...William Walker, a Tennessee-born adventurer, sets out…

...William Walker, a Tennessee-born adventurer, sets out from California on October 15, 1853, leading an army of forty-five men into Sonora.

He succeeds in capturing La Paz, the capital of the sparsely populated Baja California, which he declares the capital of a new Republic of Lower California, with himself as president, on November 3.

Although he never gains control of Sonora, less than three months later he will pronounce Baja California part of the larger Republic of Sonora, consisting of the remaining non-purchased state of Sonora and the whole of the Baja California peninsula.

Lack of supplies and an unexpectedly strong resistance by the Mexican government will quickly force Walker to retreat.