DEPARTMENT OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH. IO9 



dian record agent, had prepared during many months of work in that library. 

 Mr. Leland's inquiries have extended to maps as well as to written docu- 

 ments. He has nearly finished work in the five chief repositories mentioned 

 above. Meanwhile he has, by my permission and often at my request, been 

 of great service to American states, historical societies, and individuals who 

 have had inquiries or searches to make in Paris, the proper conduct of which 

 would be greatly advanced by the advice and aid of one who was on the spot 

 and whose judgment in archive-matters could be implicitly relied on. Mr. 

 Leland also represented the Department at the sessions of the International 

 Historical Congress at Berlin. 



Professor Bolton's period of work in Mexico, for the preparation of a gen- 

 eral guide to the unprinted materials for United States history, to be found 

 in that country, was to extend from July, 1907, to near the end of September, 

 1908. Till the end of June he was occupied with work in the Federal city. 

 He finished a systematic examination of the great stores of manuscripts pre- 

 served in the Archivo General y Publico, in the Biblioteca Nacional, in the 

 library of the Museo Nacional, and in the general archives of the Secreta- 

 riates of War, Justice, Relaciones, Fomento, Gobernacion, and Hacienda. 

 Through the good offices of our Secretary of State and of our Ambassador 

 in Mexico, and the especial kindness of Senor Creel, Mexican ambassador in 

 Washington, the officials of the Mexican Government have been disposed to 

 render all proper facilities for Professor Bolton's work. He has found the 

 various governmental archives extraordinarily rich in material for all periods 

 of United States history, and for the history of all parts of the country which 

 were formerly subject to Spain — Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Califor- 

 nia. A partial account of these riches, mostly unknown to scholars hitherto, 

 was presented in a paper entitled "Alaterial for southwestern history in the 

 Central Archives of Mexico," which he read at the meeting of the American 

 Historical Association in Madison in December, and which was printed in the 

 April number of the American Historical Review. 



Before leaving the City of Mexico, ^Ir. Bolton examined beside the Fed- 

 eral archives, those of the Ayuntamiento, those of the secretary of the arch- 

 bishopric, those of the Congregation of San Felipe Neri, and those of the 

 College of Santo Domingo. Both in the capital and in the provinces entrance 

 to ecclesiastical archives has been greatly facilitated by the letters written on 

 ]\Ir. Bolton's behalf by His Excellency the Apostolic Delegate in Washington 

 and by His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons. 



At the beginning of July Mr. Bolton went to Queretaro, to begin a similar 

 exploitation of provincial archives. On the one hand, it was desired that he 

 should examine the governmental archives to be found in old provincial capi- 

 tals of northern Mexico, from which portions of the United States had an- 

 ciently been ruled ; on the other hand, it was expected that several ecclesias- 



