| Territory of New Mexico | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Organized incorporated territory of theUnited States | |||||||||||||||||
| 1850–1912 | |||||||||||||||||
 1867 map of theArizona and New Mexico Territories, split from the original New Mexico Territory of 1851, showing then-existingcounties | |||||||||||||||||
| Capital | Santa Fe | ||||||||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||||||||
| • Type | Organized incorporated territory | ||||||||||||||||
| Governor | |||||||||||||||||
• 1851–1852 | James S. Calhoun | ||||||||||||||||
• 1910–1912 | William J. Mills | ||||||||||||||||
| Legislature | New Mexico Territorial Legislature | ||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||
| May 30, 1848 | |||||||||||||||||
• Organic Act (part ofCompromise of 1850) | 9 September 1850 | ||||||||||||||||
| June 24, 1853 | |||||||||||||||||
• Colorado Territory established | February 28, 1861 | ||||||||||||||||
• Arizona Territory established | February 24, 1863 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 January 1912 | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
TheTerritory of New Mexico was anorganized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850,[1] until January 6, 1912.[2] It was created from theU.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result ofNuevo México becoming part of theAmerican frontier after theTreaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. It existed with varying boundaries until the territory was admitted to the Union as theU.S. state ofNew Mexico in 1912. This jurisdiction was an organized, incorporated territory of the US for nearly 62 years, the longest period of any territory in the contiguous United States.
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1850 | 61,547 | — |
| 1860 | 93,516 | +51.9% |
| 1870 | 91,874 | −1.8% |
| 1880 | 119,565 | +30.1% |
| 1890 | 160,282 | +34.1% |
| 1900 | 195,310 | +21.9% |
| 1910 | 327,301 | +67.6% |
| Source: 1850–1910 (1860 includes bothArizona andNew Mexico;[3][4] | ||
In 1846, during theMexican–American War, the United States establisheda provisional government of New Mexico. Territorial boundaries were somewhat ambiguous. After the Mexican Republic formally ceded the region to the United States in 1848, this temporary wartime/military government operated until September 9, 1850.
Earlier in 1850, organizers proposing New Mexico for statehood had drafted a state constitution that prohibitedslavery. The request was approved at the same time that theUtah Territory was created to the north. The proposed state boundaries were to extend as far east as the 100th meridian West and as far north as theArkansas River, thus encompassing the present-dayTexas andOklahoma panhandles and parts of present-dayKansas,Colorado,Utah, andArizona, as well as most of present-dayNew Mexico. The state of Texas (admitted to the US in 1845) strongly criticized this plan, as it claimed much of the same territory, although it did not control these lands. In addition, slaveholders worried about not being able to expand slavery to the west of their current slave states.
TheCompromise of 1850 put an end to the push for immediate New Mexico statehood. Approved by theUnited States Congress in September 1850, the legislation provided for the establishment of New Mexico Territory andUtah Territory. It also defined the disputed western boundary ofTexas.
During the territorial period, the status ofslavery provoked considerable debate. Congress was sharply divided on the slavery issue, with Southern representatives determined to protect their options for expansion of slavery in the West. SenatorStephen A. Douglas ofIllinois and others maintained that the territory could not restrict slavery, as under the earlierMissouri Compromise. Others, includingAbraham Lincoln, insisted that older Mexican Republic legal traditions of the territory, which abolished black slavery in 1834, took precedence and should be continued. (Indian slavery had been abolished in Spanish colonies in 1769.) Regardless of the official status, slavery was rare inantebellum New Mexico. Black slaves never numbered more than about a dozen.[5]
As one of the final attempts at compromise to avoid theCivil War, in December 1860, a U.S. House of Representatives committee proposed to admit New Mexico as a slave state immediately. Although the measure was approved by the committee on December 29, 1860, Southern representatives did not take up this offer. Many had already left Congress due to the imminent declarations of secession by their states.[6]
On February 24, 1863, during the Civil War, Congress passed the "Arizona Organic Act", which split off the western portion of the 12-year-old New Mexico Territory, establishing the newArizona Territory, where it abolished slavery. As in New Mexico, slavery was already extremely limited, due to earlier Mexican traditions, laws, and patterns of settlement. The northwestern corner of New Mexico Territory was included in Arizona Territory until it was added to the southernmost part of the newly admittedState of Nevada in 1864. Eventually, Arizona Territory was admitted in 1912 as theState of Arizona.
