thirdly -- it is clear that i would, and, economic liberties are more important to protect. we were not protected to the practically put the clinical times anyhow -- they were not protected here to go back if the packet court to protect them anyway. it's starts with how we put the government together. you need a soup to nuts theory.

[applause] >> we show you the most relevant congressional hearings and public affairs events and on weekends, c-span3 is home to american history tv, the programs that tell our nation story, including six unique series am of the civil's 150th anniversary, visiting battlefields and key events, american artifacts, discovering what artifacts reveal about america's past. with theookshelf, best-known american history writers, the presidency, looking at the policies and legacies of our nation's commanders in chief. lectures in history, delving into america's past, in our new

series, real america, featuring archival government and educational films from the 1930's through the 1970's. watch us in hd, like us on facebook, and follow us on twitter. this year, c-span is touring cities across the country, exploring american history. a look at our recent visit to st. paul, minnesota. >> alexander ramsey was a politician who achieved recognition and people don't realize that. he was not from minnesota. he and his wife or from pennsylvania. he was born in 1815. he rose through the ranks, he started as a lawyer and then became involved in the whig party, served in congress, and

that is how he made connections. that would help him later in his life, including working for zachary taylor. taylor was so grateful the work ramsey did, he wanted to a point in the first territorial governor of minnesota. ramsey had a career from first territorial governor, the mayor of st. paul, second elected state governor, u.s. senator, serving washington, and secretary of war. we are not sure why taylor chose alexander ramsey to be the first territorial governor. actually ramsey was the third choice. what if history went a different direction? who were the other people? ramsey did except. he and his wife or hesitant to come to this area. st. paul was very much a fur trading village. very small.

not the capital city we know today. and his wife, to show her sense of humor, supposedly said to him, minnesota, where is that, denmark? it was an unfamiliar place to people in the eastern part of the united states. as a good wife, in those days, she realized her fortunes lay with her husband and they ended up moving to st. paul and arrived in may of 1849. the house we are in was completed in 1872. it took four years to build. in september of 1872, they moved in. previously to this house, they called it their mansion house. they got the idea for building it from the years they spent in washington, d.c., when he was a senator. it was the same style in the georgetown suburb of d.c. so they knew they really wanted to have their mansion reflective of what was being built on the

east coast. that sign they had arrived in a home they felt they deserved, for a family home and also for entertaining. we have over 14,000 artifacts attached to the site. that is remarkable for any historic site. a lot of the collections are stored here on site. some are stored at the minnesota history center. this is the reception room that would have been used as a visiting space. if you would have been here, she would have special places she would visit with you. it was a room designed to impress visitors. it would only be used during the day. if you had a dinner party in the evening, the ladies might adjourn for some lemonade.

and the guys maybe had brandy or cigars somewhere else. that would have been the intended use of this room, to impress. one of the wonderful things is in 1872 grand piano made for the ramsey's daughter. that was a gift upon her completion after her year in germany. it is in working condition. it is something we do as we can to keep it in good condition. at that point, they would make the anodes made to order and so one of the other pianos being made was for queen victoria's daughters. one of the other items, there are several portraits. one is of alexander ramsey. that was about how he looked when he became governor of minnesota.

there were policies you are expected to carry out. we know one of the main things taylor was sending him to do was to get land. this was the time of the manifest destiny in the united states. it was time in many people's minds, the minds of that era, to gain more land. so in 1850, there were treaties negotiated with the dakota people and alexander ramsey was expected to take part in that, and he did. there were two treaties and they opened up for settlement the area we would call southern minnesota. the st. paul region south to the iowa border and then later on there were various treaties. what happened is the settlers were allowed to come in. the dakota people were forced

onto reservations. that set up a house of cards that would fall down many years later in 1862. very tragic part of minnesota history. an important part of history to know about. people don't realize a lot of the treaties and also the failure of these treaties and annuity payments, harsh treatment of the dakotas, would result in bloodshed years later. this is a spot in the house alexander ramsey used as his office later in his career. it was originally a guest room, but later on this became an office space. you would meet with him up here. there is a lot of artifacts about his time in the various political offices he held. one of them, people don't

realize he and his wife were very good friends of mr. and mrs. lincoln. abraham lincoln and alexander ramsey had met in the 1840's as congressman. lincoln was representing illinois. ramsey was representing pennsylvania. they had that connection and years later, when lincoln was in the white house, ramsey was the second state governor. one of the things mr. ramsey was very proud of was that he happened to be in washington when the civil war broke out in 1861 and was able to pledge one thousand troops on behalf of minnesota to the union and he was able to contact simon cameron about that and he had him write down the offer and take it to president lincoln.

governor ramsey was proud of him having the distinguishing characteristic of the first of northern state to offer troops when the civil war broke out. one of the other items in the collections is ramsey's journal from 1865. i have it open to friday, april 14. and also saturday the 15th. alexander ramsey was the u.s. senator. that is why they were living in the international hotel in washington. his entries reflect a tragic time in american history. he writes about, in the middle of his daily affairs, the assassination of president lincoln. john wilkes booth, he mentions the attempt on secretary stewart and jumps to the inauguration of president johnson. he was one of 10 present that day, including some from illinois. he was proud of that.

he was always in the right place at the right time and always put himself there. it is fascinating to look through his journal. i mentioned some of the things he writes about might not be personal, but they are a great insight into what his daily life was like. it is important to have these objects help tell the story. later in his political career, after he had been a senator, he was also nominated, were appointed, to be the secretary of war. one of the other items in his office focuses on his time as secretary of war. he served in that position until 1881. and then his paper holder he had sitting on the desk, you can see it states his name and also his title in the hayes administration.

the two men had met many years earlier while serving in the u.s. senate. they have been governors. they were part of that club. and then of course hayes had become a friend and was elected. after his time of secretary of war, he served another administration, overlapping between garfield and arthur. the utah commission was put together. they were supposed to explore this problem of what to do with the territory of utah. people wanted to become a state. they wanted to be admitted to the union. there was a problem according to some people because a lot of the people in the area were mormon and they were practicing polygamy. the country was up in arms about that. so these politicians were sent to that area where they were supposed to interview people in

that area and find out what was happening and what they were doing. the committee never really did end up making any decision, utah was later admitted to the union, but people felt strongly about that issue. there are different collection pieces here and the minnesota history center. two we have, when about the doctrine of mormonism and a pamphlet dealing with plural marriage. so there is a lot more issues, some of those issues we keep hearing about in the modern day as well. fascinating to note some of the same issues people were wondering how to deal with. a lot of people felt in the later victorian era ramsey really helped create what we would consider minnesota. you can say that. i think that is fair to say, you

have to be very conscious about what that means in the modern day. everything from ramsey county, a waterfall in western minnesota. so his imprint is in a lot of places and it is important to realize what he meant at that time. he was very conscious of what his legacy was and looking at his legacy in 2014, we can understand how controversial and compelling his legacy can be, good or bad. we have to be able to address that head-on. >> find out where c-span's local content vehicles are going next, online. you're watching american history tv. all weekend, every weekend, on c-span three.

>> each week american history tv's real america brings you archival films that help tell the story of the 20th century. >> the worst series of forest fires in california since the disastrous blazes of 1961 have destroyed thousands of acres of wood lands and homes. as firemen control the fires in the areas of the north, others broke out in the neighborhood of santa barbara and south. 50,000 acres were blackened and in seven fires around conestoga. thousands more acres lost in the areas near eureka. firemen were helpless as the raging fire gutted homes by the score many homes were in the , $100,000 price. put theary estimates loss in more than $5 million. just what the total