There are two sides to Arizona.
One side is neatly drawn. The northern border with Utah goes straight from Nevada to the Four Corners. Arizona’s eastern border with New Mexico is also a straight line.
The other side is jagged and wild, following the Colorado River along the western edge from Mexico to the Hoover Dam. Near the dam, the border takes a small U-turn before departing from the river to cut straight north. Arizona’s southern border with Mexico darts diagonally from Nogales to Yuma.
The borders of Arizona weren’t drawn all at once. They were pieced together by a sequence of actions between 1846 and 1866.
Before detailing the development of these borders, let’s set the scene with a painfully brief nutshell of events preceding the acquisition of Arizona by the United States:
Native peoples had been living in the American Southwest for centuries before the arrival of Spanish explorers and missionaries in the mid-1500s.
Spanish expeditions arrived searching for mythical cities of gold. Eventually, Spain took claim to territory from California to Texas.
After a revolution, Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821. Political instability in Mexico weakened its ability to govern these frontier lands.
The United States saw an opportunity; war with Mexico commenced in 1846.
1848: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The United States wanted land from sea to shining sea. There really is no other way to explain the war with Mexico.
In his memoirs, Ulysses S. Grant, who had been a young lieutenant in the Mexican-American War, wrote:
For myself, I was bitterly opposed to the measure, and to this day regard the war, which resulted, as one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation.
Upon the conclusion of the war, ostensibly about a disputed gap of territory near the Rio Grande, the United States acquired close to half of Mexico’s pre-war territory.
Arizona was now part of the United States, although it had not yet taken shape. A map used as part of negotiations for the treaty shows "Alta California" and "Nuevo Méjico”
None of the political lines distinguishing Arizona existed until 1850.
1850: New Mexico Territory Organic Act
Arizona's northern border was drawn with the formation of New Mexico Territory, divided from Utah Territory as part of the Compromise of 1850. Ten years before the Civil War, every new acquisition of land inflamed tensions between the northern free states and the southern slave states. Slavery wasn’t mentioned in the New Mexico Territory Organic Act. It was to be a neutral space, for the time being, while California was admitted to the Union as a free state and the Fugitive Slave Act was passed to pacify southern states.
At this time, Arizona was part of New Mexico. The northern border cut straight through to California, chopping off what is today the southern point of Nevada.
1854: Gadsden Purchase
The name “Arizona” didn’t appear in a formal document until the Gadsden Purchase shaped the southern border with Mexico.
This chunk of land was purchased because the U.S. wanted a southern railroad route to connect with California.
From Arizona Nuggets by Dean Smith:
One of Arizona’s favorite legends blames its slanting southern border on the surveyors who got thirsty and headed northwest to the nearest saloon, in Yuma. But, sadly, it just isn’t true.
The nearly 30,000 square miles of the 1854 Gadsden Purchase – all of Arizona south of the Gila River and the tip of southwest New Mexico – slants up from Nogales to just south of Yuma because Mexican dictator Santa Anna refused to give up a land bridge that connects Baja California to the rest of Mexico.
1863: Arizona Organic Act
Arizona became a minor battle ground during the Civil War. Local sympathies were divided.
In 1861, Confederate forces moved in and claimed the southern section of New Mexico Territory from California to Texas.
Union forces chased out the rebels by 1862.
Congress acted on this momentum by passing the Arizona Organic Act, which separated Arizona from New Mexico on the vertical line that exists today.
Abraham Lincoln signed the Arizona Organic Act into law on February 24, 1863.
1866: A Slice For Nevada
Finally, the federal government sliced out the northwest corner of Arizona and gave it to Nevada.
Here’s how Nevada Magazine explains it:
Congress decided Nevada would be better able to oversee the population boom expected following the discovery of gold in the area. Arizonans protested vigorously, but their alignment with the Confederacy during the Civil War won them little sympathy.
Concluding Thoughts
To get a fuller sense of the people who have lived in and fought over these lands, I highly recommend the documentary series The West by Ken Burns.
In writing this post, I frequently referenced the textbook Studies in Arizona History by Julie Campbell published by the Arizona Historical Society:
Studies in Arizona History integrates Arizona history into the American history course by focusing on local issues that illustrate national trends. Primary sources, diverse perspectives, and historians’ research techniques are emphasized. This text can be used for both high school and middle school levels.
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Very clear. Thanks. Are you a teacher?
So we could have had Vegas?