The boundaries of the New Mexico Territory at the time of establishment (September 9, 1850) contained most of the present-dayState of New Mexico, more than half of the present-dayState of Arizona, and portions of the present-day states ofColorado andNevada. Although this area was smaller than what had been included in the failed statehood proposal of early 1850, the boundary disputes withTexas had been dispelled by theCompromise of 1850.
TheGadsden Purchase was acquired by the United States fromMexico in 1853/1854 (known as the "Venta de La Mesilla" or the "Sale of La Mesilla"), arranged by the then-American ambassador to Mexico,James Gadsden. This added today's southern strip ofArizona and a smaller area in today's southwesternNew Mexico to the New Mexico Territory, bringing its land area to the maximum size achieved in its history as an organized territory. The land of 29,640 square miles (76,800 km2) provided a more easily constructed route for a future southerntranscontinental railroad line (second of the routes) for the futureSouthern Pacific Railroad, constructed later in 1881/1883.[7]
The Purchase treaty defined the new border as "up the middle of that river (theRio Grande) to the point where the parallel of 31° 47' north latitude crosses the same31°47′0″N106°31′41.5″W / 31.78333°N 106.528194°W /31.78333; -106.528194; thence due west one hundred miles; thence south to the parallel of 31° 20' north latitude; thence along the said parallel of 31° 20' to the111th meridian of longitude west of Greenwich31°20′N111°0′W / 31.333°N 111.000°W /31.333; -111.000; thence in a straight line to a point on the Colorado River twenty English miles below the junction of the Gila and Colorado rivers; thence up the middle of the said river Colorado until it intersects the present line between the United States and Mexico." The new border included a few miles of theColorado River at the western end; the remaining land portion consisted of line segments between points, including32°29′38″N114°48′47″W / 32.49399°N 114.813043°W /32.49399; -114.813043 at the Colorado River, west ofNogales at31°19′56″N111°04′27″W / 31.33214°N 111.07423°W /31.33214; -111.07423, near AZ-NM-Mexico tripoint at31°19′56″N109°03′02″W / 31.332099°N 109.05047°W /31.332099; -109.05047, the eastern corners of NM southern bootheel (Hidalgo County) at31°47′02″N108°12′31″W / 31.78378°N 108.20854°W /31.78378; -108.20854, and the west bank ofRio Grande at31°47′02″N106°31′43″W / 31.78377°N 106.52864°W /31.78377; -106.52864.
TheColorado Territory was established by the "Colorado Organic Act" on February 28, 1861, with the same boundaries that would ultimately constitute theState of Colorado. This Act removed the Colorado lands from the New Mexico Territory.
The creation of the UnionArizona Territory (two years after the ill-fatedConfederate Arizona Territory) by the "Arizona Organic Act" on February 24, 1863, removed all the land west of the109th meridian from the New Mexico Territory, i.e. the entire present-dayState of Arizona plus the land that would become the southern part of theState of Nevada in 1864.[8] This Act left the New Mexico Territory with boundaries identical to the eventualState of New Mexico for a half-century until admitted to the Union in 1912 as the 47th state (followed just under six weeks later by theArizona Territory/State of Arizona, which became the 48th state, finally filling out the coast-to-coast continental expanse of the United States).
