!

By reference to the treaty it will be seen that any agreement of the kind required the action of the joint commission, and that the joint commission was to be composed, not only of the two commissioners, but of the two surveyors also.

I refused to recognise the act as that of the joint commission, and signed the map as the order directed, carefully and studiously attaching a certificate that it was the initial point of the two commissioners; and to prevent the possibility of misconstruction, an agreement in writing was entered into with Mr. Salazar, and our signatures attested by witnesses, showing that the map was only that of the boundary agreed upon by the two commissioners, and nothing else.

This course, while it permitted me to obey a specific order in writing from a superior, left the government free to act, and repudiate the agreement by the two commissioners, as it subsequently did.

It is evident that any other course would have resulted in committing the government, irretrievably, to an erroneous determination of our southern boundary. It is but just, however, to Mr. Bartlett, to state, that so far as the facility for a route for a railway to the Pacific was considered, the line agreed to by him was no worse than that claimed by his adversaries. My own reports, based upon previous explorations, had presented the whole case very clearly to view. Yet these reports were overlooked, and it was ignorantly represented that while Mr. Bartlett's line lost the route for the railway, the other line secured it. I will not here fatigue the reader by a topographical description of the country, showing where the obstacles to a railway route exist; but he will see by a glance at the map, that the practicable route so adjudged by myself, and by other officers who retraced my steps and re-surveyed this country, is to the south of both these lines of boundary claimed under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

In this same book, Mr. Bartlett claims to have produced the first correct map of the Gila. He labors to place himself on the footing of an explorer of a new country, and only mentions previous explorers of that river to repudiate them.

On page 192, volume II, Mr. Bartlett, in his personal narrative, says: "It is also proper to state, that Lieutenant Whipple and Mr. Gray found the bend of the river to be much greater than is laid down by Major Emory on his map." It would have been no more than truth required, for Mr. Bartlett to have stated, what I expressly state in my printed memoir accompanying this map, that I did not explore this bend, but laid it down from conjecture. It is a small affair, subtended by a chord of thirty or forty miles. I passed over the chord, and not the bend, and so stated.

The survey of that bend is given in the map of this report, and it will be seen it differs from that laid down by Mr. Bartlett as the first correct map of the Gila. A comparison of his map with that published by me in 1846 will show that, with the exception of this bend, which he has laid down erroneously, he has copied literally my map of 1846, even those parts laid down conjecturally.

The reconnoissance of the Gila made by me in 1846 was under adverse circumstances, made, I may say, in the face of the enemy; yet it has stood the test of re-survey, and Mr. Bartlett has added to the injustice of attempting to depreciate my labors, the meanness of appropriating them. On the same page, and in the same spirit, Mr. Bartlett says: "Mr. Gray, in his official letter to the Secretary of the Interior, from San Diego, says that many errors of others who have been along this river, in astronomical observations, were corrected by Lieutenant Whipple." As I am the only person who ever made an astronomical observation on the Gila, previous to Vol. I-3

my sending Lieutenant Whipple there, who was one of my assistants on the boundary, I am the person referred to.

The points selected by him, and those selected by me in 1846, are not identical, and no survey connected them; they therefore, as a general rule, cannot be compared directly with each other. Fortunately, however, the only point determined elaborately by Mr. Whipple can be placed in direct comparison with my reconnoissance in 1846. By reference to my journal, published by Congress in 1847, it will be seen I observed with the sextant, in 1846, at a camp about one mile and a half south of the junction of the Gila and Colorado, and obtained for the

Latitude of the camp.....
Longitude west of Greenwich..

32° 44′ 09"
7h 38m 288.6

Lieutenant Whipple, under my orders, determined the junction with a 36-inch transit, and a 46-inch zenith telescope, to be in

Latitude.................
Longitude

32° 43' 32".3
7h 38m 118.8

Upon this determination of Lieutenant Whipple's being recomputed by Professor Hubbard and myself, introducing the new element of the corresponding observations at Greenwich, furnished by Professor Airy, we obtained—

For latitude.....
For longitude

32° 43′ 23′′.3
7h 38m 24$.27

Now, if we make allowance for this mile and a half, which was not accurately measured, we find a coincidence in the two results truly remarkable, considering that I used, in 1846, only a reconnoitring instrument, a small Gambey sextant.

The above will show that Mr. Bartlett had no authority, in fact, for what he states; and to show, further, that he has given currency to an insinuation neither justified by facts nor by reliable information within his reach, I give the following letter of Lieutenant Whipple, who made the re-survey of the Gila, and who is the only person from whom Mr. Bartlett could derive his information:

WASHINGTON, June 13, 1853.

