The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 62, July 1958 - April, 1959 Page: 180
617 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
new capacity as official surveyor." It was late in November when
Emory arrived in El Paso to find that the commissioner had dis-
appeared somewhere in Mexico leaving behind a disbursing agent
who had no money and no idea of the commissioner's where-
abouts.15 Emory described the situation thus:
On my arrival here I found things more complicated than I had
expected, a large party, half with Colonel Graham at this place and
the other half with Mr. Bartlett, God knows where, the whole num-
bering one hundred and upwards, no money, no credit, subdivided
amongst themselves and the bitterest feeling between the different
parties. Little or no work has been done, and yet the appropriation
is all gone and that of next year anticipated."1
It was a familiar situation for Emory, and he immediately set
about organizing parties for field service, depending upon his
friend, James Magoffin, for a loan of money, and upon the various
military garrisons in Texas for supplies."5 "I have taken a different
course from Colonel Graham," he wrote with a tinge of pride,
"he stood still until he could get things fixed to his liking. I have
taken the means at hand and pressed the work to the utmost,
indeed beyond them, and intend when a stop takes place, to put
the saddle on the right horse."58
In order to achieve maximum efficiency, Emory speedily dis-
charged the incompetent employees and organized the remainder
into several parties which would all work at different sections of
the line simultaneously. Lieutenant Nathaniel Michler was sent
with his party to Fort Duncan, near Eagle Pass, whence he was
to run the line south to Laredo. Another assistant surveyed the
country immediately south of El Paso, between San Ignacio and
Presidio del Norte, while Lieutenant W. F. Smith, of the topo-
graphical corps, established a temporary observatory at San
Elizario and began making celestial observations to determine
54A. H. H. Stuart to Emory, November 4, 1851 (MS., Yale Collection of Western
Americana, Emory Papers, Sterling Memorial Library, Yale University), folder
VIII, October-December, 1851.
I5Emory to James A. Pearce, circa January 15, 1852, ibid., folder IX, January-
February, 1852.
eIlbid.
57Emory to James Magoffin, Frontrera, December 29, 1851, ibid., folder VIII,
October-December, 1851.
5sEmory to Pearce, circa January 15, 1852, ibid., folder IX, January-February,
1852.180o
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 62, July 1958 - April, 1959, periodical, 1959; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101173/m1/223/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.