In 1850, all 73 churches with regular services in the New Mexico Territory wereCatholic.[9] In the1910 United States census,26 counties in the New Mexico Territory reported the following population counts (after 7 reported the following counts in the1850 United States census):[4]
| 1910 Rank | County | 1850 Population | 1910 Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bernalillo | 7,751 | 23,606 |
| 2 | San Miguel | 7,074 | 22,930 |
| 3 | Chaves | – | 16,850 |
| 4 | Rio Arriba | 10,668 | 16,624 |
| 5 | Colfax | – | 16,460 |
| 6 | Quay | – | 14,912 |
| 7 | Grant | – | 14,813 |
| 8 | Santa Fe | 7,713 | 14,770 |
| 9 | Socorro | – | 14,761 |
| 10 | Valencia | 14,189 | 13,320 |
| 11 | McKinley | – | 12,963 |
| 12 | Doña Ana | – | 12,893 |
| 13 | Mora | – | 12,611 |
| 14 | Eddy | – | 12,400 |
| 15 | Roosevelt | – | 12,064 |
| 16 | Taos | 9,507 | 12,008 |
| 17 | Curry | – | 11,443 |
| 18 | Union | – | 11,404 |
| 19 | Guadalupe | – | 10,927 |
| 20 | Torrance | – | 10,119 |
| 21 | Sandoval | – | 8,579 |
| 22 | San Juan | – | 8,504 |
| 23 | Lincoln | – | 7,822 |
| 24 | Otero | – | 7,069 |
| 25 | Luna | – | 3,913 |
| 26 | Sierra | – | 3,536 |
| Santa Ana | 4,645 | – | |
| New Mexico Territory | 61,547 | 327,301 |
As the route toCalifornia, New Mexico Territory was disputed territory during theAmerican Civil War. Settlers in the southern part of the Territory willingly joined theConfederate States in 1861 as the newly organizedConfederate Territory of Arizona, with a representative delegate to theConfederate Congress in the capital ofRichmond. This territory consisted of the southern half of the earlier Federal New Mexico Territory of 1851 and was in contrast to the later FederalArizona Territory established by theUnion in 1863, which was the western half split off from the original U.S. New Mexico Territory. The short-lived Confederate Arizona Territory was the first American territorial entity to be called "Arizona".
TheBattle of Glorieta Pass in May 1862, following the retreat of Texan Confederate forces back south toEl Paso, placed the area of theRio Grande valley and eastern New Mexico Territory with the capital ofSanta Fe under the control of theFederals with theirUnion Army.[10] However, the government and leadership of Confederate Arizona persisted until the end of the Civil War in June 1865 with the surrender of theTrans-Mississippi Department, living in exile inEl Paso, Texas with its delegate still in Richmond.
The New Mexico Territory was led by a governor who was appointed by the US President and had to be confirmed by the US Senate for a four year term. The territorial governor had the power to: appoint members to the territorial legislature if a vacancy were to happen, appoint members and issue pardons. The Secretary of the New Mexico Territory was also an appointed position and served as the second highest position. The Secretary was also appointed by the US President and approved by the US Senate and served for four years. The Secretary was responsible for transmitting bills to Congress and keeping records. The Secretary could take over as Governor if they were to be ineligible for whatever reason.[11]
The New Mexico Territory had a bicameral legislature consisting of the Council and the House of Representatives. The Council had 12 members from 12 districts while the House had 24 members from 24 districts. Any bill that was passed by the territorial legislature also needed to be approved by US Congress before becoming valid. Any member appointed to an executive position in the territory by the governor had to be approved by the legislature.[11]
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Acoat of arms of New Mexico was adopted by the territorial legislature in 1887, formalizing an earlier design, introduced in the early 1860s, already used in the territory'sgreat seal.[12][13] The legislation, titled "An Act adopting and establishing the coat of arms and great seal of the territory", was approved by GovernorEdmund G. Ross on February 1:[12]
The coat of arms of the territory of New Mexico shall be the Mexican Eagle grasping a serpent in its beak, the cactus in its talons, shielded by the American eagle with outspread wings, and grasping arrows in its talons. The date MDCCCL [1850], under the eagles, and above that, on a scroll, the motto:Crescit Eundo. That the great seal of the territory have the coat of arms thereon, being the same seal now used by the secretary of the territory, and that the same be adopted and established as the official seal and coat of arms of the territory of New Mexico.
The "American"bald eagle's outstretched wings over the smaller "Mexican"harpy eagle represents the territory's change of sovereignty.[13] The territorial motto,Crescit eundo (Latin for 'It grows as it goes'), was later added to the seal. The same design was later adapted for use in theseal of the new state of New Mexico in 1913.[13]
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