The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 62, July 1958 - April, 1959 Page: 181
617 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The United States-Mexican Boundary Survey
the exact longitude. Emory set up his own headquarters at Fron-
trera, near El Paso, and endeavored to secure supplies for his
men, make astronomical observations of his own, and discover
the whereabouts of the missing commissioner."9
The diplomatic outlook was not promising. In mid-December
Emory appraised the situation for an irate Texas congressman,
concluding that there was little hope of persuading Conde to
recede from the Bartlett-Conde agreement:
It is a great source of glorification for him and after the attack
made on him by Colonel Carrasco for yielding too much on the
Pacific line he will sacrifice his commission and everything else before
receding from what he considers the act of the Joint Commission.80
A new treaty seemed the only possible way to rectify the sit-
uation.81 The series of reports which the Texas delegation re-
ceived caused them to make a solemn protest to Secretary of
Interior Stuart over Bartlett's action, which promised to bring
the fight onto the floors of Congress."2 These political rumblings
soon placed Emory in a delicate position. He was required by
Secretary Stuart's orders to authenticate the Bartlett-Conde agree-
ment, but if he did so he closed the last loophole for reopening
the boundary negotiations. This was true inasmuch as the Demo-
crats maintained that the agreement was not binding without the
surveyor's signature, and they were rapidly rallying Congressional
strength around this stand. For Emory to obey the Stuart order
meant removal and disgrace for him, and it is no wonder that he
lamented his connections with the boundary survey, adding that
he had shared "the fate of everyone who throws a stone into a
nest of rotten eggs," and thus, had "become a little spattered by
the explosion."" It was fortunate for Emory that his friends in
s9Emory to Magoffin, Frontrera, December 29, 1851, ibid., folder VIII, October-
December, 1851; see also, Emory, "Report on the United States and Mexican
Boundary Survey," House Executive Documents, 34th Cong., 1st Sess. (Serial No.
861), Document No. 135, p. 11.
0oEmory to Volney Howard, near El Paso, December 18, 1851 (contemporary
copy in Yale Collection of Western Americana, Emory Papers, Sterling Memorial
Library, Yale University), folder VIII, October-December, 1851.
allbid.
42A. D. Bache to Emory, Washington, September 1, 1852, ibid., folder XII, July-
September, 1852.
,6Emory to Howard, San Elizario, June i, 1852, ibid., folder VIII, October-De-
cember, 1851.181
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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/m1/224/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.