Post by Deleted on May 7, 2019 17:14:21 GMT -5
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed by U.S. and Mexican peace commissioners on February 2, 1848, added the territories of present day west Texas, New Mexico, southern and western Colorado, southwestern Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California to the United States of America-- at a cost of $15 million (plus assumption of private U.S. claims against Mexico.)
All told, James K. Polk and the U.S. acquired this massive piece of western real estate for about 48 cents per acre.
The historic Treaty was negotiated by a commissioner (Trist) who openly defied an angry recall order from President Polk in order to cajole a peace agreement from a very unstable Mexican government, in the aftermath of General Winfield Scott's intrepid military campaign against Mexico City (from Vera Cruz.)
Scott was a truly unsung hero in that Mexican War, who was ably assisted-- against very difficult odds -- by a cadre of brilliant young engineers and junior officers that included Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, William "Tecumseh" Sherman, George Meade, George McClellan, Pierre G.T. Beauregard, Braxton Bragg, and Ambrose Burnside (!)
