Today in Labor History December 30, 1853: The U.S. made the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico on this date. They purchased lands south of the Gila River and west of the Rio Grande in order to build a southern route for the transcontinental railroad, which greatly benefited the Southern Pacific Railroad. It also provided great benefit to Texas ranchers, who gained rich grazing lands to the west. The Santa Anna government in Mexico made $10 million on the deal ($230 million in today’s dollars). Though it was immensely unpopular among Mexicans, he likely made the deal out of fear that the U.S. would simply seize the territory for free. This was a very realistic fear considering the U.S. had recently seized most of its current southwestern territory during the Mexican-American war (1846-1848). During the Civil War, the Confederate States of America formed the Confederate Territory of Arizona in a portion of the Gadsden Purchase. In the 1860s there were regular conflicts between Apaches and Americans and between outlaws and local ranchers, particularly in the area around Tombstone, home of the famed lawman Wyatt Earp, his pal Doc Holliday. The Gunfight at O.K. Corral was the culmination of years of tension between local Democrats from the agricultural south and Republican businessmen from the industrial north. The region from this period plays prominently in Cormack McCarthy’s novels, like “Blood Meridian.”
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James M Branum - יעקב מתתיהו ☮
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