In 1861 with the outbreak of the American Civil War he immigrated to Buenos Aires, Argentina where he worked for a commission merchant.

Bitter oranges had been planted as a decorative tree and street vendors had found that they could be sold as a refreshment, but Argentines were concerned about disposal of the peel.

[2] Bagley collected a large quantity of the peels and thru experimenting, created an aperitif and herbal flavored triple sec.

Bagley then arranged for a cart of his product Hesperidina to have a wheel come off in front of the newspaper headquarters.

The story of the cart and the product was picked up by the various newspapers and attracted significant attention in restaurants and saloons.