Page 51 - Early Naturalists of the Black Range

town and valley of Mesilla was not as important as retaining the mineral area of the Santa Rita Copper Mines, east of present day Silver City.”*
This boundary survey was quickly made moot by the Gadsden Purchase Treaty of December 30, 1853. That boundary was precisely defined in the Treaty.

To fit the chronological order of this survey, the two times Emory was in this area are treated separately. His time with the Army of the West was addressed earlier; here we discuss his time with the Mexican-American Boundary Survey. He started his work with the Boundary Survey as the Surveyor, replacing Andrew Belcher Gray. He later became the U. S. Commissioner of the Survey, and it is under his name that the report (the various volumes listed above) was issued. His support of the natural history function of the Survey was primarily one of administration rather than the performance of personal work.
By the time that Emory replaced Bartlett, most of the political turmoil and interference had been reduced and the survey was able to proceed with relative efficiency. Emory is often given credit for “getting things under control”, but in truth the politicization of the Survey had run its course by the time he took control of operations.
Changing protagonists and treaties make for great story telling, but they are, in general, outside the scope of this effort. We focus on the study of natural history done in the Black Range in/about 1851, which was a result of survey work directed by the original treaty.
The “survey” is complicated by its changing scope. The final survey report focuses on the border as defined by the Gadsden Purchase. Most of the drawings depicting the boundary survey reflect work done on the Gadsden Purchase survey. Reports on the natural history of the effort typically capture the efforts made during the several years of the survey.
The reports which flowed from this survey include:
✤ Volume 1, Report on the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey, William H. Emory, 1857, Part 1. This is the overview of the survey and the record of survey activities.
✤ Volume 1, Report on the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey, William H. Emory, 1857, Part II (Two). This is the record of the geology and paleontology findings.
✤ Volume 2, Report on the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey, William H. Emory, 1859. This report covers the “Botany of the Boundary” (Part I).
✤ Report on the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey, George Englemann, 1859. This volume covers the “Cactacea of the Boundary”.
✤ Report on the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey, 1859. This volume covers the “Reptiles of the Boundary” (by Spencer F. Baird) and the “Ichthyology of the Boundary” (by Charles Girard).
✤ Report on the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey, 1859. This volume covers the “Mammals of the Boundary” (by Spencer F. Baird) and the “Birds of the Boundary” (by Spencer F. Baird).
The major figures of the survey (except Bartlett) were honored by having species named for them. There is Dalea emoryi, Acacia schottii, Cereus roetteri, Carex thurberi, Saxifraga parryi, Baccharis bigelovii, and Mammillaria wrightii, for example, and there are many other examples.
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* Survey of the United States Mexico Boundary - 1849-1855 - Background Study, Lenard E. Brown, U. S. Department of the
Whether Emory’s willingness to take credit for the work of the expedition was a phenomenon of the times, or of all times, or simply a personal attribute of Emory is difficult to determine - and like many polarized arguments, it was probably both. Emory did not shy away from having his name on the cover of the reports or not adequately recognizing the work of the many dedicated naturalists who worked on the survey.

Interior, Division of History, Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, May 1, 1969. This is one of the better, and perhaps most balanced, histories of the Survey.
William Hemsley Emory
However, it is not accurate to say that the people who performed the work were not recognized, because many went on to significant roles in other expeditions, in academia, and in other pursuits. However, their contributions were not adequately or publicly acknowledged in the reports of the survey.
The photograph of Emory to the right was taken sometime between 1865 and 1880.
As noted in an earlier entry, Emory was involved in other explorations in and around the Black Range. He apparently collected mammals along the Rio Grande for the Smithsonian in 1853.
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