Joseph Lane
Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
Joseph Lane. Territorial Governor of Oregon, 1848-50, Vice-Presidential candidate, 1860, U.S. Senator, major general in Mexican War. Born 3 miles east.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
Joseph Lane was born near this spot before rising to national prominence in the mid-nineteenth century. He won fame as a major general in the Mexican War, then became the first territorial governor of Oregon and later a U.S. Senator. In 1860 he ran for vice president on the Southern Democratic ticket with John C. Breckinridge, on the eve of the Civil War.
Why it matters
Lane's journey from a North Carolina birthplace to the Pacific Northwest and a national ticket embodies the restless westward ambition and sectional tensions that defined antebellum America.
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Related people
- · Joseph Lane
Related events
- · Mexican War
Themes & tags
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