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 agent of Santa Ana;
but not a dollar of it ever reached the Mexican treasury, as Santa Ana
fled with the spoil. The remaining three millions were retained to pay
the "lobby" and confirm the treaty. The treaty was signed in Mexico on
the 23d day of December, 1853.
Pending the negotiation of the treaty between the high contracting
parties, in the City of Mexico, the discussion of the subject grew
interesting at the Government Boarding-House in San Francisco, and a new
California was hoped for on the southern boundary. Old Spanish history
was ransacked for information from the voyages of Cortez in the Gulf of
California to the latest dates, and maps of the country were in great
demand.
In the mean time an agent of the Iturbide family had arrived in San
Francisco with a "Mexican Grant." After the execution of the Emperor
Iturbide, the Congress of the Mexican Republic voted an indemnity to the
family of one million dollars; but on account of successive revolutions
this sum was never at the disposition of the Mexican treasury, and in
liquidation the Mexican government made the family a grant of land in
California, north of the Bay of San Francisco, but before the land could
be located, the Americans had "acquired" the country, and it was lost.
The heirs then made application to the Mexican government for another
grant of land in lieu of the California concession, and were granted
seven hundred leagues of land, to be located in Sonora, Sinaloa and
Lower California, in such parcels as they might select.
Seven hundred leagues, or 3,000,800 acres, is a large tract of land in a
single body, and the attorney of the heirs considered it more convenient
to locate the land in small tracts of a league or two at a place. The
government of Mexico conceded whatever was required, and the grant was
made in all due form of Mexican law.
In the discussion at the Government Boarding House in San Francisco it
was urged: That the Gulf of California was the Mediterranean of the
Pacific, and its waters full of pearls. That the Peninsula of Lower
California was copper-bound, interspersed with gold and minerals,
illustrated with old Spanish Missions, and fanned by the gentlest
breezes from the South Pacific. That the State of Sonora was one of the
richest of Mexico in silver, copper, gold, coal and other materials,
with highly productive agricultural valleys in the temperate zone. That
the country north of Sonora, called in the Spanish history "Arizunea"
(rocky country) was full of minerals, with fertile valleys washed by
numerous rivers, and covered by forests primeval. That the climate was
all that could be desired, from the level of the Gulf of California, to
an altitude of 15,000 feet in the mountains of the north. That the
Southern Pacific Railroad would soon be built through the new country,
and that a new State would be made as a connecting link between Texas
and California, with the usual quota of governors, senators, and public
officials.
It was urged that the Iturbide Grant could be located so as to secure
the best sites for towns and cities in the new State, and the rest
distributed to settlers as an inducement for rapid colonization. The
enthusiasm increased with the glamour of Spanish history and the
generous flow of Sazerac.
It must be admitted that an alluring prospect was opened for a young man
idling away his life over a custom house desk at three hundred dollars a
month; and in the enthusiasm of youth I undertook to make an exploration
of the new territory and to locate the Iturbide Grant. Who could have
foreseen that the attempted location of the Iturbide Grant would upset
the Mexican Republic and set up an empire in Mexico under French
protection?
The first thing was to organize a "syndicate" in San Francisco, to
furnish funds for expenses and for the location of the Iturbide Grant.
This was easily accomplished through some enthusiastic French bankers.
The ex-member of Congress was dispatched to the City of Mexico to secure
the approbation of the Mexican government, and I embarked at San
Francisco for Guaymas with a rather tough cargo of humanity. They were
not so bad as reckless; not ungovernable, but independent.
The records of the United States consulate in Guaymas, if they are
preserved, show our registration as American citizens, fourteenth day of
January, 1854. The Mexican officials were polite, but not cordial. They
said Santa Ana had no right to sell the territory, as he was an usurper
and possessed no authority from the Mexican people. As international
tribunals had not then been established to determine these nice points
of international ethics, we did not stop to argue the question, but
pushed on to the newly acquired territory.
We were very much disappointed at its meagerness, and especially that
the boundary did not include a port in the Gulf of California. A larger
territory could have been secured as easily, but the American Minister
had only one idea, and that was to secure "a pass" for a Southern
Pacific Railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. The
pass desired was the Guadaloupe Cañon, used as a wagon road by General
Cook in his march from New Mexico to California in 1846, and strange to
say, not subsequently occupied as a railroad pass.
The country south of the new boundary line is not of much consequence
to us: it belongs to Mexico.
The country north of the Mexican boundary is the most marvelous in the
United States. After many years of arduous investigation and comparison
with all the other countries of the world, it is still nearly as great
an enigma as when first explored in 1854. The valleys are as fair as the
sun ever shone upon, with soil as productive as the valley of the Nile.
The rigors of winter never disturb agricultural pursuits in the open. In
fact, in the southern portion of the territory there is no winter.
The valleys of Arizona are not surpassed for fertility and beauty by any
that I have seen, and that includes the whole world; but still they are
not occupied. Spanish and Mexican grants have hung over the country like
a cloud, and settlers could not be certain of a clear title. Moreover,
the Apaches have been a continual source of dread and danger. This state
of affairs is, however, now passing away.
There were evidences of a recent Mexican occupation, with the ruins of
towns, missions, presidios, haciendas, and ranches. There were evidences
of former Spanish civilization, with extensive workings in mines. There
were evidences of a still more remote and mysterious civilization by an
aboriginal race, of which we know nothing, and can learn but little by
the vestiges they have left upon earth.
They constructed houses, lived in communities, congregated in cities,
built fortresses, and cultivated the soil by irrigation. No evidence has
been found that they used any domestic animals, no relic of wheeled
vehicles, neither iron, steel, nor copper implements; and yet they built
houses more than five stories high, and cut joists with stone axes.
How they transported timbers for houses is not known. The engineering
for their irrigating canals was as perfect as that practiced on the
Euphrates, the Ganges, or the Nile. The ruins of the great houses (casas
grandes) are precisely with the cardinal points.
Near Florence, on the Gila, is beyond all doubt the oldest and most
unique edifice in the United States. Just when and how it was built
baffles human curiosity. Whether it was erected for a temple, a palace,
or a town hall, cannot be ascertained. The settlement or city
surrounding the ruin must have occupied a radius of quite ten miles,
judging from the ruins and pieces of broken pottery within that space.
An irrigating canal formerly ran from the Gila River to the city or
settlement, for domestic uses and for irrigation.
The Pima Indians have lived in their villages on the Gila River time
immemorial, at least they have no tradition of the time of their coming.
Their tribal organization has many features worthy imitation by more
civilized people. The government rests with a hereditary chief and a
council of sages. The rights of property are protected, as far as they
have any individual property, which is small, as they are in fact
communists. The water from the Gila River to irrigate their lands is
obtained by canals constructed by the common labor of the tribe.
In my intercourse with these Indians for many years they frequently
asked questions which would puzzle, the most profound philosopher to
answer. For instance, they inquired, "Who made the world and everything
therein?"