Members of Congress relied on the U.S. Boundary Commission report as they proposed legislation for the new territory. Richly illustrated, the multivolume report included contributions by scientists along with maps of the new U.S.-Mexico boundary. These pages describe the Pecos River, depict an Apache warrior, and record the coyote skull seen in the adjacent case.
Law Library of Congress
Report on the U.S. and Mexican Boundary Survey, 1857-59, directed by William H. Emory, Vol. 1, Vol. 2: Parts 1 and 2, 1859
Documenting the Discoveries
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the war with Mexico in 1848 added more than 525,000 square miles of western territory to the United States—an area that now encompasses all or parts of eight states. Members of Congress, recognizing the potential of this territory for settlement, fiercely debated whether or not to allow slavery there and which route a transcontinental railroad should follow through it. To inform future legislation, Congress funded a full report on the region as part of the boundary survey.
Members of Congress relied on the U.S. Boundary Commission report as they proposed legislation for the new territory. Richly illustrated, the multivolume report included contributions by scientists along with maps of the new U.S.-Mexico boundary. These pages describe the Pecos River, depict an Apache warrior, and record the coyote skull seen in the adjacent case.
Law Library of Congress
