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MEMOIR OF THE PROPOSED TERRITORY OF ARIZONA.

BY

SYLVESTER MOWRY, U. S. A., DELEGATE ELECT.


WASHINGTON: HENRY POLKINHORN, PRINTER. 1857.

"The NEW TERRITORY of ARIZONA, better known as the GADSDEN PURCHASE,
lies between the thirty-first and thirty-third parallels of latitude,
and is bounded on the north by the Gila River, which separates it from
the territory of New Mexico; on the east by the Rio Bravo del Norte,
(Rio Grande), which separates it from Texas; on the south by Chihuahua
and Sonora, Mexican provinces; and on the west by the Colorado River of
the West, which separates it from Upper and Lower California. This
great region is six hundred miles long by about fifty miles wide, and
embraces an area of about thirty thousand square miles. It was acquired
by purchase from Mexico, during the mission of General Gadsden, at a
cost of ten millions of dollars. In the original treaty, as negotiated
by General Gadsden, a more southern boundary than the one adopted by
the Senate of the United States in confirming the treaty, was conceded
by Santa Anna. The line at present is irregular in its course, and cuts
off from our Territory the head of the Santa Cruz river and valley, the
Sonoita valley, the San Bernardino valley, the whole course of the
Colorado river from a point twenty miles below the mouth of the Gila
river, and, worse than all, the control of the head of the Gulf of
California, and the rich and extensive valley of Lake Guzman, besides a
large and extremely valuable silver region, well known both to Mexicans
and Americans--the planchas de la Platte. General Gadsden's line
included nearly all the territory south of the Gila river to the
thirty-first parallel of latitude--all the advantages above
mentioned--gave us the mouth of the Colorado river, and probably a port
near the head of the gulf at Adair's Bay. We have no accurate survey of
the west coast of the Gulf of California, but I am strongly of opinion
that the original line conceded by Mexico would have thrown a portion
of the gulf into American hands, by cutting off an arm of it extending
east and north from the main body of water. A port on the gulf is of
great and immediate necessity to our Pacific possessions. Of this
hereafter.

The proposed boundaries, of the Territory of Arizona, are the 34th
parallel of latitude, with New Mexico on the north, from the 103d
meridian west to the Colorado; Texas on the east; Texas, and the
Mexican provinces of New Mexico and Sonora on the south; and California
on the west. The new Territory would thus contain within its borders
the three largest rivers on the Continent, west of the Mississippi--the
Rio Grande, Gila, and Colorado of the west, and embrace 90,000 square
miles.

The Gadsden purchase is attached by act of Congress to the Territory of
New Mexico. At the time of its acquisition there was scarcely any
population except a few scattering Mexicans in the Mesilla valley, and
at the old town of Tucson, in the centre of the territory. The Apache
Indian, superior in strength to the Mexican, had gradually extirpated
every trace of civilization, and roamed uninterrupted and unmolested,
sole possessor of what was once a thriving and populous Spanish
province.

Except the report of Col. A. B. Gray, there is scarcely anything in
print with reference to the early history of Arizona, beyond the scanty
but valuable notes of Major Emory and Hon. John R. Bartlett, in their
reports, and in the appendix to Wilson's late book, "Mexico and its
Religion." To this last I beg to refer any reader who desires accurate
information respecting the Northern Mexican provinces, presented in a
straightforward common-sense style.

In the possession of the writer of these notes is a map drawn in 1757,
just one hundred years ago, presented by the Society of Jesuits to the
King of Spain. The original of this map is now in the archives of the
Mexican Government. It was copied, with the notes relating to the
Territory, and to Sonora, Chihuahua, and Sinaloa, by Capt. C. P. Stone,
late of the United States Army. The map bears the inscription, "Carte
levee par la Societe des Jesuites, dediee au Roi d'Espagne en 1757."

The copy of the map and the accompanying notes are certified as
accurate by the officer of the Mexican Government in charge of the
archives.

My information, therefore, upon the early history of this comparatively
unknown domain, is accurate and reliable. As early as 1687, a Jesuit
missionary from the province of Sonora, which, in its southern portion,
bore already the impress of Spanish civilization, descended the valley
of Santa Cruz river to the Gila. Passing down the Gila to its mouth,
after exploring the country, he retraced his steps, penetrated the
country north of the Gila river for some distance, and ascended the
Salinas or Salt river, and other northern branches of the Gila. The
explorations of this energetic priest did not stop here. Proceeding
east, he explored the valley of the San Pedro and its branches, thence
along the Gila to the Mimbres, and probably to the Rio Grande and the
Mesilla valley. Filled with the enthusiasm of his sect, he procured
authority from the head of the order in Mexico, and established
missions and settlements at every available point. In a report to the
government of the viceroy of Spain, made during the early settlement of
the province, I find the following language: "A scientific exploration
of Sonora, with reference to mineralogy, along with the introduction of
families, will lead to a discovery of gold and silver so marvellous
that the result will be such as has never yet been seen in the world."

The reports of the immense