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The following is a timeline of events that occur or are mentioned in Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2. Although the games are set at separate points between 1899 and 1914 inclusive, the background of the characters and the world spans well over a century of American history.


Table of Contents
The 1700s 1720 - 1745 - 1755 - 1779 - 1782 - 1797
The 1800s 1800 - 1801 - 1802 - 1803 - 1804 - 1805 - 1806 - 1807 - 1808 - 1809
The 1810s 1810 - 1811 - 1812 - 1813 - 1814 - 1815 - 1816 - 1817 - 1818 - 1819
The 1820s 1820 - 1821 - 1822 - 1823 - 1824 - 1825 - 1826 - 1827 - 1828 - 1829
The 1830s 1830 - 1831 - 1832 - 1833 - 1834 - 1835- 1836 - 1837 - 1838 - 1839
The 1840s 1840 - 1841 - 1842 - 1843 - 1844 - 1845 - 1846 - 1847 - 1848 - 1849
The 1850s 1850 - 1851 - 1852 - 1853 - 1854 - 1855 - 1856 - 1857 - 1858 - 1859
The 1860s 1860 - 1861 - 1862 - 1863 - 1864 - 1865 - 1866 - 1867 - 1868 - 1869
The 1870s 1870 - 1871 - 1872 - 1873 - 1874 - 1875 - 1876 - 1877 - 1878 - 1879
The 1880s 1880 - 1881 - 1882 - 1883 - 1884 - 1885 - 1886 - 1887 - 1888 - 1889
The 1890s 1890 - 1891 - 1892 - 1893 - 1894 - 1895 - 1896 - 1897 - 1898 - 1899
The 1900s 1900 - 1901 - 1902 - 1903 - 1904 - 1905 - 1906 - 1907 - 1908 - 1909
The 1910s 1910 - 1911 - 1912 - 1913 - 1914 - 1915 - 1916 - 1917 - 1918 - 1919
Miscellaneous


1700s to 1790s[]

1720[]

  • The city of Saint Denis is founded and serves as the capital of the French New World until the territory is purchased by the United States of America in the early 1800s.

1745[]

  • Ross Gray informs the British government of the impending Jacobite rebellion.

1755[]

1779[]

1782[]

1797[]

  • 27 November: Cardinal Blanco of Madrid writes a letter to Brother Rodolfo, a Jesuit missionary in California, asking him to refrain from leaving his mission to travel east. Rodolfo later receives the letter, but ignores Blanco and dies in New Austin.

1800s to 1840s[]

1806[]

  • Douglas Gray and Lucille Braithwaite conspire to steal large sums of gold from their families to fund the abolition of slavery. The Grays and Braithwaites, each believing that the other family had their missing gold, begin a blood feud that endures until 1899.

1817[]

  • 24 April: Birth of Hannah Chilcott.[2]

1823[]

  • Birth of Esther Sinclair.[3]

1824[]

  • Birth of Edgar Shelton.[2]
  • Birth of Seth Trice.[3]
  • Birth of Amelia Eaves.[4]

1826[]

1831[]

  • Birth of Lila Shelton.[2]

1832[]

  • The Saint Denis Times Tribune newspaper is founded in Saint Denis.

1834[]

  • Birth of Judith Johnston.[5]

1835[]

  • Birth of Greta van der Linde.[3]

1838[]

1839[]

1842[]

  • Death of Belle Finch, of cholera.[3]

1843[]

  • Birth of Ada Stillman.[3]

1844[]

1846[]

1847[]

  • Death of Seth Trice, of unknown cause.[3]

1848[]

  • Mexican-American War concludes, with the United States of America victorious over the Mexican Republic. Fort Mercer is abandoned overtime.
  • 22 July: Death of Hannah Chilcott, of unknown cause.[2]

1849[]

  • 7 August: Death of Amelia Eaves, of cholera.[4]
  • Fall: The latest possible date for Uncle's birth.[9]

1850s[]

