US / Mexico boundary document with 7 maps

Heading: (Bartlett, John Russell)
Author:
Title: Report of the Secretary of the Interior, Made in Compliance with a Resolution of the Senate Calling for Information in Relation to the Commission Appointed to Run and Mark the Boundary between the United States and Mexico. July 26, 1852.
Place Published: [Washington, DC]
Publisher:[Government Printing Office]
Date Published: 1852
Description:

515 pp. With 7 folding maps. modern morocco-backed cloth-covered boards, ruled and lettered in gilt on spine, fresh endpapers.

John Russell Bartlett, boundary commissioner thanks to his standing in the Whig party, was sent to the Southwest to carry out the provisions of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The point where the southern boundary of New Mexico was to begin on the Rio Grande proved difficult to determine because of inaccuracies in Disturnell's 1847 Map of the United Mexican States, so Bartlett allowed the boundary to be set forty-two miles north of El Paso. Because of Bartlett's error, the United States in 1853 had to negotiate the Gadsden Purchase, which set the boundary on New Mexico at 31º47' north latitude. The Gadsden Purchase, which transferred mainly desert lands to the United States, was viewed as essential for establishing a southern route for the transcontinental railroad.
Condition Report: Mild foxing, hint of a ripple to leaves; a few tears, creases , and stubtears to maps; very good or better.