DEAR SIR: Your note of this date communicates a paragraph from "Bartlett's Personal Narrative," stating that Mr. Gray, in his official letter to the Secretary of the Interior, from San Diego, relating to the survey of the Gila, says, "that many errors of others who have been along this river, in astronomical observations, were corrected by Lieut. Whipple.” If the above was intended, as you infer, to throw discredit on your astronomical labors in 1846, I do not hesitate to pronounce it unjust. During the progress of the survey and afterwards, I freely expressed my admiration of the general precision with which the Gila had been laid down upon the map from your astronomical observations. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

A. W. WHIPPLE.

CAMP NEAR FORT DUNCAN, October 1, 1852.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge this day the receipt of your letter enclosing me the commission of United States surveyor, for running and marking the line between the United States and the republic of Mexico. .

Your letter enclosing the appointment was handed me on the 30th of January at Samalurca, in Mexico, together with a letter of instructions, and a copy of instructions to the commissioner, dated November 4, defining the duties of the surveyor, and directing me to be governed accordingly.

I have been hoping from that day to this to have an interview with the United States commissioner, but have not, in consequence of his absence, nor have I received any communication from him whatever, until the day on which I broke up my camp at the Presidio del Norte, August 20. I received by express a letter from him, a copy of which is herewith enclosed, by which it will be seen he arrived at El Paso on the 16th of August, and proposed to meet me at this place.

A

There are several points in these instructions, based, as I have reason to believe, upon erroneous information conveyed to the Secretary; and as I believe the commissioner to whom they refer as directly as to myself will concur with me in the recommendation I design making, I have, for obvious reasons, deferred making them until his arrival, and shall defer doing so with the hope of at length meeting him. In the mean time I have pushed the survey with unceasing diligence and economy; and many subjects now press so closely, that it is necessary for me to communicate directly with the Secretary, and no longer await the arrival of the commissioner.

I have carried the survey down as far as Laredo, with the exception of a small space still to be covered between the great Chizo Cañon and the Rio San Pedro. On this portion two parties are now operating. One was disbanded and reorganized by me in consequence of a panic which seized it in regard to the Indians; and the other has within these last few days been surrounded by Indians, forced to abandon the survey, retire to the hills, and send in for aid.

To the first I was obliged to give the entire escort, and pass through the infested country myself without a soldier; to the last I gave all the spare men I had; and it was also furnished, at my request, by Major Lamotte, commanding at Las Moras, with five infantry soldiers. This region is the thoroughfare for all the bad Indians on the frontiers. I have passed through it myself without damage, and I hope the two parties will do the same; but enough has happened to justify me in having in previous communications so often urged the necessity of additional escort, and I have now respectfully to request that the Secretary will apply to the War Department to furnish a company of soldiers to escort either of these parties should they be again driven back; below here no escort will be required.

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The parties have each been so well reinforced, I do not believe either of them will have any further trouble, for all work bravely and cheerfully; but if they should, it would cause much delay unless a company of soldiers is held in hand to send them. On my reaching the ground to take charge of the survey, November, 1851, I found that Mr. Bartlett and the acting surveyor had agreed upon the initial point, 320 22', and that a great stone monument had been erected marking the point, and having the usual inscriptions, and the names of the American and Mexican conmissioners, astronomers, and surveyors ; and Mr. Salazar informed me this had been hastened at the urgent request of the American astronomer and surveyor.

I also found that articles of agreement, based upon the letters of instruction from the commissioner to Col. Graham, my successor and predecessor as chief astronomer, had been entered into with Mr. Salazar for the survey of the boundary, and the survey had been commenced at the initial point, 320 22', by Col. Graham.

On the 30th January, 1852, while on my route west of El Paso, in pursuit of the commissioner, I received unexpectedly, and certainly unsolicited, the letter of appointment as United States surveyor, and your letters of instructions, one to myself and a copy of the letter of instructions to Mr. Bartlett, dated November 4, 1851, in which it is directed that "should the surveyor at any time differ with you [the commissioner] on any question connected with the survey, he [the surveyor] will defer to your [the commissioner's] opinion until the case is submitted and decided by the department.

The surveyor came out long after the initial point was agreed upon, and the monument erected and the line begun, relieved the acting surveyor, and protested against the point. With the protest and the views of the commissioner before him, both sides it is presumed fairly stated, the honorable Secretary instructed the surveyor to sign the maps; but before the instructions reached him, he was relieved, and I was appointed in his place, with the same instructions.

