Page 65 - Cooke's Peak - Pasaron Por Aqui

Chapter 3
Securing the Wagon Road, 1849-1856
During the next seven years, the Cooke’s Peak
area was radically affected
developments. The postwar settlement between the United States and Mexico provided a mechanism for locating and marking the exact location of the new boundary between their spheres of influence and responsibility. The initial attempt at this process was marred by the United States President’s politi- cal appointment of persons inadequate to the task. Agreed upon interpretation of treaty provisions would have left an important portion of the newly established wagon road to the Pacific Ocean in the hands of Mexico. Under threat of renewed confron- tation, careers were scrapped, millions spent and more committed, and a new agreement hammered
out.
Long before the new boundary had been estab-
lished, the lure of gold, cattle empires, and political fortunes drew many people west to California and to intermediate points along the way. Emigrants (and immigrants) flowed west by way of Cooke’s Spring to swell the coastal population and to create an increased demand for services, food, and other materiel. Journals written by people of various ages and perspectives logged the slow monotonous trek westward. These people emphasized different in- terpretations of the journey, but one theme wove a common thread: the arid land and the never ending concern over the availability of sufficient water for man and beast. Frequently, emigrants would travel all night to escape the heat or Indians and hopefully reach the next water hole in time.
The potential to expand the eastern railway net- work to the coast, for more efficient transportation for all these people and the things they desired, created the need to survey various potential routes and to determine which would be the most cost-ef- fective. Of course, many politicians thought the most cost-effective route was that which favored their geographical power base or personal invest- ments. Therefore, despite the conclusion of many that the southernmost route through the Cooke’s
Spring area was the best, many years would pass
by a series of
before the goal of a realized.
transcontinental railroad was
51
Unfortunately, the Indians who had been abused by previous regimes were again brushed aside as unimportant. Or at least that was what many Americans wanted to do. However, the threat to limited and fragile resources created by massive emigrant wagon trains was more than the Apaches could tolerate and the lure of mules, cattle, and calico from trail herds and freighters was more than they could resist. Naturally, the military presence in
the Southwest was bolstered to protect the “innocent” and persecute the “guilty.”
The Joint Boundary Commission
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo included the
provision that a new boundary be established be-
tween the two nations by a Joint Boundary Commis-
sion and that the records of their acts would become
a part of that treaty. Article Five of the Treaty
further provided that the Joint Boundary Commis-
sion should meet in San Diego, California, by May
30, 1849. To support this required activity, the
United States Congress appropriated $50,000. By
the time the marking of the final boundary between
the United States and Mexico was accomplished, the
cost would exceed the original budget by at least 15
1 times.
Unfortunately, when President James Knox Polk offered the position of Boundary Commissioner to William Hemsley Emory, a Captain in the Corps of Topographical Engineers, he attached a require- ment that Emory resign his military commission. When Emory refused to do this, Polk attached him to the Commission as Chief Astronomer and com- manderofthemilitaryescort. HadEmoryservedin the higher capacity, it is likely that the difficulties