Timeline of Events

Timeline of Events

"How the West Got Weird—A Chronology of Calamity"

The history of the Weird West diverges from our own world at a single, terrible moment: July 3rd, 1863, during the Battle of Gettysburg. On that blood-soaked Pennsylvania field, something fundamental changed. The dead rose. The impossible became real. And the world would never be the same.

Understanding this timeline is essential for any Troubleshooter working in Colonel Brennan's employ. The events of the past fourteen years have shaped every town, every territory, and every threat you'll face. This isn't just history—it's the context for every mission you'll undertake.

Before the Reckoning (Pre-1863)

Up until July 1863, the history of the Weird West mirrors our own. The California Gold Rush of 1849 drew thousands westward. The Civil War began in 1861 when Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter. The legendary heroes of the Old West—Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt Earp, Bill Pickett—were forged in the harsh frontier exactly as they were in the real world.

But beneath the surface, dark forces were stirring. Ancient spirits watched. The Reckoners—beings of pure malevolence—waited for their moment. And when the bloodshed at Gettysburg reached its terrible crescendo, they made their move.

1863: The Reckoning Begins

July 1-3, 1863 — The Battle of Gettysburg

For three days, the Union Army of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia clashed in the bloodiest battle the nation had ever seen. On the final day, as Pickett's Charge was shattered by Union artillery and the Confederate retreat began, something impossible happened.

The dead rose.

Soldiers who had fallen hours or days before lurched to their feet and began attacking the living. Witnesses reported corpses with grievous wounds shambling across the battlefield, mindless hunger in their eyes. Panicked troops on both sides opened fire on the undead, but bullets that should have dropped a man had little effect on bodies that were already dead.

Both armies retreated in chaos. Commanders on each side scrambled to understand what had happened. Was it mass hallucination? Disease? Divine punishment? No one knew. But when the two armies met again weeks later, it happened again. And worse.

Impact: The governments put the Pinkerton Detective Agency (later the Agency) and the Texas Rangers in charge of investigating the supernatural occurrences. They learned two critical truths:

1. Violence and terror on the battlefield seemed to spawn these horrors
2. The more people knew about the supernatural, the more scared they got—and the more monsters appeared

From that point forward, both governments worked to keep the existence of the supernatural quiet. Major battles ceased. Soldiers who witnessed the horrors were separated, their accounts dismissed as combat-induced madness. The war ground to a tense, uneasy stalemate.

But the Reckoners weren't done. Not by a long shot.

1868: The Great Quake

Early 1868 — California Falls Into the Sea

On a morning that would change the world forever, the greatest earthquake in recorded history struck the West Coast. The land from Mexicali to Oregon shattered and collapsed. When the dust settled, California was gone.

What remained was the Great Maze—a labyrinth of jagged mesas towering over flooded sea-channels. Thousands died in the initial quake. Thousands more perished in the weeks that followed as survivors struggled to escape the shattered landscape or find stable ground.

The Discovery of Ghost Rock:

Among the devastation, survivors made an astonishing discovery. A group of refugees near San Diego found black rocks they initially mistook for coal. When they tried to burn them for warmth, the rocks ignited with incredible heat and burned a hundred times hotter and longer than coal. The burning stones gave off ghostly-white vapors and emitted an eerie, low moan.

They called it ghost rock. The name stuck.

Impact: Ghost rock became the most valuable substance on Earth. More precious than gold, more powerful than any known fuel, it revolutionized technology overnight. Within months, inventors descended on the Maze to perfect steam-powered devices fueled by ghost rock. Horseless carriages, flying machines, rapid-fire weapons—innovations that would have taken decades appeared in mere months.

But the Reckoners had a purpose in exposing ghost rock. It wasn't just about technology. It was about war.

1869-1870: The Race for Ghost Rock

January 1869 — Davis Claims the Maze

Confederate President Jefferson Davis recognized ghost rock's military potential immediately. He declared that California no longer existed and the Great Maze was now Confederate territory.

Teams of Texas Rangers scoured the West, recruiting scientists with knowledge of ghost rock. Those who agreed were taken to a secret Confederate research facility in Roswell, New Mexico. Those who refused? Well, they couldn't pass their knowledge on—at least not without a séance. This is why mad scientists tend to keep to themselves to this very day.

