New Mexico Territory

“ It is necessary to do this, since it is undoubted that although it be conceded that the governor of the territory of New Mexico possessed power in 1845 and 1846 to make a grant of public lands situated within that territory, nevertheless the right to exercise such power as well as the documents by which it was essential to manifest the calling into play of the power, was derived from and was dependent upon the colonization law and the regulations thereunder just mentioned. ”

“ By the constitution, New Mexico was a territory. The grant itself, as we have seen, discloses this to be the fact, and describes the lands as those of the nation. Whatever may be the foundation for the claim that the states of the Mexican nai on, in virtue of their autonomy, succeeded to the right of disposition of the public lands of the nation, as to which we express no opinion, clearly such power did not obtain as to the territories ”

“ In 1850 the territory of New Mexico was organized and in 1863 it was
reduced to its present limits with an area of 122,000 square miles. The
population of New Mexico in 1900 was 195,310 and in 1910 was 327,301 an
increase of 67.6 per cent. Albuquerque, with a population of 11,020, and
Rosewell with 6,172 were the two largest cities. Like Arizona, New
Mexico possesses great wealth in mines and forests, but the foundation
for her future industrial progress lies in her farms. In 1910 New Mexico
possessed 500,000 acres of irrigated land. ”

“ New Mexico was organized as a Territory, with the proviso that when she should form a state constitution the slavery question should be determined by the people, and that during her territorial existence the question of property in a slave should be left undisturbed by congressional action, to be determined by the Supreme Court of the United States. ”

“ But it is earnestly and elaborately argued that as, by the constitutive act, New Mexico was recognized as a state of the federation, the congress could not subsequently constitutionally reduce New Mexico to the rank of a mere territory, and that this court, in disposing of this case, must therefore disregard the Mexican constitution, and hold that, as a state, New Mexico succeeded to the sovereignty and dominion of all the lands within its borders which formerly belonged to the king or crown of Spain ”

“ New Mexico is nominally now, I528 believe, a slave Territory; that is, to use the words of the distinguished Senator from New York [Mr. Seward] , there are some twenty slaves in the whole Territory. There they may, they probably will, remain. I submit to my people a proposition, that if they approve it as a compromise, as a concession, for peace for the Union, as it happens that that little Territory includes all that possibly can be slave territory, they will let it alone till the people are able and willing to make their own State constitution. ”

“ Fifty thousand souls will move towards the Pacific early in the spring, if the route is opened to a secure passage.
The present condition of Arizona Territory is deplorable in the extreme. Throughout the whole country there is no redress for crimes or civil injuries—no courts, no law, no magistrates. The Territory of New Mexico, to which it is attached by an act of Congress, affords it neither protection nor sustenance. ”

“ Much of this territory acquired in 1848, especially New Mexico and California, had long been settled by the Spaniards. But the acquisition of it by the United States at once put an end to the old Mexican government, and made it necessary for Congress to provide new governments. There must be American governors, American courts, American judges, customhouses, revenue laws; in a word, there must be a complete change from the Mexican way of governing to the American way. ”

“ We favor the admission of the Territories of New Mexico and Arizona into the Union as States, and we favor the early admission of all the Territories giving the necessary population and resources to entitle them to Statehood; and while they remain Territories we hold that the officials appointed to administer the government of any Territory, together with the District of Columbia and Alaska, should be bona fide residents of the Territory or District in which their duties are to be performed. ”

“ The first three sections related, without any question, exclusively to the Territory of New Mexico.
The first of them authorized the appointment of a surveyor-general for that Territory, with the usual powers and obligations of such officers.
The second made a donation of a quarter-section of land to all white males residing in it, who had declared an intention, prior to January 1st, 1853, to become citizens; and also (on condition of actual settlement, &c.) ”

“ Recent travellers give no very flattering description of large portions of New Mexico and California; [14] but, it must be remembered, that mere tourists for pleasure are far from being reliable authorities. The dry sandy plains of New Mexico will never be redeemed, in all probability, from the curse of barrenness; through all time they must continue to appear as they now do — "blasted with antiquity." Yet the territory is not entirely a desert, nor is the Santa Fé trade, which has been of so much profit to some of our western cities, in past years, a mere fiction. ”

“ The petition invites special attention to some evidence which shows that the statements made in the opinion to the effect that the state of Texas and the United States had prior to 1912 recognized and acquiesced in the line of the Rio Grande river as it was located in 1850, as the boundary between the territory of New Mexico and Texas, without reference to subsequent changes by accretion, are not accurate, and, with the observations based on them, should be recalled. ”

“ They are a quiet, inoffensive, honest, and industrious people; they own the best farming lands in the Territory, and are engaged entirely in agricultural pursuits, and, as tax-paying Indians, would be entitled to the privileges of citizens, and of the elective franchise in Texas.
"The census taken in New Mexico the year before the entrance of General Kearney into that Territory, showed the population to be one hundred thousand and two or three hundred over. ”

“ Upper California is now the State of California, and the New Mexico thus acquired included much of the present New Mexico, nearly all of Arizona, substantially all of Utah and Nevada, and the western portion of Colorado, in area 545,000 square miles, which, together with the Gadsden Purchase, by further treaty with Mexico (December 30, 1853) for $10,000,000 more, completed the despoiling of the sister Republic. The territory acquired by the last treaty now constitutes the southern part of Arizona and the southwest corner of New Mexico. ”