1851[]

1852[]

  • Birth of Delilah Gaskell.[3]
  • Birth of David Purvis.
  • Birth of an unnamed individual buried in Tumbleweed.[4]
  • Death of Henrietta Feaney.[4]

1854[]

  • Birth of Betsy Glover.[4]

1855[]

1856[]

  • Birth of Ulysses Howard.
  • Birth of Murtel Purvis.
  • Birth of Rosie Tenerton.[5]

1857[]

  • Birth of Elenora Riddick.[4]
  • Birth of Clinton Underwood.[3]
  • Birth of Juan Calomarde.[12]
  • 2 February: Death of Judith Johnston, of unknown cause.[5]

1858[]

  • Birth of Dorothy Hewitt.[2]
  • Birth of Alberto de la Fuente.
  • Birth of Herbert Forth.
  • Birth of Agustin Allende[11]

1860s[]

1860[]

1861[]

1862[]

1863[]

  • Birth of Arthur Morgan.[16]
  • 30 March: A Confederate charge led by Major Hobart Crawley is routed by Union troops, resulting in the deaths of 3,202 Confederate soldiers. Major Crawley is the only survivor. The battle is later memorialized with a statue in Rhodes.
  • 8 May: A Confederate Army force under General Quincy T. Harris attacks Fort Brennand under cover of night and massacres the Union Army garrison.
  • July: Leopold Strauss arrives in New York with his uncle.

1864[]

  • The Battle of Scarlett Meadows occurs at Bolger Glade in Lemoyne. Despite suffering massive casualties, Confederate troops successfully repel a major Union Army offensive. General Quincy T. Harris participates in the battle.
  • 24 August: Death of Esther Sinclair, of unknown cause.

1865[]

  • The American Civil War concludes, with the Union victorious over the Confederacy. Lemoyne and other seceded states are subsequently readmitted to the United States of America.
  • Death of Edgar and Lila Shelton, struck by a lightning bolt.[2]

1866[]

  • Birth of Bill Williamson.
  • Birth of Lupe del Valle.[12]
  • Death of Philip J. Greenup[4]
  • Otis Miller and his boys commit the first train robbery in history.
  • 13 September: Death of Georgia Dobbs, killed by a falling oak tree.[3]

1867[]

1868[]

1869[]

  • Birth of Harold MacDougal.
  • The town of Annesburg, a coal mining settlement first built by German settlers around the turn of the century, is incorporated.

1870s[]

1870[]

  • The start of the "Picturesque Period". Many stories and legends from this period were later adapted to motion pictures in the 1910s.
  • Dutch van der Linde leaves his childhood home in Pennsylvania.
  • Beatrice Morgan sits for a formal photographic portrait in the town of Spring Rocks.

1872[]

  • Birth of Mr. Pickering.
  • Birth of Houston Greenup.
  • Earliest possible date for Seth Briars's birth.[11]

1873[]

  • Birth of John Marston.[17]
  • Death of John Marston's mother, died during childbirth.
  • Death of Ellen Nugent, to an epileptic fit.[2]

1874[]

1875[]

  • Death of Ada Stillman, choked on a fishbone.[3]
  • Latest possible date for Seth Briars's birth.

1876[]

  • Birth of Sam Odessa.
  • Birth of Butch Somers.
  • During a bloody coup, Francisco Ramirez Torres becomes President of Mexico.
  • 11 January: Death of Juan Calomarde, of unknown cause.
  • 18 January: Death of Gideon Knox, presumably from an orgy with six women.
  • Death of James Jacob Somers.
  • Frank Heck travels through The Heartlands, signing his name on Register Rock.

1877[]

1878[]

  • Birth of Fred Peagler.
  • Birth of Ellie Boone.
  • Birth of Lydia Grubb.
  • Death of Rosie Tenerton, of unknown cause.
  • 1 April: Death of Josephine Byrd, of unknown cause.