The Ghost Trail: Davis never fully controlled the Maze, but he established enough pro-Southern settlements to secure a steady supply of ghost rock. Mile-long mule trains carried tons of the mineral east along the now-famous Ghost Trail from the Maze to Roswell.

1871: The Battle of Washington

February 1871 — Ghost Rock Goes to War

After months of frantic development at Roswell, President Davis demanded the scientists turn over their inventions—ready or not. What followed was the South's biggest offensive of the entire war.

General Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia attacked Washington D.C., backed by ghost rock-powered war machines. Steam-driven mechanical monstrosities, rapid-fire weapons, and other infernal devices caught the Union completely off-guard. The assault was devastatingly effective.

The Confederates seized the Union capital.

For weeks, the Stars and Bars flew over Washington. The North reeled in shock. But Confederate victory was short-lived. The hastily-built devices began to malfunction. Ghost rock supplies ran low. General Ulysses S. Grant rallied Union forces and staged a massive counterattack.

Lee was forced to retreat back across the Potomac. Washington was reclaimed, but the message was clear: ghost rock-powered weapons were the future of warfare.

Impact: The battle proved that control of ghost rock meant control of the war. Both governments became obsessed with securing transcontinental rail lines to the Maze to ensure a steady supply of the miracle fuel.

1871-1872: Aftermath and Escalation

Late 1871 — General Lee Retires

After the costly victory-turned-defeat at Washington, General Robert E. Lee retired from active service in the CSA Army. Exhausted by years of war and troubled by the increasingly brutal direction of Confederate strategy, he took a position helping to run Dixie Rails, one of the major railroad companies.

His retirement marked the end of an era. The Confederacy's greatest military commander was stepping away from the battlefield—but he would continue to watch Davis closely, growing more suspicious with each passing month.

Winter 1871 — Davis Changes

During a tour of Kentucky to recruit new regiments after the losses at Washington, President Jefferson Davis took a solitary walk in the mountains. When he returned, something seemed... different.

Those who knew him well noticed a shift. Davis became more ruthless, more focused on devastating weapons and total war. His policies grew harsher. The warmth he once showed his people faded, replaced by cold calculation. Some attributed it to the stress of the war. Others whispered that the defeat at Washington had broken something inside him.

General Lee suspects something is deeply wrong, but has no proof—just a gnawing sense that the man in Richmond isn't quite the same person who left for Kentucky. Lee watches and waits, trying to understand what changed in those mountains.

Early 1872 — The Roswell Raid

A band of Union soldiers known as the "Flying Buffalos", led by officer Jay Kyle and Sergeant Amos, raided the Confederate research facility at Roswell. They stole many of the South's best weapon designs.

The raid was a devastating blow to Confederate mad science efforts. Many scientists had already gone mad, died in experiments, or deserted. Those who remained were demoralized. The once-mighty research program at Roswell never fully recovered.

1872 — Grant Takes Office

Ulysses S. Grant officially became President of the United States of America (what remained of it, anyway). Though he had hoped to step down and resume military command, political pressures kept him in the White House.

1871-1876: The Great Rail Wars

1871 — The Race Begins

After retaking Washington, President Grant offered an exclusive government contract for ghost rock transport to the first company to build a transcontinental rail line connecting the East Coast to the Maze. The Confederates made the same offer the next day.

Dozens of railroad companies answered the call. The competition quickly boiled down to six major players:

• Union Blue (Union-backed)
• Iron Dragon (Controlled by Chinese interests)
• Dixie Rails (Confederate-backed, partly owned by General Lee)
• Bayou Vermillion (Southern railroad expanding westward)
• Wasatch Railroad (Based in Utah, Mormon-controlled)
• Black River Railroad (Independent line, owned by industrialists like Colonel Augustus Brennan)

What followed was a bloody, brutal competition that has sometimes rivaled the Civil War itself in violence. Sabotage, ambushes, bribery, and outright warfare between railroad companies became commonplace. Entire towns have been destroyed in the crossfire.