I therefore considered the matter as settled, and the action of the government as final. "The official documents which have been prepared for the purpose," referred to in my letter of appointment and instructions, never having been presented, no action has been taken in the matter definitely and finally to "settle this important point." I quote from my instructions, for, as I shall presently show, it has, by the views taken of the subject by both sides, ceased to be an important point. But I have done this in compliance with the letter and spirit of my instructions. Mr. Salazar, the Mexican commissioner and surveyor, met me at the Presidio del Norte, August 1st, to sign the maps of the Rio Grande forming the boundary. Neither party had the maps properly prepared, nor was Mr. Salazar at all prepared in money or means to go on with the work at the rate I was progressing. I had already signed, conjointly with him as astronomer and surveyor, the only maps fit for signature, but he remained pressing me to sign other maps which involve incidentally the initial point agreed upon by Mr. Bartlett, Mr. Conde, Mr. Salazar, and Mr. Whipple, from which Colonel Graham had started his survey of the river. I therefore, on the 28th August, signed the maps according to my instructions, with the reservation contained in the paper, a copy of which is herewith sent, marked "A," signed conjointly by Mr. Salazar and myself, and the statement therein referred to setting forth on the face of the maps that it was the "boundary-line agreed upon by the two commissioners, April 20, 1851."

I presume it was never intended I should give my certificate, as astronomer and surveyor, to the correctness of the determination of a point which had been determined by the observations of others, and without consultation or advice of mine. On the other hand, I do not for a moment doubt the power of the government to instruct me on the subject, or hesitate as to my duty to obey its mandates, which I understand as requiring me only to authenticate the initial point agreed upon by the commissioners of the two governments.

In reference to the importance of the point, I think it as well to state that the line agreed upon by the commission, April, 1851, is about 33' north of the line contended for, as that laid down by Disturnell's map, but it reaches about 16' of arc further west; and as both lines run 30 of longitude west, the difference of territory is 30 of longitude multiplied by about 40′ of latitude, each having a middle latitude that may, for the purpose of computation, be assumed at 30°. Neither line gives us the road to California, and the country embraced in the area of the difference, with the exception of a strip along the Rio Grande about nine miles long and from one to two wide, is barren, and will not produce wheat, corn, grapes, trees, or anything useful as food for man, or for clothing.

Neither line will give us a channel of communication for posts along the frontier, without which it is impracticable to comply with the XIth article of the treaty, which enjoins the United States to keep the Indians out of Mexico.

When originally on the work, before the point was determined, having a knowledge of the country from previous reconnoissance, I had the honor of asking the attention of your predecessor to this very subject, in a communication dated April, 1849, San Diego, California, which was subsequently printed by the Senate. I then pointed out what I believed to be the only view taken of the treaty, which would have given us the road, it being, in truth, the only important matter involved in the question. No notice was taken of this, and I was superseded in my command until restored by you, although Mr. Clayton, the Secretary of State, had declined, on my application, to relieve me, on the ground of my knowledge of the particular duties to which I was assigned.

On my return to the work, both governments having been committed in the matter by the commission, the time was passed when anything could be effected with the Mexican commission.

It is not pretended that the view there taken of the treaty is as close a legal construction as that taken since; but it is the only one which could have given us a wagon road from the Del Norte to the Pacific by way of the Gila river. And it is believed that, if this point had been urged before discussion took place, or before either party had committed itself, the obvious advantages to both would have secured its adoption.

I have the honor to be your obedient servant,

W. H. EMORY.

The Hon. SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.

I give here a copy of my letter of April 2, 1849, which, had it received attention, would have been the means of saving much controversy and expenditure of time and money:

BOUNDARY COMMISSION, SAN DIEGO, April 2, 1849.

SIR Paper marked "A" will exhibit to you the adoption of my determination of the astronomical line forming the boundary between the United States and Mexico, from the initial point on the Pacific to the junction of the Gila and Colorado rivers, by the Mexican astronomer and surveyor, Señor Don José Salazar y Larregui. The line passing through the five points stated in that paper, as determined by me, is in view of the Tecaté mountain, thirty miles distant, and Señor Salazar undertook to establish on the Tecaté a signal in the prolongation of this line, and has succeeded in doing so; and the same has been verified under my orders.

Knowing the long time that must elapse before the monuments arrive, I have, in conjunction with Mr. Salazar, to secure this line beyond all cavil, and for the convenience of property holders on either side, caused monuments of a pyramidal shape, twelve feet at the base, and twelve feet high, composed of stones and earth, to be erected at the points established. These extend over a space of thirty miles, and embrace all the settled portions. I have bound the government for the payment of one-half the cost of the monuments, the Mexican commission paying the other half.

