Building a State in Apache Land

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Building a State in Apache Land

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Title: Building a State in Apache Land
Author: Charles D. Poston
Release Date: February 22, 2004 [EBook #11226]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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A STATE IN APACHE LAND ***

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BUILDING A STATE IN APACHE LAND
* * * * *

From articles of Charles D. Poston in the Overland Express * * * * *
1894
* * * * *
I
How the Territory Was Acquired
In San Francisco in the early fifties, there was a house on the northeast
corner of Stockton and Washington, of considerable architectural
pretensions for the period, which was called the "Government Boarding
House."
The cause of this appellation was that the California senators and their
families, a member of Congress and his wife, the United States marshal,
and several lesser dignitaries of the Federal Government, resided there.
In those early days private mansions were few; so the boarding-house
formed the only home of the Argonauts.
After the ladies retired at night, the gentlemen usually assembled in the
spacious parlor, opened a bottle of Sazerac, and discussed politics.
It was known to the senators that the American minister in Mexico had
been instructed to negotiate a new treaty with Mexico for the
acquisition of additional territory; not that there was a pressing
necessity for more land, but for reasons which will be briefly stated:
1st. By the treaty of 1848, usually called Guadaloupe Hidalgo,[A] the
government of the United States had undertaken to protect the
Mexicans from the incursions of Indians within the United States
boundary, and as this proved to be an impractical undertaking, the
damages on account of failure began to assume alarming proportions,
and the government of the United States was naturally anxious to be
released from the obligation.
2. The Democratic party was in the plenitude of power, and the

Southern States were dominant in the Administration. It had been the
dream of this element for many years to construct a railroad from the
Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, and the additional territory was
required for "a pass". It was not known at that early day that railroads
could be constructed across the Rocky Mountains at a higher latitude,
and it was feared that snow and ice might interfere with traffic in the
extremes of winter.
The State of Texas had already given encouragement to the
construction of such a railroad, by a liberal grant of land reaching as far
west as the Rio Grande, and it devolved upon the United States to
provide the means of getting on to the Pacific Ocean. The intervening
country belonged at that time to Mexico, and for the purpose of
acquiring this land the treaty was authorized.
The condition of affairs in Mexico was favorable to a negotiation.
Santa Ana had usurped the powers of the government, and was absolute
dictator under the name of President. There was no Mexican Congress,
and none had been convened since they were herded together at the
conclusion of the Mexican War under protection of American troops.
The condition of affairs in the United States was also extremely
favorable. The treasury was overflowing with California gold, under
the tariff of 1846 business was prosperous, the public debt small, and
the future unclouded. The American Minister to Mexico (General
Gadsden of South Carolina) was authorized to make several
propositions:--
1st. Fifty Millions for a boundary line from the mouth of the Rio
Grande west to the Pacific Ocean.
2nd. Twenty millions for a boundary line due east from the mouth of
the Yaqui River in the Gulf of Mexico to the Rio Grande. This was to
include the peninsula of Lower California.
3rd. Ten millions for a boundary line to include the "railroad pass."
A treaty was finally concluded for the smaller boundary, including the

"railroad pass," comprising the land between the Rio Grande and the
Colorado Rivers south of the Gila River, with the boundary line
between the United States and Mexico about the shape of a dog's hind
leg. The price paid for the new territory, which was temporarily called
the "Gadsden Purchase," was ten million dollars.
A check for seven million was given by Mr. Guthrie, Secretary of the
Treasury, on the sub-treasury in New York, to the