GILPIN, William, governor of Colorado, born in Newcastle county, Delaware, 4 October, 1812. He was graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1833, studied at the United States military academy, and served in the Seminole war, but resigned his commission and removed to Independence, Missouri, in 1841, where he practised law, which he had studied under his brother. He was secretary of the general assembly in 1841-'3. On 4 March, 1844, with a party of 125 pioneers, he founded Portland, Oregon, about four miles above its present site, and drew up the articles of agreement for a territorial government. He afterward re-entered the army, serving through the Mexican war as major of the 1st Missouri cavalry, and in 1848 he made a successful expedition against the hostile Indians of Colorado, which resulted in a peace for eighteen years. In 1851 he returned to Independence, and in 1861 he was appointed first governor of Colorado. Governor Gilpin has published "The Central Gold Region" (Philadelphia, 1859) and "The Mission of the North American People" (1873). In the latter he showed by charts the practicability of establishing a railroad around the world on "the 40th parallel of latitude, on which are located nearly all the great cities of both continents.