You were apprized in my last despatch that this commission, when I received the charge of it, was without one cent of money, without a mouthful to eat, and without a hoof or wheel for transportation; and that I was deprived of the only means of doing anything, by being deprived at the same time of military command.

I have not been instructed to estimate funds for the past or future. commission, but presume this has been done by the late commissioner.

I have no means of estimating the debts of the

I think it proper, however, to send an estimate herewith of funds required by Brevet Captain Hardcastle, to enable him to carry out his instructions. I think it also proper to inform the Department, for the benefit of the operators from the "Paso del Norte," that authentic information has reached here, that the Mexican frontier towns of Fronteras and Santa Cruz, which have always been counted on by the officers of the commission to furnish supplies, have been ravaged by the wild Indians, and deserted by the inhabitants, and the means of subsistence of the Pimos Indians have been eaten out by the emigrants. In addition to the American emigration, a dense stream of "Sonoreans," and other Mexicans, is now pouring over a portion of the same route into California, desolating the herbage and means of subsistence as they pass. Five thousand and upwards have already penetrated the country this season, and it is estimated by intelligent men that fifteen thousand more are in movement in the same direction. In connexion with this same subject, and reverting to my despatch No. 2, I presume enough was then said to satisfy you that the expedition should not move from the "Gila eastward.” The fact alone, that all it may accomplish, if it can

accomplish anything, between the mouth of the Gila and the "Paso del Norte," beyond that of overcoming space, will be by the movement of the Mexican commission, growing out of the action of the joint commission of an ex parte character, and therefore of no value. But, in addition to this, we may lose a great advantage by pushing the survey in that direction-no less than the only practicable route for a railway over the Sierra Madre; which route is near the 32d parallel of latitude. That supposed to have been recently discovered by Lieutenant Simpson I believe impracticable. Had that intelligent officer come further "westward," he would have found an insurmountable barrier.

By pushing the survey eastward, and looking for a branch of the Gila which shall fulfil the conditions of the treatythe first to intersect the boundary of New Mexico—you will inevitably be made to strike that boundary far north of the parallel of the copper mines; because all the streams south of that parallel, having their sources in the Sierra Madre, running towards the Gila, disappear in the sands before they reach Gila, except in cases of unusual freshets. Working eastward, their almost trackless beds must escape the notice of the keenest explorer. Working from the "Paso del Norte" northward and westward, you strike the sources of the streams themselves; and although they may disappear many leagues before reaching the Gila, they may nevertheless be affluents of that river, and fulfil the condition of the treaty.

Another view of the case may also be taken. The inaccuracy of the map upon which the treaty was made, and which thereby became a part of the treaty, is notorious. It is also known to all who have been much in the frontier States of Mexico, that the boundaries of those States have never been defined on the ground, and are unknown. This is particularly the case of the boundary betwixt New Mexico and Chihuahua. In this condition of things the commissioners must negotiate, and they may adopt the 32d parallel of latitude, until it strikes the San Pedro, or even a more southern parallel of latitude. This would give what good authority, combined with my own observations, authorizes me to say is a practicable route for a railroad-I believe the only one from ocean to ocean within our territory.

Another consideration is, the treaty makes the Gila for a certain extent the boundary. The Gila does not always run in the same bed; whenever it changes the boundary must change, and no survey nor anything else can keep it from changing. The survey of that river, therefore, as it fixes nothing, determines nothing, is of minor importance. It forms of itself a more apparent and enduring monument of the boundary than any that can be made by art; and on the principle that that which is of the greatest necessity should be done first, the line from the Paso del Norte, until it strikes a branch of the Gila, would seem to demand the first attention.

It is but just to say these are not views recently adopted by me; they were entertained and expressed before leaving Washington and since, and I urged that none but the astronomical party, and just as much of the commission, should be sent to the Pacific side as was necessary to fulfil the conditions required by the letter of the treaty.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

W. H. EMORY.

Hon. T. EWING, Secretary of the Interior.

*

[Letter referred to in the note on page 14.]

OFFICE UNITED STATES BOUNDARY COMMISSION,
Washington, April 23, 1856.

SIR: In answer to your instructions of April 22, predicated on a resolution of Congress, received this day, I have the honor to submit the following table, showing the several appropriations made by Congress for the survey of the boundary line between the United States and Mexico, as established under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo :