History of Arizona and New Mexico 1530 Transcribed from the Book History of Arizona and New Mexico 1530 Cabeza De vaca's Route There are allusions to two or three large rivers, which , if the record has any significance, can hardly have been other than the Pecos, Rio Grande, and Conchos; and the route - shown on the annexed map without any attempt to give details - may be plausible traced in general terms from the Texan coast near Galveston north-westward, following the course of the rivers, then south-west to the region of the Conchos junction, then westward to the upper Sonora and Yaqui valleys in Sonora, and finally south to San Miguel in Sinaloa. The belief that Cabeza de Vaca passed through New Mexico and visited the Pueblo towns is not supported by the general purport of the narrative, or of what followed. It can never be proved that their route did not cut off a small south-eastern corner of what is now New Mexico. While Cabeza de Vaca is not to be credited with the discovery with the discovery of the country, he was the first to approach and hear of it; his reports were the direct incentive to its discovery and exploration; and thus, after all, his wonderful journey may still be regarded as the beginning of the New Mexican annals. New Mexican submission was as yet but a formality, as no Spaniards had remained in the north. On receipt of Vargas' letter of October 1692, the viceroy and his advisers decided to supply the soldiers and families asked for; but a little time was required to fit out the colony, and the governor, as before, started before the reenforcement came. With about 100 soldiers, having collected all the volunteer settlers and families he could at El Paso and in Nueva Vizcaya - 70 families with over 800 persons in all - he set out on the 13th of October, 1693. It may be well to start here, however, that the name of Arizona's chief river is apparently used for the first time in a report of 1630, being applied to a New Mexican province of Gila, or Xila, where the river has its source. The newly elected legislature assembled at Santa Fe  at the beginning of July, Alvarez acting as governor in the absence of Connelly. Francis A. Cunningham and Richard H. Weightman were elected United States senators; appointments were made; and elections for local officials were ordered for August. The intention at once became apparent to put the state government into immediate and full operation, without waiting for approval from Washington; to put an end to the existing regime, without regard to the conditions clearly expressed in Monroe's proclamation. This led to a controversy, into the developments and merits of which it is not necessary for us to enter minutely. The military governor declared the election proclamation, and any others emanating from the new authorities, to be null and void, instructing prefects that "the state government of New Mexico shall be admitted into the union as a state by the congress of the United States; and that, until otherwise determined by competent authority, the present government continues and will well disposed toward the Americans, but their status involved many perplexing problems to be solved under conditions that were far from favorable. James S. Calhoun arrived at Santa Fe in July 1849, with a commission as Indian agent for the territory. He seems to have been a zealous and intelligent official, who, while he could do little toward putting an end to the depredations of savages, performed well his duty of reporting to the government the exact state of affairs, and the measures and means required for the country's protection. His correspondence of 1849-51 contains a large amount of valuable information respecting the numbers and disposition of the different tribes, advice as to the appointment of subagents and stationing of garrisons, earnest appeals on the most urgent necessity of immediately increasing the military force, and a mention of many events of Indian warfare. Besides Calhoun's correspondence, of new instructions from Washington was modified on the 30th. Again it was changed - notably by reducing the price from twenty to ten millions - by the United States senate. In June 1854 it came back with Mexican approval to Washington; on the 28th and 29th, after much debate in the house, a bill appropriating the money was passed by congress; on the 30th the treaty was published by President Pierce, and by President Santa Anna on the 20th of July. Of the preliminary negotiations and the successive modifications of terms, not much is definitely known; but the latter may probably have included, not only the reduction of price and the introduction of the Tehuantepec concession, but also a reduction of territory - perhaps involving the cession of a gulf port - and the  omission of an article making the United States responsible for filibustering expeditions across the line. On the face of the matter this Gadsden treaty was a tolerably satisfactory settlement of a boundary dispute, and a purchase by the United States of a route for a southern railroad to California. Under the treaty of 1848, the commissioners, as we have seen, had agreed on latitude 32  22' as the southern boundary of New Mexico, but the United States surveyor has not agreed to this line, had perhaps surveyed another in 31   54', and the New Mexicans claimed the Mesilla valley between the tow lines as part of their territory. The United States were, to some extent, bound by the act of their commissioner; but Mexico, besides being wrong on the original proposition, was not in condition to quarrel about so unimportant a matter. On the other hand, the northern republic could afford to pay for a railroad route through a country said to be rich in mines; and Mexico, though national pride was strongly opposed to a sacrifice of territory, was sadly in need of money, and sold a region that was practically of no value to her. In both countries there was much bitter criticism of the measure, and a disposition to impute hidden motives to the respective administrations. I am not prepared to say that there were not such motives; but I find little support for the common belief that the Gadsden purchase was effected with a definite view to the organization of a southern confederacy, though this theory was entertained in the north at the time. It is a remarkable circumstance that in Mexico, both by the supporters and foes of the measure, it was