1879[]

1880s[]

1880[]

1881[]

  • Death of John Marston's father, of a cause presumably related to his alcoholism.
  • Death of an unnamed individual buried in Tumbleweed, of unknown cause.
  • Death of Abe Shackleford.
  • Death of Greta van der Linde.
  • Birth of Hank MacFarlane.
  • Birth of Walton Lowe.
  • Birth of Isabel Feaney.
  • 27 October: Death of Charlotte Eaves, of unknown cause.

1882[]

1883[]

  • Birth of Gus MacFarlane.
  • Birth of Betsie Errington.
  • Death of Dorothy Hewitt, of unknown cause.
  • Death of Alberto de la Fuente, of unknown cause.
  • An eclipse occurred which famously blinded a man named Stretch Hawthorn. The story was later adapted to a motion picture in 1911.
  • August: Pleasance was founded.
  • September: Hosea and Bessie Matthews have a formal photograph taken of them together.
  • 18 October: Death of Minerva Pratt, from a fever.

1884[]

1885[]

1886[]

  • The 3rd Street Hardware opened in Blackwater.
  • Death of Obediah Graves, hanged for a murder which, according to his gravestone, he did not commit.
  • Death of Betsy Glover, of unknown cause.
  • Emmet Granger is rumored to be involved in the disappearance of the Laidlaw family.
  • 19 July: Death of Carmen Galindo, of unknown cause.
  • 7 November: Death of lawman Calvin Draper, killed by a criminal.

1887[]

  • Birth of Charlotte Lauterback.
  • Birth of Hattie Tanner.
  • Death of Pearl Palmer, of unknown cause.
  • Death of Dwight Bundy, of unknown cause.
  • Death of Lupe del Valle, of unknown cause.
  • 15 April: The Lee and Hoyt Banking House is robbed by Arthur Morgan, Hosea Matthews, and Dutch van der Linde.[18]
  • 10 October: Death of Bryon Vickers, from losing a duel in New Austin.

1888[]

  • Birth of Alberto Viveros.
  • 9 April: Death of General Quincy T. Harris.
  • 18 August: Death of Felix Hawley.

1889[]

  • Death of Ira Somers, presumably from syphilis.
  • The Prancing Fox Brand, a company selling socks, was established.
  • June: Darragh MacGuire is killed by British agents in Boston.[14]
  • 29 November: Death of Sergeant Joseph Drummond, of unknown cause.

1890s[]

1890[]

  • Emmet Granger is suspected in the Chapparal killings.
  • 10 January: Death of Myra Leathers, of unknown cause.

1891[]

  • Birth of Carlos Bonavides.
  • Death of Delilah Gaskell, of unknown cause.
  • 23 June: Death of Jack Greenwood, of unknown cause.
  • 12 July: Death of Theodore Kilbane, of unknown cause.
  • 29 September: Death of an unnamed young black male, buried in the Blackwater Chapel, of unknown cause.

1892[]

  • Birth of Luisa Fortuna.
  • Birth of Mary Shackleford.
  • Death of Hoover Cowan, of unknown cause.
  • 25 August: Death of Truman Briggs, murdered by his wife.
  • 27 December: Bill Williamson is dishonorably discharged from the U.S. Army.

1893[]

  • Birth of Mary Shackleford.
  • Bill Williamson attempts to rob Dutch van der Linde.
  • The Panic of 1893 begins, resulting in JD McKnight and others selling gold to the US Treasury.
  • 18 August: Death of Matilda Eaves, of unknown cause.
  • 2 November: Death of an unnamed outlaw, buried in the Blackwater Chapel, of unknown cause.
  • 8 December: Death of Hank MacFarlane, to tuberculosis.

1894[]

  • 15 January: Death of Peter Turner, from a blow to his head.
  • 3 March: Death of Willie Swenson, of unknown cause.
  • 19 May: Death of a child buried in Perdido, of unknown cause.
  • Bill Williamson joins the Van der Linde gang.
  • Abigail Roberts joins the Van der Linde gang.
  • Emmet Granger turns witness on Fosse Gang, leading to their arrest.

