get us there by a very different route.

Alternate Timeline, 1836-1856
link

1857-1876
link

The above are two files on Google docs that outline an alternate history of an independent Republic of Texas and the impact that has on the West.

Another idea would be to have one of the filibustering expeditions to succeed earlier.

Imperial Mexico is a good one. We included it in the Republic's timeline. They also go Red in the early 1900s, with the Whites down in the Yucatan.

Many good ideas here. One of my favorite scenarios actually comes from The Difference Engine, where British meddling results in the nation being split into the USA, CSA, Texas and California (with the English also running guns to the Indians.) There also was a roleplaying game released several years back called Aces & Eights that had the Civil War start 10 years early, resulting in a divided nation and an independent Texas.

For some real giggles for an alternate history, I recommend reading Roswell, Texas, from Big Head Press. Use the read on line version:
bigheadpress.com/roswell

Check out "Deadlands." It has some interesting stuff, but it relies on magic too much to be plausible. Basically, the North and South remain seperate, the Indian tribes unite into large confederations, and the Mormons maintain their state of "Deseret" as an independent nation.

I could very easily see the Mormons as being a "wild card" in any alternate history. IRL, they were at odds with the federal government for some time and at one point massacred a group of settlers. In the end, the federal government showed up with a small army and the Mormons capitulated. Their independent nation was divided up into the states we know today.

Had the Mormons continued to resist, and the federal government been unable to supply enough troops to quash them, the history of the southwest (Nevada/Utah/Arizona/California) might have been veeeeeery different.