treated as a cession of the Mesilla valley was, in reality,, but a very small and unimportant portion of the territory ceded. William H. Emory was appointed United States commissioner and surveyor to establish the new boundary line, Jose Salazar Ilarregui being the Mexican commissioner, and Francisco Jimenez chief engineer. The commissioners met at El Paso at the end of 1854, and the initial monument was fixed on January 31, 1855. In June the survey had been carried road in the north, another was opened in the south by Superintendent James B. Leach and Engineer N. H. Hutton. This corresponded largely with the Cooke road of 1846, but led down the San Pedro to the Arivaipa, and thence to the Gila, 21 miles east of the Pima villages, thus saving 40 miles over the Tuscon route, and by improvements about five days for wagons. The work was done by Leach and Hutton from the Rio Grande to the Colorado, between October 25, 1857, and August 1, 1858. Over this road ran in 1858-60 Arizona's first stage, the Butterfield overland line from Marshall, Texas, to San Diego, carrying the mails and passengers twice a week until the service was stopped by Indian depredations. It was not until 1856 that the United States took military possession of the Gadsden purchase by sending a detachment of four companies of the First Dragoons, which force was stationed at Tuscon and later at Calabazas. In 1857 a permanent station was selected, and Fort Buchanan was established on the Sonoita about 25 miles east of Tubac. The site was afterward deemed to have no special advantages, and no buildings worthy the name of fort were erected. There were various other temporary camps occupied in the following years according to the demands of the Indian service, the force being from 120 to 375 was elected delegate to congress to succeed Mowry. The New Mexican legislature this year passed new resolutions in favor of a division; and also by act of February 1st created a new county called Arizona, from the western portion of Dona Ana county, with this act, and it was repealed two years later. In December a bill to organize the territory came up again in congress, but without success, even though the proposed name was changed to Arizuma to suit the whim of come theorist. There was some debate, but all on the slavery question, and without definite reference to Arizona, as was indeed natural enough at this time of secession acts. Finally, in March 1862, the Arizona bill was again introduced and discussed in congress. The southern element being eliminated, the measure was now a republican one, containing a proviso against slavery, though it met opposition from members of both parties. Unlike former bills, this adopted a north and south boundary on the meridian of 109 degrees, and named Tuscon as the capital. Watts, the New Mexican delegate, and Ashley, of Ohio, were its chief advocates  in the house, and wheeler of New York the opposition spokesman. On the one side it was argued that Arizona's white population of 6,500 and 4,000 civilized Indians were entitled to a protection and a civil government as citizens of the United States, which they had not received and could receive under the territorial rule of New Mexico, the vast mineral wealth of the country amply justifying the necessary expenditure. In a general way, so far as they had any knowledge or feeling at all in the matter, the New Mexicans were somewhat in sympathy with the southern states as against those of the north in the questions growing out of the institution of slavery. Their commercial relations in early times had been chiefly with southern men; the army officers with whom they had come in contact later had been largely from the south; and the territorial officials appointed for the territory had been in most cases politicians of strong southern sympathies. Therefore most of the popular leasers, with the masses controlled politically by them, fancied themselves democrats, and felt no admiration for republicans and abolitionists. Yet only a few exhibited any enthusiasm in national politics, apathy being the leading characteristic, with a slight leaning on general principles to southern views. From 1861 there were frequent efforts to secure the admission of the territory of New Mexico in to the union as a state; and in 1872 a constitution was formed by a convention formed for that purpose. The population was sufficient, much larger than that of some other states at the time of their admission, but the prospective politics of the new state was generally not encouraging to the administration. The geologic and geographic surveys of the western United States territories, executed under the charge of Professor Hayden and Captain Wheeler in 1869-78, included a considerable geographical and other information. There were unsuccessful attempts to restore the tract containing Conejos, Costilla, and Culebra from Colorado to New Mexico; to attach the Moreno mining district to Colorado; and to set off Grant county in the south-west as part of Arizona. In the matter of crime and disorder the territory presents a record that is by no means unfavorable, considering the circumstances of position on the Mexican frontier, constant ravages of Indian foes, defective organization of the courts, lack of suitable jails, the ignorance and primitive character of the people, and the presence of miners, soldiers, and liquor-traders in remote parts of the country. Of course, there were many irregularities and lawless acts, the record of which is very imperfect and cannot be presented in detail here even so far as it exists; but the New Mexicans proved themselves to a much greater extent than has generally been believed abroad a peaceful and law-abiding people. The southern Apaches of New Mexico, exclusive of the Mescaleros, consisting chiefly of the Mimbrenos and Mogollones – together known as the Gilenos – but including at times a portion of the Arizona Chiricahuas, numbered from 1,500 to 1,800. Their annals are much less definite than those of other tribes, as they were generally more or less beyond the control of agents, and spent a part of the time in Arizona and Mexico. The list of agents and a summary of annals are appended. From 1879 – 80 there was a veritable "boom" in the New Mexican mines, the railroad bringing a large influx of prospectors, and what was still more essential, of capitalists, from abroad.  © 2008 Debbie Gibson All rights reserved