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ful, and in November he was ordered back to Washington. Some historians are less than charitable about this event. Columbia University historian Henry Steele Commager said, “Trist’s blundering . . . led to his recall.” No matter what led up to it, Trist simply ignored the order and continued to negotiate. Meanwhile, back home, there was great debate about what Trist was doing in Mexico regarding new borders. Some people were opposed to the acquisition of any Mexican land. Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts orated that New Mexico (which then included what is now Arizona) and California were “not worth a dollar.” On the other extreme, President Polk himself said at one point that the United States “might have to take the full measure of indemnity into its hands.” This was interpreted to mean than the United States might annex all of Mexico. Northern Whigs believed that Polk’s expansionist activities were intended to extend slavery into new territory and thereby increase the influence of southern states in congress. Polk was, after all, a slave owner. Not only did Nicholas Trist continue to negotiate with the Mexican government— without authority but with General Scott’s blessing—he wrote a 65-page letter to his boss, Secretary of State James Buchanan, in which he denounced President Polk’s attempt to recall him as a “deadly blow to the cause of peace.” In early January 1848, Trist got down to basics. He knew that his days as a negotiator were numbered but by the end of the month the two sides were still quibbling. Trist issued a “now or never” ultimatum: Mexico would surrender 500,000 square miles (essentially what was then New Mexico and California) in return for payment of $15 million, plus more than $3 million in Mexican debt to Americans would be forgiven. That was the offer, and the Mexicans accepted it. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in a village of the same name on February 2, 1848, and sent off to Washington. President Polk was outraged. He called Trist “an impudent and unqualified scoundrel.” The president could not deny, however, that he had a peace treaty in hand, and it would be difficult to ignore that fact. Besides, he acknowledged that the treaty delivered just about what he had hoped for at war’s start. He sent it on to the U.S. Senate where, after considerable
debate, it was ratified on May 30, 1848. For better or worse, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was a fact. Historian Rubén Sálaz Márquez believes that Polk recalled Trist because the president had decided to annex all of Mexico and Trist stood in the way. He cites Richard Griswold de Castillo who wrote, “Had it not been for Trist, all of Mexico might have been made part of the United States.” Whatever the case, Nicholas Trist engineered the cessation of hostilities and saved countless lives, both Mexican and American. Some provisions of the treaty he negotiated, however, have been debated from that day until this. Selected Sources: George Baker. From Guadalupe Hidalgo to the Free Trade Agreement, New Mexico Historical Review, Vol. 68 Henry Steele Commager, Ed. Documents of American History Paul Horgan. Great River: The Rio Grande in North American History Paul Johnson. A History of the American People David Nevin. “The Mexican War” The Old West (Time-Life Books) Rubén Sálaz Márquez. New Mexico: A Brief Multi-History Richard White. A New History of the American West
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in the New Mexico Stockman. Call: 505/243-9515.
JULY 2013
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