By Bob Cornett

Next to the west door of the Sharlot Hall building on the museum grounds in Prescott is an 1859 map of the United States commissioned by Col. Carlos Butterfield. It shows ocean shipping routes, mail and stage routes, and four proposed railway routes west.

It may tell another story as well.

What surprises visitors is New Mexico Territory stretching from Texas to California. The lower part of this territory is labeled “Arizona.” It may have represented a southern secessionist’s view of a south desert route to California. Or it may even reflect the then-popular local name for the southern desert area below the Gila River. In fact, “Arizona” was Dona Ana County of New Mexico Territory, with the county seat at Mesilla, near Texas. This huge New Mexico Territory, created by Congress in September 1850, with its Capital at Santa Fe, was not considered governable: It was too large to enforce laws or even enforce tax collection. Santa Fe wanted to rid itself of “Arizona” and all the western part of its territory.

We need to look back to the 1840s to understand other possible aspects of the Butterfield map.

Late 1841 found Thomas Hart Benton, Joseph Nicollet, Joel Poinsett, Lewis Linn and others united as a Washington D.C. expansionist group. They were planning an
expedition led by Nicollet to map an immigrant trail to Oregon and devise other measures to strengthen our fragile hold on Pacific coastlands. Increasing British
activity in the northwest made clear to the government that delay was politically dangerous. Their timing was right as “thousands of adventurous citizens were planning to make their uncertain way over paths marked by the bleaching bones of cattle and gravestones of unfortunate predecessors,” according to the
biography “Jessie Benton Fremont” by Catherine Coffin Phillips.

Well-mapped routes were needed to encourage expansion west. Nicolett’s poor health precluded his expedition leadership so Thomas Hart Benton suggested his already wellknown son-in-law, John Fremont. Fremont, who on previous expeditions made accurate maps and dependable, carefully written and useful dayby-day notes.

Though personally opposed to expansion, President Tyler was convinced to spend $30,000 equipping the expedition. Fremont was to explore and map from the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains. The five-month expedition produced a map and guidebook. Finally, ordinary citizens could feel more secure heading west with wagons, families and essentials,though routes were not fully mapped through to the Pacific coast.

The pattern was set: Good maps and guidebooks would enable expansion. Editing voluminous notes and writing a readable guidebook fell to Jessie Benton Fremont,
John’s 19-year-old wife, though her work was never noted in the publications. She was brilliant, experienced as secretary to her senator father and fluent in French and Spanish.

Congress ordered copies for themselves and 1,000 for public distribution.

The next year, 1843, Fremont led an 18-month exploration to Oregon, t hen down to Sutter ’s Fort near Sacramento, charting a year-round road to the Pacific. He also assessed Mexican influence and strength in Alta, Calif., as well as that of the non- Mexican population there. Arriving back at St. Louis in 1844, his results were so well received that Congress ordered 10,000 public copies, fully opening the doors to westward expansion.

Meanwhile, James Polk was elected President with a platform pledging to expand the nation according to expansionist ideas, soon to be coined “manifest destiny” by a newspaperman. It has been defined as a “divine sanction for the U.S. to overspread the continent as allotted by Providence for the free development of our multiplying millions.” This freewill movement, helped by new maps and guidebooks, would occur without the direction of government or military. Its key enablers were
Thomas Hart Benton and John Fremont.

About this time, Secretary of State James Buchanan was using Jessie Fremont’s skills to translate Spanish-language documents relating to Alta, Calif., and our pending annexation of the Texas Republic. (Note that Buchanan later narrowly defeated John Fremont in the 1856 presidential race, in which Fremont was the first
Republican party candidate for that office).

Bob Cornett is a volunteer at Sharlot Hall Museum and a local resident.

This and other Days Past articles are available on sharlothallmuseum.org/archives and via RSS e-mail subscription.

Your stories and experiences are important. The public is welcome to submit articles for Days Past consideration. Please contact Scott Anderson at Sharlot Hall Museum Archives at 445-3122 for information.