New Mexico’s International Border

New Mexico’s 179.47 miles of international boundary are the result of the Gadsden Treaty of 1853. The line was originally surveyed in 1855 by Major William H. Emory, commissioner, chief astronomer and surveyor of the International Boundary Commission. On the entire 697.67 miles long land boundary between the United States and Mexico (including about twenty-four miles along the Colorado River) Major Emory set a total of only fifty-two monuments. The boundary was so poorly marked that only eight month after it’s establishment U. S. Deputy Surveyor John W. Garretson had to rerun eighteen miles of it in order to set a closing corner for the New Mexico Principal Meridian. Nevertheless, on June 2, 1856 President Pierce proclaimed the boundary surveyed. For almost thirty years this vague border left local residents wonder whether they were living in the United States or in Mexico. Ranchers quarreled over water holes, miners fought over minerals, state and federal officials of the two countries argued over jurisdiction. At a convenient pile of rocks of unknown origin near Antelope Wells in Hidalgo County, Mexico collected custom duties three miles inside American territory. As complaints grew louder, the two governments appointed delegates who met in Washington in July 1882, where they decided to send military officers to inspect the entire line and submit a report...American Surveyor