ts primeval. That the climate was
all that could be desired, from the level of the Gulf of California, to
an altitude of 15,000 feet in the mountains of the north. That the
Southern Pacific Railroad would soon be built through the new country,
and that a new State would be made as a connecting link between Texas
and California, with the usual quota of governors, senators, and public
officials.

It was urged that the Iturbide Grant could be located so as to secure
the best sites for towns and cities in the new State, and the rest
distributed to settlers as an inducement for rapid colonization. The
enthusiasm increased with the glamour of Spanish history and the
generous flow of Sazerac.

It must be admitted that an alluring prospect was opened for a young man
idling away his life over a custom house desk at three hundred dollars a
month; and in the enthusiasm of youth I undertook to make an exploration
of the new territory and to locate the Iturbide Grant. Who could have
foreseen that the attempted location of the Iturbide Grant would upset
the Mexican Republic and set up an empire in Mexico under French
protection?

The first thing was to organize a "syndicate" in San Francisco, to
furnish funds for expenses and for the location of the Iturbide Grant.
This was easily accomplished through some enthusiastic French bankers.

The ex-member of Congress was dispatched to the City of Mexico to secure
the approbation of the Mexican government, and I embarked at San
Francisco for Guaymas with a rather tough cargo of humanity. They were
not so bad as reckless; not ungovernable, but independent.

The records of the United States consulate in Guaymas, if they are
preserved, show our registration as American citizens, fourteenth day of
January, 1854. The Mexican officials were polite, but not cordial. They
said Santa Ana had no right to sell the territory, as he was an usurper
and possessed no authority from the Mexican people. As international
tribunals had not then been established to determine these nice points
of international ethics, we did not stop to argue the question, but
pushed on to the newly acquired territory.

We were very much disappointed at its meagerness, and especially that
the boundary did not include a port in the Gulf of California. A larger
territory could have been secured as easily, but the American Minister
had only one idea, and that was to secure "a pass" for a Southern
Pacific Railroad from the Mi