Lee Christmas was born on a plantation on the Amite River in Livingston Parish, Louisiana on February 22, 1863. As a young man he worked as a pilot on tugboats on Lake Ponchartrain but became a brakeman living in McComb, Mississippi for the Illinois Central System in 1879. He helped to build the Louisville, New Orleans, & Texas railroad but returned to passenger service as a baggage master before the line was completed. He then became a fireman and was later promoted to engineer. Christmas ran locomotives between Memphis and New Orleans until 1891, when he fell asleep, ran by a flag, and collided with an oncoming train. Because he had been on duty for 54 hours when the accident occurred he was not fired, but he was not allowed to return to his previous position because a company physical had discovered that he was color blind. When Christmas was offered an opportunity to work on the railroads in Honduras, he accepted. Here, he became involved in the revolution as an aid to General Manuel Bonilla. He went on to have a number of successful exploits in Central and South America, many of which are now surrounded by colorful legend. Christmas returned to the United States when his health began to fail in 1923 and died in New Orleans on January 21, 1924.

William Walker was born to James and Mary (Norvell) Walker in Nashville, Tennessee on May 8, 1824. He graduated from the University of Nashville in 1838 and earned his MD from the University of Pennsylvania in 1843 in addition to studying law. Although he was admitted to the Louisiana bar and edited the New Orleans Daily Crescent, Walker was more interested in Western colonization. He went to California with the Gold Rush in 1850 and developed an interest in colonizing the Mexican states of Sonora and Lower California with American settlers. When the Mexican government would not grant him permission to proceed with his plan, Walker declared Lower California an independent republic with himself as president and annexed Sonora in 1854. Mexican attacks forced him to retreat northward and he surrendered to the American force at the border. Walker was tried for violating neutrality laws, but was acquitted. In 1855, Walker equipped an expedition of emigrants to Nicaragua to help fight in the revolution. With the help of the Accessory Transit Company, Walker's force captured Granada and ended the conflict. The U. S. recognized the new regime in 1856 and Walker was inaugurated President, but his rule was quickly undermined by Cornelius Vanderbilt, who wanted control of the Accessory Transit Company. Walker was cut off from U. S. reinforcements and besieged by allied forces from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. He surrendered to Commander Charles Henry Davis in 1857 and was sent to the U. S. but quickly returned to Nicaragua, where he was arrested by Commodore Hiram Paulding. Walker was sent back to the U. S. but escaped to Honduras, where he was captured by the Honduran authorities and court martialed. Walker was condemned to die and executed by a firing squad in Trujillo, Honduras on September 12, 1860.