WEST, Joseph Rodman, United States senator, born in New Orleans, Louisiana, 19 September, 1822. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania, but was not graduated, served in the war with Mexico as a captain of volunteers, and emigrated in 1849 to California, where he engaged in commercial pursuits. At the opening of the civil war he was proprietor of the San Francisco "Prices Current." He entered the army as lieutenant-colonel of the 1st California infantry, saw service in New Mexico, and afterward in Arkansas and the southwest, was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, 25 October, 1862, and became brevet major-general, 4 January, 1866, when he was mustered out of the service. After the war he settled for a short time in Texas, and then removed to New Orleans, where he served as chief deputy United States marshal and auditor of the customs, and afterward as administrator of improvements, till he was elected United States senator from Louisiana as a Republican, serving from 4 March, 1871, till 3 March, 1877. Removing afterward to Washington, D. C., he engaged in business, and in 1882-'5 was a commissioner of the District of Columbia.