“ This territory, now belonging to the American Union, embraces an area of 448,961 square miles. It extends along the Pacific coast, from about the thirty-second parallel of north latitude, [24] a distance of near seven hundred miles, to the forty-second parallel, the southern boundary of Oregon. On the cast it is bounded by New Mexico. During the long period which transpired, between its discovery and its cession to the United States, this vast tract of country was frequently visited by men of science from all parts of the world. ”

“ Henry Clay's scheme of compromise says, California shall be introduced into the Union as a free state, according to her wishes; because her population of nearly 200,000 have a right to determine their measures. New Mexico shall wait for the determination of the law, until she is possessed of a population large enough to constitute a state. She shall, in the meantime, continue to be a territory without slaves. ”

“ Texas was not then ours; nor were a considerable part of Indian Territory, Kansas, half of Colorado, all of Utah, Nevada, California, Arizona, and New Mexico. All of this belonged to our sister republic of Mexico, which, as I have said, was very nearly as large as ourselves, and, except for its internal dissensions, could by no means be considered a puny antagonist.
An impressive vagueness attended the delineation of most things west of the Mississippi. There were great tracts hardly more known than the centre of Africa. The upper regions of Mexico were distinguished as Interna ”

“ New Mexico has belonged to us for half a century, not only without oppression, but with all the local self-government for which she was prepared; yet, though an integral part of our continent, surrounded by States, and with an adequate population, she is still not admitted to Statehood. Why should not the people on the island of Porto Rico, or even of Cuba, prosper and be happy for the next century under a rule similar in the main to that under which their kinsmen of New Mexico have prospered for the last half-century? ”

“ He will wonder, after traversing the border counties at the western edge of the Great Plains, at the infrequency of plowlands, and will promptly conclude that New Mexico is one vast, bare desert—an impression that will be corrected rapidly when he visits the dark National Forests where the slim, crowded spruces and firs tower skyward. ”

“ For now, as Colonel Frost has so ably and comprehensively noted, "New Mexico is strictly up to date in its government, in its hotels, its railroad accommodations, in the protection the law affords, in its universities, colleges, public schools, sanitariums, charitable institutions, its progress, and in its prosperity. Churches are found in every settlement, newspapers in every town, together with fine stores, banking institutions, and every safety, comfort, and luxury that the centres of civilization of the East afford." ”

“ But heroes can only lead an age, never surpass it. History, then, is people and their catalyst, ideas.
The history of New Mexico, like twentieth century science, is multi-dimensional. Its complex cultural patterns fit with the intricate variety of its geologic wonders and its flora and fauna. In reality, New Mexico is a part of a broader concept, the Southwest. This vast region, which includes western Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, southern California, part of southern Colorado, and southern Utah, has given rise to some of man’s greatest achievements. ”

“ Effective American control extended south west ward more rapidly than Mexican governmental authority came to meet it, but it would be easy to overemphasize the fact. At all times it is difficult to police a sparsely settled, arid country, such as the lands along the Mexican border were a generation ago. They continued up to our own day to be a region wherein things were done with impunity—on both sides—that neither government would approve, a territory in which each man was, to a large degree, a law unto himself. ”

“ The immensely valuable possessions of New Mexico and California are already inhabited by a considerable population. Attracted by their great fertility, their mineral wealth, their commercial advantages, and the salubrity of the climate, emigrants from the older States in great numbers are already preparing to seek new homes in these inviting regions. Shall the dissimilarity of the domestic institutions in the different States prevent us from providing for them suitable governments? ”

“ The Spaniards who first settled in Mexico made expeditions into New Mexico early in the 16th century, and found many prosperous Indian villages, called pueblos. In 1598 Oñate founded a colony near San Juan on the upper Rio Grande and became the first governor. In 1582 Espejo settled at Santa Fé, the second oldest permanent white settlement in the United States. For nearly 100 years the king of Spain controlled New Mexico through his governors, but in 1680 there was a general revolt of the Indians and all foreigners were killed or driven out. ”

“ That the territorial government of New Mexico had power to dispose of the public lands of the nation because it is not affirmatively shown that the colonization law of the 18th of August, 1824, had been promulgated in New Mexico at the time the grant in question was made ”

“ About twenty miles of this valley is occupied by these people. They devote themselves entirely to agriculture and to the arts of peace, but they are brave in war, and maintain a complete military organisation, for protection against the incursions of their wild neighbours the Apaches. I have often heard it said by western men, that there are only two spots in New Mexico and Arizona in which you can be certain of absolute safety; the one is in the pueblo of Zuñi, the other amongst the Pimas on the Rio Gila. ”

“ In 1540, when the train of soldiers in the company of Coronado’s Spanish Expedition entered the unknown lands later called New Mexico, four groups of native Americans were established residents in the area. Along the arable valley of the Rio Grande and its tributaries, and in several outlying areas were the adobe and stone apartment-house villages of the Pueblo Indians, whose livelihood was based largely on agriculture. ”

“ The world began to go ahead of the people of New Mexico. Only in the house of the rico was there any sign of the wealth and grandeur of Spain; everywhere else was poverty. Farming was left in the hands of the Indian, while the Spaniard chose to be a man on horseback, a cattleman, an aristocrat. In the final analysis, Spanish New Mexico would not develop as democratic and agricultural, but aristocratic and feudal. ”

“ The settlements of New Mexico covered at one time a much wider extent of country than they do now. The Indians have been constantly narrowing the boundaries for the last fifty years. At present these settlements are almost wholly restricted to the banks of the Del Norte and a few tributary streams. ”