rERSONAL ACCOUNT. 



19 



There are several points in these instructions, based, as I liaro reason to hrlierc, npon crroneonB information conveyod 

 to the Secretary; and us I bclieTe the commissioner to whom they refer as directly as to myself will connir -with me in 

 the recommendation I do?ign making, I have, for obvious reasons, drforrod making th^m nntil biff nrrival, and sliall dc*wr 

 doing so with tlie hope of at length meeting him. In the mean time I have pu._.:..J the survey with unc- ing diligence 



and economy ; and ninny subjects now pro^" ^o closely, that it is nc<-^e^^'"ry for me to communicate directly with the Secre- 

 tary, and no longer await the arrival of the cuuimis-^toner. 



I have carried the survey down as fir as Laredo, with the exception of a ffmall ppace still to be covered between the 

 great Chizo Cauou and the Rio San Tcdro. On this portion two part'.... ..: _ now operating. One was disbanded nnd reor- 



anlzcd by me in consequence of a panic which seized it in regard to the Indians; and the otlu r has wUhin thesft lafit 

 few days been surrounded by Indians, forced to abandon the survey, retire to the hilla, and send in for aid. 



To the first I was obliged to give the entire escort, and pa«<= through th^ infested country myself without a soldier ; to 



g 



the last I gave all the spare men I had ; and it was also furnishrd, at my request, by ?Tajor Lnmotte, commanding at Laff 

 Moras, with i\ve infantry soldiers. This region is the thoroughfare for all th<* bid Indians on the frontiers. I have p.'isscd 

 through it myself without dama^., and I hope the two parti- ~- will do the same ; but enough has happened to justify me 



in having in previous commxmications so often urged the nec»«Rity of additional escort, and I have now respectfully t^ re- 

 quest that the Secretary will apply to the War Department to furnish a company of soldiers io onrr^ri either of the^" parties 

 should they bo again driven back ; below here no escort will be required. 



The parties hare each br-n so well reinforced, I do not believe either of them will have any further trouble, for all work 

 bravely and cheerfully ; but if they should, it would cause much delay uul.^ a cumi^ny of soldiers is held In hand lu : end them. 



On my reaching the ground to take charge of the snrvi^y, Xovember, 1851, I found that Mr, DartU'tt and the acting sur- 

 veyor had agreed upon the initial point, 32^ 22', and that a gi'eat stone monumeut b^d L^vU erected maiking the point, 

 and having the usuul inscriptions, and the names of the American and Mexican conmissfoner<=. astronomers, and surveyors ; 

 and Mr. Salazar informed me this had been hastened at the urgent requ^-st of the American astronomer and surve} or. 



I also found that articles of agreement, based upon the letters of instruction from the commissioner to Col. Graham, my 

 successor and predecessor as chief astronomer, had been entered into with Mr. Salazar for the survey of the boundary, and 

 the survey had been commenced at the initial point, 32^ 22', by Col. Graham. 



On the 30th January, 1S52, while on my route west of El T.,-.j, in pursuit of the commissioner, 1 received unexpectedly, 

 and certainly unsolicited, the letter of appointment as United States surveyor, and your letters of instructions, one to my- 

 self and a copy of the letter of instructions to Mr. Bartlctt, dated November 4, 1851, in which it is directed that ''should 

 the surveyor at any time differ with you [the commissioner] on any question connected with the survey, he [the surveyor] 

 will defer to your [the commissioner's] opinion until the case is submitted and decided by the department. 



The surveyor came out long after the initial point was agreed upon, and the monument erected and the line begun, 

 relieved the acting surveyor, and protested against the point. With the protest and the views of the commissioner before 

 him, both sides it is presumed fairly stated, the honorable Secretary instructed the surveyor to sign the maps ; but before 

 the instructions reached him, he was relieved, and I was appointed in his place, with the same instructions. 



I therefore considered the matter as settled, and the action of the government as final. ''The official documents which 

 have been prepvarcd for the purpose," referred to in my letter of appointment and instructions, never having l>een presented, 

 no action has been taken in the matter definitely and finally to *' settle this important point." I quote from my instruc- 

 tions, for, as I shall presently show, it has, by the views taken of the subject by both sides, ceased to be an important point. 

 But I have done this in compliance with the letter and spirit of my instructions. Mr. Salazar, the Mexican commla- 

 gioner and surveyor, met me at the Presidio del Norte, August 1st, to sign the maps of the Rio Grande forming the 

 boundary. Neither party had the maps properly prepared, nor was Mr. Salazar at all prepared in money or means to go on 

 with the work at the rate I was progressing. I had already signed, conjointly with him as astronomer and surveyor, the 

 only maps fit for signature, but he remained pressing me to sign other maps which involve incidentally the initial point 

 agreed upon by Mr. Burtlett, Mr. Conde, Mr. Salazar, and Mr. Whipple, from which Colonel Graham had started his survey 

 of the river. I therLiv>re, on the 2Sth August, signed the maps according to my instructions, with the reservation con- 

 tained in the paper, a copy of which is herewith sent, marked '*A/* signed conjointly by Mr. Salazar and myself, and the 

 statement therein referred to setting forth on the face of the maps that it was the *' bomdary-line agreed upon hy the t^to com- 

 missioncrSf April 20, 1851." 



I presume it was never intended I should give my certificate, as astronomer and surveyor, to the correctness of the deter- 

 mination of a point which had been determined by the observations of others, and without consultation or advice of mine. 

 On the other hand, I do not for a moment doubt the power of the government to instruct me on the subject, or hesitate as 

 to my duty to obey its mandates, which I understand as requiring me only to authenticate the initial point agreed upon by 

 the commissioners of the two governments. 



