Lincoln twisted and turned in his sleep. He dreamt of flames, of hard-working American boys being stretched backward over Sacrificial Altars, of offering his entire treasury to the Europeans for Code of Laws as they laughed from their iron ships. He dreamt of a subjugated United States being forced to watch as the fate of the world was decided overseas. Lincoln awoke with a start. These dreams must not be allowed to come to pass.
He rounded up the nomadic American tribes, pushing westward and and founding Washington on the rich grasslands of the Eastern Seaboard:
Workers were trained to pacify and beautify the surrounding wilderness, and wise men were ordered to learn the ways of the skittish Deer.
American braves headed west in search of conquest, but encountering a strong and organized Native presence, they opted instead to go northeast, to gain what loot they could from the barbarians that our settlers had reported seeing there:
The subsistence farmers were a sad, pathetic lot. Lincoln knew that his enemies, if they found this minor tribe, would surely subjugate them and grow powerful off the fruits of their labors. There was no choice but to scatter the farmers and bring the 40 gold they had scavenged back to fill American coffers.
News of Islam's founding reached us in 3650 B.C., and Christianity appeared shortly thereafter. More importantly, by 3025, we found that Montezuma, bolstered by the blessings of his alien gods, had beaten us to the Texan promised land:
This was grave news, indeed, but, honestly, inevitable news. The Aztecs' advantages were too great. To expect a fully-funded Settlement party to not only be outfitted but to reach the Rio Grande before 3000 B.C. seemed ludicrous.
Yes, advantages of our own would be needed. And, sometimes, advantages would have to be pursued even when the consequences were dire:
There were casualties in the experiments. A full half of Washington's population suffered and died when exposed to the root. But those that survived were... stronger than before. They were no longer precisely human, but they were able to shrug off disease and hardship with preternatural ease. Lincoln, too, underwent the treatments, and found his mind opened. America, especially after exposure to the root, would never be fully welcomed into the community of nations. Surely Lincoln's fever dreams would come to pass unless the tables were turned. Yes, the only only way to avoid conquest was to conquer. The only way to avoid subjugation would be to subjugate!
As the American people were decimated by Lincoln's mad experiments, and as their warlord's mind turned red with rage, the Native Americans, under Sitting Bull, pressed up against Washington's border:
... Ack.
So, here we stand. We have a Settler out, good and early, but apparently not early enough. The loss of population from the herbal treatment event only cost us a turn on the Settler, so we still wouldn't have beaten the Natives to Poverty Point. So, I guess the question is, with both the Great Plains and the Rio Grande denied to us, where do we go? Do we slouch northward into the Canadian tundra, where we will surely stagnate and perish? That seems to be the only option I see, short of claiming Jacksonville for the sake of claiming it. Or maybe throw dotmaps to the wolves and settle on the Mississippi delta. I think we're in a tight spot. No wonder America sucks so bad on this map.
Anyway, here's the save:
1
tile and city population of 1 with 12-15/22 growth, and 2 turns to pop 2 either way.
tile and city growth of 11/22, with 3 turns to pop 2.
