Post by Bradley K. Sherman|
| U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake recently held a campaign
| event in Show Low that included a Confederate battle flag
| prominently displayed behind her.
| ...
<https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/06/07/kari-lake-arizona-senate-hopeful-spoke-in-front-of-confederate-flag/74022051007/>
--bks
https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1271&context=nmhr
THE CONFEDERATE TERRITORY OF ARIZONA,
AS COMPILED FROM OFFICIAL SOURCES,
By F. S. DONNELL
T HE TERRITORY of New Mexico was formed under an act
· of congress passed September 9th, 1850, and included·
in its boundaries part of the lands transferred by Mexico
to the United States after the Mexican War and part of
the territory ceded by Texas in 1850. Its northern boundary
was described as running west from the 103rd degree of
longitude and the 38th degree of latitude to the summit of
the Sierra Madre, thence south with the crest of said
mountains to the 37th parallel, thence west to the boundary
line of California. Its southern boundary followeg the
boundary line of the Republic of Mexico east to the Rio
Grande, thence along the 32nd parallel to the 103rd degree
of longitude.
This territory was enlarged on August 4th, 1854, by
' the addition of the Gadsden purchase; and it was reduced
by the formation of Colorado Territory in 1861, which took . away all
lands north of the 37th parallel, and of Arizona
Territory in 1863 which took all west of the 109th degree
of longitude, leaving the boundaries as they exist today.
The territory covered such a large area and means of
communication were so difficult that many differences arose
between the- old settlers in the northern part and some of
the new comers in the south and southwest. Those in the·
south claimed that they did not have a fair representation
in the government at Santa Fe; that Taos, Rio Arriba and
Santa Fe counties so manipulated the elections that it was
not even worth while to send a representative to the legislature at
Santa Fe to represent Dofia Ana and ~1\.rizona:·
On August 29th, 1856, a convention was held
·-
at Tucson
and a resolution was passed to send a memorial to congress
urging the organization of a separate territory of Arizona,
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CONFEDERATE TERRITORY OF ARIZONA .149
and Nathan P. Cook was sent to Washington as a 'delegate
to work for the passage of such a bill. The committee on
territories reported against it because of the limited population
included in the proposed area.
President Buchanan in his message to congress in
December 1857 recommended a territorial government for
Arizona, "incorporating with it such p'ortions of New
Mexico as they may deem expedient." He also advocated
the building of , a railroad from the western ·boundary of
Texas, on the Rio Grande, to a point on the Gulf of California, a
distance of 470 miles.
In his second annual message, . December 6, 1858, he
said: "The population of that territory (Arizona) numbering as is
alleged, more than 10,000 souls, are. practically
without a government, without laws, and without any
regular administration of justice. Murder and other crimes
are committed with impunity. This state of things calls
loudly for redress, and I therefore repeat my recomm'endation for the
establishment of a Territorial government over
Arizona." In the same message, commenting on the situation in the
Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora, he
said "the local governments of these states are perfectly
helpless and are kept in a state of constant alarm by the
Indians. A state of anarchy and violence prevails throughout that
distant frontier. For this reason the settlement of
Arizona is arrested. . .. I can imagine no possible remedy
for these evil's and no mode of restoring law and order on
that remote and unsettled frontier but for the Government
of the United States to assume a· temporary protectorate
over the northern portions of Chihuahua and Sonora . and
to establish military posts within the same; and this I
earnestly recommend 'to Congress. This protection may be
withdrawn as soon as local governments shall be established
in these Mexican States capable of performing their duties
to the United States, restraining the lawless, and preserving
peace along the border." I
--kma