Page:Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican, Vol 2.djvu/24

14 at large, in the second and fourth volumes of "American State Papers," published by the government of the United States. This treaty was signed on the 22d of February, 1819, and, according to its third article, the boundary between Mexico and Louisiana, which was then ceded to the Union, commenced with the river Sabine at its entrance into the Gulf of Mexico, at about latitude 29°, west longitude 94°, and followed its course as far as its juncture with the Red river of Natchitoches, which then served to mark the frontier up to the 100th degree of west longitude, whence the line ran directly north to the river Arkansas, which it followed to its source at the 42d° of north latitude,—whence another straight line was drawn upon the said 42d parallel, to the coast of the Pacific Ocean.

This line, it was supposed, would interpose a perpetual barrier of wilderness, tenanted only by Indians and wild animals, between the republic of the north and the treasured colonies of the Spanish crown. But subsequent events have shown in the course of little more than the quarter of a century, how rapidly the population of the old world and the new has swelled beyond the limits prescribed by statesmen, until the savage and the beast have been made to yield their hunting grounds and forests for the use of civilized man.

At the earliest period of which we have any authentic information, this territory of Spain was divided into the kingdoms of Mexico, New Galicia, and New Leon; the colony of New Santander; and the provinces of Coahuila, Texas, New Biscay, Sonora, New Mexico and the two Californias. This arrangement was extremely indefinite; but, in 1776, the country was divided into twelve intendancies: Merida, Oajaca, Vera Cruz, Puebla, Mexico, Valladolid, Guanajuato, Guadalajara, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi, New Biscay, and Sonora; and the three provinces of New Mexico, and Alta and Nueva California. The intendancy of San Luis Potosi, included New Leon, New Santander, Coahuila and Texas, and San Luis Potosi, proper;—the intendancy of New Biscay embraced the provinces of Durango and Chihuahua; and the intendancy of Sonora took in the provinces of Sinaloa, Ostimuri, and Sonora. Each intendancy was subdivided into subdelegaciones. Another division cut off New Spain, proper, from the Provincias Internas. These last named provinces included all the territory lying north and northwesterly of the intendancies of Zacatecas and Guadalajara, or the kingdom of Nueva Gallicia. The "Provincias Internas del Vireynato" must be distinguished from the "