Pacifica Britannica

(Also referred to as “A Fistful of Pounds”)

Current Year: 1860

After the Boston Massacre and the first several weeks of the American Revolutionary War, the Founding Fathers of America call for a diplomatic meeting with King George III of Great Britain in May of 1775. A temporary cease-fire is reached and an attempt at a peace-accord it negotiated, including a trip by General George Washington and several of his associates across the Atlantic to meet in person with members of the British monarchy. Expanding on Benjamin Franklin’s proposed plan to pay the British Empire over the course of several decades in exchange for America’s officially recognized independence, a treaty is reached that negotiates peace between the nations that exchanges American independence for a set amount of wealth and land-ownership. In addition to a stipend of America’s GDP to be delivered to Britain over the course of the next 50 years, the westernmost sixth of the continent’s landmass is granted to the Empire to settle and own in perpetuity. Roughly at the easternmost border of what we know today as Nevada in our universe, the “Washington-Frederick Parallel” is drawn vertically, ceding the landmass from that point to the west coast of the continent to Britain.

As American colonies expand and develop, British military regiments and settlers migrate across the continental landmass of the United States. Making a first major European settlement (named “New Wessex”) in what we know in our universe as Pocatello, Idaho, in 1784, colonization rapidly expands westward. A major port-settlement is established in what we know in our universe as Newport, Oregon, in 1790 named “New Bristol”. This settlement, along with others formed on the American Pacific coast, serve to heavily benefit the East India Company and greatly further the interests of British trade with China, India, the United States and even Japan. An industry of fur-trapping rises and creates a foundation of wealth for future growth. Fending-off incursions with the Chinook, the Northern Paiute, the Tututni and many other scattered branches of Native American Tribes, British settlements expand downward into what we know as California through the early 1800’s, and even eastward into the Mojave. Areas of land are sold to other prospective European businesses, leading to an eventual French, Dutch and Irish presence in the same area. This greatly accelerates American Westward Expansion, as early American settlers looking to settle the Midwest or move along an earlier version of the Oregon Trail are able to travel to British territory where they can rest and resupply themselves before making a second smaller trip back eastward, greatly reducing the mortality-rate for settlers. This also creates an economic boon for the British territory as hotels and merchants create a thriving business-model.

By the 1830’s and 40’s an environment very similar to what we know in our universe as the Old West exists, but under a distinctly European influence, dominated by Anglo-centric air of culture and fueled by a much more robust economy. The American Transcontinental Railroad is completed earlier than it is in our universe in 1850, unifying the East Coast of America with the states along the Washington-Frederick Parallel and connecting to the preexisting rail-system of the British territory, making trade between the two powers even more common.

By this point in history this creates a version of the Old West both familiar and alien compared to our universe. Old West desert towns and Northwest settlements of the temperate forest climate feature a distinctly European sense of architecture. The modest, drab Protestant churches of the era that were built under impoverished circumstances are replaced with much more lavish places of worship, with some towns housing even more ornate Catholic cathedrals. Saloons offer a wide selection of European favorites (often served warm), and the familiar sound of ragtime piano music is often replaced with the melodies of Mozart and Wagner.

Migrants from Britain (and often other European nations) make the voyage from their homeland to seek wealth in the “Pacific Colonies”, becoming cowboys, ranchers, business-owners and prospectors. A large influx is seen during this universe’s version of the California Gold Rush. European cowboys develop a distinct style of Eurocentric attire, combining the familiar wide-brimmed hats and spurred boots with Occidental-influenced clothing-choices, and wielding high-quality revolvers often forged in Europe and shipped to the colonies. Bandanas seem to often bare the Union Jack. Royalist military forces are shipped in to deal with increasing violent altercations with the Apache and Paiute tribes (often using a prematurely invented Maxim Gun). Old West sheriffs are often the descendants of long lines of British law-enforcement officers, wearing both the recognizable Silver Star and a version of the bobby’s helmet. In the current year of 1860, the Pacific Colonies almost serve as a fashionable, exotic vacation-spot for wealthy Europeans, even hosting a visit for Queen Victoria herself.