The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 94, July 1990 - April, 1991 Page: 538
692 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
nize a party to commence the astronomical and topographical work.
Bartlett desired to secure for the United States the island on which the
towns of Isleta, Socorro, and San Elceario were located. A few years
earlier the main bed of the river had run east of the island but now cut
to the west of it. Bartlett's fear was that the channel might again change.
Garcia Conde was also concerned as to which side of the line the island
would ultimately be located. His instructions from Mexico's minister of
foreign relations, Luis Gonzaga Cuevas, were to adopt the deepest
channel of the river as the boundary, that which would be most advan-
tageous. Garcia Conde apparently hoped or expected that the channel
would indeed change, throwing the three towns to Mexico, for he
ordered Salazar Ylarrequi not to begin the survey in his absence." Since
the Mexican commissioner intended to complete the surveys of the
southern boundary of New Mexico and the Rio Gila before turning to
the Rio Grande, this posed the possibility of considerable delay. Graham
regretted that Salazar Ylarrequi could not begin the work and felt justi-
fied in placing his own parties in the field. Graham hoped Salazar Ylarr-
equi would feel authorized to join him in determining the deepest
channel where islands occurred, and desired that the Mexican surveyor
join him in the work that Garcia Conde did permit, that is, the astro-
nomical work for determining the latitude and longitude at suitable
points along the river. Salazar Ylarrequi felt Graham was perfectly au-
thorized to begin the survey since the Joint Commission had agreed
that either party might begin the work pending the subsequent ap-
proval of the other. He also agreed to join Graham in determining the
deepest channel and the astronomical work. On November 24, 1851,
Graham and Salazar Ylarrequi formally agreed that should either party
be prepared to commence the survey of the Rio Grande before the
other, it might do so, and the results, on being verified and assented to
by the other party, would be authenticated and agreed to by both.6
During the year that had now elapsed since the convening of the
Joint Commission at El Paso del Norte, very little had been accom-
plished. The Joint Commission had partially surveyed the southern
boundary of New Mexico and sent two parties to survey the Gila, but as
for the Rio Grande, the work had scarcely gotten under way. Lt. Amiel
'John R Bartlett toJ D Graham, Aug 23, 1851, Report of the Secretary of War ..., S. Exec.
Doc 121, 32nd Cong., Ist Sess., 1852 (Serial 627), 186-187; Garcia Conde to Cuevas, June 15,
1850, Expediente 22, pp. 56-58, Cuevas to Garcia Conde, Mar 2, 1849, ibid., 337-340, Sala-
zar Ylarrequi to Graham, Nov. 13, 1851, Report of the Secretary of War, 199-200; Graham to
John J. Abert, Nov. 16, 1851, Report of the Secretary of the Interior ..., S. Exec. Doc. 1 19, 32nd
Cong., 1st Sess., 1852 (Serial 626), 333, Amlel W. Whipple to Bartlett, Mar. o10, 1851, Corre-
spondence, III, Bartlett Papers
6Graham to Salazar Ylarrequi, Nov 19, 1851, Report of the Secretary oJ War, 207, 208, Salazar
Ylarrequi to Graham, Nov. 22, 1851, ibid, 20o8-209, 211-213538
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 94, July 1990 - April, 1991, periodical, 1991; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101214/m1/616/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.