In 1882 Treaty of Peace, Amity, Commerce, and Navigation was concluded between the Kingdom of Korea and the United States of America. The next year, the first American minister to the Kingdom arrived in Seoul. In response, the Korean Government dispatched a Special Mission, consisting of eight Koreans and three foreigners, to the U.S. This was the first diplomatic mission ever sent by Korea to a Western nation. The Korean Mission arrived in San Francisco by a steamer on September 2, 1883 and traveled east by railroad. On September 18, the members of the Mission were formally received by President Chester A. Arthur in a New York hotel, when the Korean Ambassador presented the King's letter and the credentials to the President. On the same day the Mission embarked on inspection tours to three cities — Boston, New York, and Washington. They arrived in Boston in the early morning of September 19, 1883 and checked into the Hotel Vendome, owned and managed by Col. J.W. Wolcott. On the day of their arrival, they visited the two industrial fairs then in progress in Boston: the Foreign Exhibition and the American Exposition. Forty-odd countries from all over the world took part in the foreign fair. Korea had a few objects of porcelain and china, as well as exhibits of the country's resources on display here. This was the first Korean participation in an international event. During the day they were also shown to several points of interest in the Boston area. On September 20, the Mission accepted Col. Wolcott's invitation to visit his large and well-known farm in Canton. There, the members of the Mission viewed the exhibition and operation of the modern agricultural machinery and the farm facilities. They also inspected the livestock and the produce of the farm. Back in Boston, they visited a theater in the evening. On September 21, the party traveled to Lowell by railway and inspected the textile mills of four leading manufacturing companies of the city. Lowell, built in the 1820's, was the first city of the American industrial revolution. The city was named after a Boston merchant and amateur industrial spy, Francis Cabot Lowell, who memorized the design of the power loom on his trip to England and later reproduced it on his return to Boston. Here the members of the Mission witnessed the mass production of goods by machines powered by energy sources (canal water power and steam engine) and the concentration of labor in factories. In addition to the textile mills, a patent medicine factory was also visited. On September 22, they called on the Governor of Massachusetts in the State House and the Mayor of Boston at the City Hall. They also visited other public institutions, including some public schools. In the afternoon, they were entertained at the home of Percival Lowell, the Foreign Secretary of the Mission. The Mission's whereabouts on September 23 are not known and the party went back to New York on September 24. The Mission's visit to the Boston area may well be regarded as the first significant event in the history of scientific and technological interactions between Korea and the U.S. While they were in Washington, after a few days of stay in New York, Ch'oe Kyŏng-Sŏk, one of the attachés, secured a large quantity of seeds of all descriptions from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. On October 12, the Mission was given a farewell audience with President Arthur. Yu Kil-Chun, another attaché of the Mission, remained in the U.S. to study when the others left the country for Korea. He was the first Korean student in a western country. Later he became a leading advocate of the Enlightenment movement in Korea and stressed the importance of education in science and technology. Ch'oe Kyŏng-Sŏk, upon his return to Korea, established and managed a government farm near Seoul. The farm was operated quite successfully, and a large quantity of agricultural machines and farming utensils were imported from the U.S. Californian cattle were also imported to the farm later. Ch'oe's sudden death in 1886, however, led to the decline of the farm within a few years. The three high officials of the Mission were deeply involved in the December 1884 coup; one was gravely wounded, another killed, and the third fled to Japan and then to the U.S. Pyŏn Su, a former attaché, was also actively involved in the coup. After the coup, he went to Washington via Tokyo and later entered Maryland Agricultural College. He was graduated from the College in 1891, and received a B.S. degree. Pyŏn, the first Korean college graduate, was employed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, but was killed later in the year in a railway accident.