lines and proposed a rail line over the Bering Strait connecting North America and Asia. Throughout his career in politics, Gilpin was a strong believer that the American West would not only be settled but also eventually hold an enormous population. He was a particularly strong advocate of the now-debunked climatological theory of "Rain follows the plow". This theory held that settlement in the arid lands of the West would actually increase rainfall in the region, making it as fertile and green as the Eastern United States. Governor of Colorado In the early 1860s the crisis in Kansas prompted Gilpin to join the Republican Party, putting him at odds with many citizens of Missouri. His political alignment with the new administration of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was rewarded in 1861 when Lincoln appointed him governor of the newly formed Territory of Colorado. His selection over the local favorite William Larimer came as a surprise to many, and was motivated in part by the fact that Gilpin was backed by the Governor of Missouri, a slave state that Lincoln was eager to keep in the Union. The US Government's Official Register for 1861 lists Gilpin as both Governor of Colorado (at a salary of $1,500 a year) and as governor and ex officio superintendent of the Indian Office's Colorado Superintendency ($2,500 a year). American Civil War Governor Gilpin left Missouri and arrived in Denver City on May 29, 1861, to cheering crowds. Despite his warm reception, his administration was plagued with difficulties from the outset. The territory had been organized at the start of the Civil War and faced a complex set of threats, including Confederate sympathizers within the territory, the possibility of a Confederate invasion from outside, and looming tensions with Native Americans (in particular the Arapaho and Cheyenne) in the wake of the withdrawal of U.S. Army troops in the region for other duties. The imminent threats facing the territory prompted Gilpin to act quickly without receiving authorization from the federal government. He appointed a territorial military staff and, despite having no funds for military purposes, he began to solicit volunteers for a military regiment. Without funds, he took the daring step of issuing $375,000 in drafts on the federal treasury, with the expectation that the federal government would honor them later. He later claimed that he had received verbal authorization from Lincoln for issuing the drafts before leaving