1895[]

  • The end of the "Picturesque Period". Many stories and legends from this period were later adapted to motion pictures in the 1910s.
  • Tavish Gray receives a letter from Edinburgh University historian Malcolm Moffat revealing that his ancestor Ross Gray was not an exiled Jacobite as he had believed, but a spy for the Duke of Cumberland who had been forced to flee Scotland to escape the Jacobites' reprisals against informers.[19]
  • Birth of Jack Marston.
  • 12 October: Death of Estella Blankenship, of unknown cause.
  • Javier Escuella joins the Van der Linde gang.
  • Emmet Granger retires to his hoggery, granted by the federal government.

1896[]

  • Approximate point which John Marston deserted the Van der Linde gang.
  • Death of the Butcher Brothers, killed in a gunfight with Landon Ricketts.
  • National Bureau of Criminal Identification is founded by the National Chiefs of Police Union.
  • 23 June: Death of Owen MacFarlane, to chronic diarrhea.
  • 12 August: Death of Gideon Bennett, Ira Bennett, and Earl Bennett, who killed each other in a dispute over gold.
  • 7 September: Jake and Sadie Adler marry.

1897[]

1898[]

1899[]

1900s[]

1900[]

  • Death of Butch Somers, hanged for his crimes as a horse thief.
  • 24 July: Death of Maybelle Fordham, Archer Fordham's mother, of unknown cause.

1901[]

  • Basilio Aguirre Olmos de la Vargas begins his 10 year search for his great-great-grandfathers treasure.
  • Death of Mary Dutton, of unknown cause.
  • Death of Herbert Forth, of unknown cause.
  • Death of Walter Pettigrew, the founder of Manzanita Post, of unknown cause.
  • 21 August: Death of Rosalie Tanner, of unknown cause.
  • 16 September: Death of Antonio de la Cueva, of unknown cause.

1902[]

  • After a gunfight in eastern California, Landon Ricketts moved from the United States to Mexico, eventually settling in the town of Chuparosa.
  • Death of David and Muriel Purvis, parents of Cyril Purvis, of unknown cause.
  • Death of Alberto Viveros, of unknown cause.
  • A bicycle model (later branded the "1902 Model") was produced and sold by the Blue Head Wonder Coaster company.

1903[]

  • Death of Ethan MacFarlane, after irritating a bull.
  • Death of Hamilton Murphy, of unknown cause.
  • Birth of Ralph Anderson.
  • The infamous Irving Factory Explosion occurred, killing over 400 child workers.
  • 18 March: Death of an unnamed thief, buried in the Blackwater Chapel, of unknown cause.
  • 23 April: Death of Priscilla Johnson, of unknown cause.
  • 31 October: Death of Dolores Falcon, of unknown cause.

1904[]

  • 29 April: Death of Lincoln Crenshaw, of unknown cause.
  • 2 June: Death of Fred Peagler, presumably from a brawl.
  • The United States takes over construction of the Panama Canal from France.

1905[]

  • Death of Louisa Warthington, of unknown cause.
  • Death of Kit Skaggs, of unknown cause.
  • Death of Isabel Feaney, of unknown cause.
  • Death of Houston Greenup, presumably from losing a duel.
  • The Skinner Brothers move into Tall Trees.
  • 15 January: Death of Ellie Boone, of unknown cause.
  • 25 February: Death of Quincy Brogles, presumably from a brawl or duel.
  • 15 March: Death of Ambrose Lee, of unknown cause.
  • 4 August: Death of Gus MacFarlane, killed in a bar fight.

1906[]

  • Dutch van der Linde is rumored to have died in a fire following a failed robbery.
  • 25 May: Death of Jane Scranton, of unknown cause.
  • 8 September: Death of an unnamed woman, buried in the Church of Tumbleweed, suicide.
  • 9 September: Death of Joshua Benning, of unknown cause.
  • 6 November: Death of Freda Dunbar, wife of Oswald Dunbar.