Summer 1876 — The Battle of the Cauldron

The Rail Wars reached a fever pitch with a series of confused and bloody battles collectively known as the "Battle of the Cauldron." Multiple railroad companies clashed in a chaotic free-for-all that left hundreds dead.

Shortly thereafter, events in the City of Lost Angels (see later chapters) brought the railroads to a screeching halt, leaving all six companies barely breaking even on their existing lines.

1876: The Elections and November Offensives

Fall 1876 — Dual Elections

Presidential elections in both the Union and the Confederacy captured the nation's attention. As always, the elections were accompanied by the "November Offensives"—massive military campaigns staged by incumbents to prove their strength.

The Union: President Grant faced challenger Samuel Tilden, a pro-peace Democrat. Generals Sherman and Sheridan convinced Grant to run for reelection, arguing that only military leadership could win the war.

The Confederacy: President Jefferson Davis (actually the doppleganger) faced General Robert E. Lee, who had been drafted by the reconstituted Whig Party despite being retired from politics.

November 1876 — Battles Across the Continent

Virginia — The Battle of Sixth Manassas: Union forces supported by massive ghost rock-powered land ironclads and air carriages attacked Confederate lines. The Rebels deployed ornithopters (mechanical flying machines) and unleashed chlorine gas. Weeks of fighting produced no territorial gains—only death and misery.

Kentucky — Sherman's March: General Sherman led Union forces across the Ohio River, sacking Louisville and advancing on Bowling Green. His scorched-earth tactics left devastation in his wake. Only the intervention of The Black Regiment—a collective abomination of spectral soldiers—saved the Confederate forces from complete destruction. Sherman was forced to retreat to Indiana by January 1877.

Kansas — Powder Keg: Federal troops under General Sheridan clashed with Confederate cavalry under General Gano. The state became a war zone as pro-Union Jayhawkers fought pro-Southern border ruffians. Neither side gained ground—there were just more people with guns.

Michigan — The British Invasion: On November 5th, a British line division crossed from Canada and seized Detroit. The British fortified their position, creating an international crisis. Britain had long supported the Confederacy, and this invasion proved they were willing to act directly.

Election Results

The Union: Grant won by a substantial margin. The British invasion of Detroit convinced Northern voters that only "Unconditional Surrender" Grant could defend the nation.

The Confederacy: Highly suspect votes from western territories tipped the election to Davis by a razor-thin margin. Cries of fraud echoed across the South. Only published appeals from Lee himself averted outright rebellion.

Davis had stolen the election. Lee knew something was wrong, but couldn't prove it. The Confederacy's descent into darker methods and more devastating weapons would continue.

1877: The Current Year

January 1877 — Sherman Retreats

General Sherman withdrew his forces from Kentucky back across the Ohio River into Indiana. The November Offensives had accomplished nothing except feeding fear and misery to the Reckoners.

1877 — The Agency Formed

President Grant established the Agency, a shadowy government organization dedicated to combating supernatural threats and conducting covert operations. The Agency replaced the private Pinkerton Detective Agency, which couldn't carry out all the actions a wartime government required.

Agency operatives—simply called "Agents"—now infiltrate, attack, and sabotage all perceived enemies of the Union, both natural and supernatural.

Current State of Affairs (Summer/Fall 1877)

This is where you come in, Troubleshooters.

The Civil War continues with no end in sight. The Great Rail Wars are temporarily stalled. Six separate nations claim parts of what used to be America. Ghost rock has revolutionized technology but fueled endless conflict. And the supernatural has become an open secret—everyone knows something is wrong with the West, even if most don't know the full truth.

Colonel Augustus "Gus" Brennan operates out of Dodge City, Kansas—right in the heart of the Disputed Lands where Union and Confederate forces skirmish constantly. As a wealthy industrialist with interests in the Black River Railroad, he needs competent, discreet operatives who can handle problems both mundane and supernatural.

That's you. Welcome to 1877. Welcome to the Weird West.

Quick Reference: Key Dates

Fourteen years of war. Fourteen years of fear. Fourteen years of the dead walking and the impossible becoming real. This is the world you've inherited, Troubleshooters. Make of it what you will.