The Treaties of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and Gadsden

The United States had wanted, from it´s beginnings as a nation, to extend it´s domains to the Pacific coast; in 1845 started a war against Mexico to strip our nation of the territories necessary to achieve that aim. When the war ended, the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, signed in 1848, stipulated that Mexico would lose, besides Tejas, today States of New Mexico, part of Arizona, and California.

In our region, the border was established in today´s Phoenix, along the Gila River, as the Article V of the Treaty stipulates:

The boundary line between the two Republics shall commence in the Gulf of Mexico, three leagues from land, opposite the mouth of the Rio Grande, otherwise called Rio Bravo del Norte, or Opposite the mouth of its deepest branch, if it should have more than one branch emptying directly into the sea; from thence up the middle of that river, following the deepest channel, where it has more than one, to the point where it strikes the southern boundary of New Mexico; thence, westwardly, along the whole southern boundary of New Mexico (which runs north of the town called Paso) to its western termination; thence, northward, along the western line of New Mexico, until it intersects the first branch of the river Gila; (or if it should not intersect any branch of that river, then to the point on the said line nearest to such branch, and thence in a direct line to the same); thence down the middle of the said branch and of the said river, until it empties into the Rio Colorado; thence across the Rio Colorado, following the division line between Upper and Lower California, to the Pacific Ocean.

The southern and western limits of New Mexico, mentioned in the article, are those laid down in the map entitled "Map of the United Mexican States, as organized and defined by various acts of the Congress of said republic, and constructed according to the best authorities. Revised edition. Published at New York, in 1847, by J. Disturnell,"

But that wasn´t all. During that war, a Mormon expedition, commanded by Phillip St. George Cooke, had found a very easy route to California, although located further South than the border as located by the previous Treaty.

This finding made the US think that the route could be used to build a transcontinental railroad, with the advantage that it would be free from the winter snows. And as Goetzmann writes:

With these considerations in mind, Emory advised personally the Secretary of State, Buchanan, to look for a Southern boundary with Mexico along the 32° North latitude in the deliberations with Mexico. He thought that it would include the transcontinental route, and that to obtain it would be vital to control the Indian attacks, as well as facilitate the movement of troops to California, as well as to promote the economic development of the recently acquired territories.

With these and other considerations, in 1854 the United States, throuth the Gadsden treaty, forced Mexico to sell them the portion of land adjacent to the route discovered by Cooke. And so, the new border was established as follows:

Article I. ...Beginning in the Gulf of Mexico, three leagues from land, opposite the mouth of the Rio Grande, as provided in the 5th article of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo; thence, as defined in the said article, up the middle of that river to the point where the parallel of 31° 47' north latitude crosses the same; thence due west one hundred miles; thence south to the parallel of 31° 20' north latitude; thence along the said parallel of 31° 20' to the 111th meridian of longitude west of Greenwich; thence in a straight line to a point on the Colorado River twenty English miles below the junction of the Gila and Colorado rivers; thence up the middle of the said river Colorado until it intersects the present line between the United States and Mexico.

One year later, the boundary commissions to establish on the ground the border were established. The United States named William H. Emory, while Jose Salazar Ylarregui was named from Mexico.

However, due to the political difficulties in Mexico, Salazar couldn´t undertake his task, and Emory started the measurement on his own. He left El Paso on February 1855, and marked the border, following along the 31° 47´ for 100 miles going West. From this later point, he went South until finding Paralel 31° 20,´ and following this later paralel continued West, until he found the intersection with Meridian 111°.

In May, he arrived at Los Nogales ranch, and here he found that the intersection was located some 12 KM West of the ranch. While stationed at Los Nogales, he received the news that Salazar Ylarregui had been put in prison by the winners of the Ayutla revolution, who also deposed Santa Anna. Also in Nogales,he met another of the Mexican Engineers of the Boundary Commission, Captain Francisco Jimenez, who had tried to establish the route between the Colorado River and Los Nogales, althought the climate, the lack of resources and the desertion of his military escort had impeded him to do his work.

In that meeting, Jimenez told Emory that, as was established in the agreement, the Mexican section had to undertake it´s own measurements and fix independently the confluence between Paralel 111° and Meridian 31° 20.´ On hearing this, Emory answered Jimenez if he thought that the US section would dare to try to deceive him, to which Jimenez answered that nobody would be able to attempt a fraud based on it´s own reputation, and declared being in agreement with the confluence point as established by Emory.

Next, it was agreed that Jimenez would establish an intermediate point along that part of the border, near Quitobaquita, and that Emory would accept beforehand the point.

After finishing the measurement, all along it were left a series of stone cairns to mark the new border. In the point where the Los Nogales creek crosses the border, another one was erected. It would remain for over 40 years in the shade of the cliff located in today´s Elias Street, until it was replaced by the metal obelisk we can see today in the same location.