1907[]

  • John and Abigail marry at Beecher's Hope.
  • Death of Charlotte Lauterback, of unknown cause.
  • Death of Travis Glover, of unknown cause.
  • Death of Mr. Pickering, by a gunshot.
  • Death of Gustavo Obregon, of unknown cause.
  • 15 May: Death of Grace Blankenship, of unknown cause.

1908[]

  • Death of Nelly Dillard, of unknown cause.
  • 11 April: Death of Lambert Henning, hit by a train.

1909[]

  • Death of Lydia Grubb, of unknown cause.
  • Death of Carlos Bonavides, of unknown cause.
  • 23 February: Death of Orla Gaston, hit by a car.
  • 14 August: Death of Alejandro Fortuna, killed by the Mexican Army.
  • 19 November: Death of Hart Cummings, presumably from a deadly illness.

1910s[]

1910[]

  • Death of Mr. Braithwaite, of an unknown cause.
  • Ignacio Sanchez overthrows his brother in yet another bloody coup and becomes President of Mexico.
  • Crops in New Austin were ruined by an unknown personnel, and farmers were forced to sell their lands at a cheap price. The culprit behind this was rumored to be Jeremiah Somerset.
  • The map of the frontier, later used by John Marston in 1911 and passed on to his son Jack Marston, was drawn.

1911[]

1913[]

  • Professor Harold MacDougal published a thesis declaring the impossibility of taming a savage man.

1914[]

Miscellaneous[]

  • Harrison Cherry's gravestone in 1911 writes that he dies on December 7, 1968.
Apparently this could be a very elaborate Beatles reference. To wit: In 1968, Eric Clapton gave George Harrison a cherry red guitar. At the time, Harrison was 25 (1943 + 25 = 1968) and Clapton was 23 (1945 + 23 = 1968), which averages to the age of 24. That guitar had serial numbers that corresponded to a batch that had shipped from a factory in a December, with 7 being the first number in the serial. Harrison then used the guitar through many of the Beatles' most famous works. See this page for more info on the guitar. Also, Harrison apparently named the guitar 'Lucy' in homage to comedienne Lucille Ball, and this could be why Jeb Blankenship's 'love' is named Lucy. Special thanks to therealcaro at reddead.net for doing the research.
  • Captain Maxwell Laskey died on August 24 in an unknown year. He was 31 when he died. He is mentioned briefly in a newspaper story at the end of Red Dead Redemption.

References[]

  1. Revealed in a magic lantern show in Valentine.
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 Grave found in Odd Fellow's Rest.
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 Grave found in The Blackwater Church of Holy Ascension.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Grave found in First Congregational Church of Tumbleweed.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Grave found in Coot's Chapel.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Age given on newspaper scrap from 1877.
  7. Hosea is described as being in around 55 years old in the newspaper after his death
  8. Mentioned by Jake in "Exodus in America".
  9. In a companion mission in Chapter 4, Uncle states that he was born "sometime between the fall of '49 and the fall of Rome".
  10. Founding date displayed above the entrance.
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 11.7 11.8 11.9 Red Dead Redemption - Game of the Year guidebook
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 Grave found in Sepulcro.
  13. The Blackwater Ledger states that Johnson is fifty-four years old in 1914, making his year of birth 1860.
  14. 14.0 14.1 Former Fenian Raider Killed In Gun Battle
  15. Billy West states to have been married for 50 years by the time of Red Dead Redemption.
  16. In "The New South", Hosea and Dutch mention that Arthur was roughly 21 in an event that transpired 15 years prior to 1899, meaning Arthur was born around 1863.
  17. 17.0 17.1 Grave found in Beecher's Hope.
  18. First Bank Robbery Newspaper Scrap
  19. Gray’s Secret
  20. President Congratulates America
  21. Mining Company Letter to Cornwall
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