Saturday Speaker Series — Navy Deserters & Manifest Destiny in the Pacific West
Sat, Nov 21
|Redmond Library
Please note this is an in person program. A recording will be available following the event.
Time & Location
Nov 21, 2026, 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
Redmond Library, 15990 NE 85th St, Redmond, WA 98052, USA
About the Event
In the 1840s and 1850s, the west coast of North, Central and South America exploded with opportunity as Indigenous populations were displaced by eager newcomers. There was gold, silver and precious gems; coal, copper and timber; mercenary quests; and land, land, land. Adventurers traveled by land and by sea, leaving behind their old lives for new dreams. “Go west, young man, and grow up with the country” was the call of Manifest Destiny in the United States, and journalists around the world promoted immigration to the Pacific West.
Join Seattle-based historian Lorraine McConaghy as she presents her research into widespread desertion on the coast by young men from warships in the Royal Navy and the U.S. Navy in the decades before the Civil War.
Speaker Bio:
Lorraine McConaghy is a historian working at Museum of History and Industry in Seattle, Washington, USA. McConaghy completed her Ph.D. in United States…