Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-09-16
WE ARE RICH.
Resldes Greer Comfy Texas Claims
About One.Fiiih OF the Indian Ter
rItOry and Ia Large Slice oikansas'
A uive int the History Of the PaAt Oh
Texas ana Something About
treaty with Spain.


porter Of TIE GAZETTE NJ this piaSS nus
had access 10 the record Of the joint COM
mission recently in session at Austin,
which makes book OF closely printed
matter Of 27S pages. Copies OF II haze
been fled In the executive Office at Aus
tin. and with the secretary OF war at
Washington. IL discloses that the joint
commission took and have preserved In
permanent form, the testimony as to i'm
nortant facts di number OF ole men
who we're conversant with the inhabitants
of the Red river country, residents there
at the date of the treaty o. boundary IL
appears also, that the commission have
gathered, from obscure records, rare
books and aEtiquated maps which only
patient research could End and procure,
the proofs of many material facts long
since lost sight OF, which bear
directly upon the issues as to the bound
ary in question. The evidence in this
record seems 10 place the claims OF Texas
on nrmer basis, and makes plain what
was not heretofore clearly understood.
The boundary between Texas and the
United States was declared by the treaty
between Spain and the United States
nearly seventy years ago. The part OF 1t
which extends from Red river north to
the Arkansas river has never been marked
on the ground by the two governments,
and is the part now In controversy. The
treaty referred TO declared that the bound
airy should be: up Red river TO and along
the Tooth meridian OF longitude from Lon
don, from that river TO the Arkansas, as
laid down in Melish's map OF the United
States OF January j, 1878, the country
90. ~ ha TfuINa1
States, and that south and west to belong
TO Spain as a part OF the province OF
Texas.
This map of Melish, on which the
Tooth meridian is plainly laid down as
intersectlng the Arkansas and Red rivers
and crossing the Wichita mountains at
points far TO the eastward Of where the
true Tooth meridian is now supposed to
be, and eastward of the junction OF the
North and South Forks OF Red river, was
fled away with the treaty In the state de-
partment at Washington. But the treaty
was printed and published to the world
without the map, The map became an
tiquated and out Of print, and few living
men knew where II represented this
line TO be till the boundary com.
mission demanded and secured
Photographic copiesAof II. Garbled eX-
tracts and sketches from ii had been
made by clerks and produced before con-
gress, from which were omitted, with
seeming care, all the features indie alive
OF the actual locality at which the line in
tersected Red river. These features were
the Wichita mountains, the bends OF the
Arkansas river and divers other natural
landmarks whereby their relative posi-.
lions TO the l00lh meridian, as laid down
on the map, fixed its position. BY these
incorrect sketches the true position OF
the boundary as laid down
on that map has been kept from
view, and the alleged true Tooth
meridian, situated perhaps 100 miles
west OF the line fixed by the treaty, has
been urged upon Texas for the boundar,
line, though the meridian OF the treaty
that as laid down Ia Mellsh's map
crosses Red river sixty five or seventy
miles east OF Greer county and passing
north TO the Arkansas, cuts of TO Texas
perhaps one-aith of all the Indian Terri
tory and large portion of the state o
Kansas. II is urged that Texas shall
abandon the terms OF the treaty anC
adopt the true Tooth meridian
as the boundary line and yiel(
10 the United States the large terrtor,
between these two lines, which the Texa
commissioners roughly estimated a
about $4,000 square miles. Compared
with this large territory, Greer county 4
but G small scrap of land In the southwes
corner Of It. From the mass OF evidenc
collected by the commission, 1t is eviden
that both governments informed them
selves very fully by special exploring
agents of the particular region traverse
by this line, and adopted 1t for bour
dairy, with special reference to its deser
and sterile character on the north and Il
rugged surface ON the south, and ind
Gated to each other indubitaby by tn
terms and propositions of their negotli
ton, which Immediately preceded the
iinsl agreement, that they intende
the boundary TO be Just where Melis
laid down the line marked by him as Il
Tooth meridian, and nowhere else Tn
Is made very plain by the production
the diplomatic correspondence which lie
to the treaty, and reports and maps
surveys OF that region made by officers
both governments, With special reterenC
TO Il boundary line to be established b,
tween the territories. TO support tn
construction OF the treaty the Texas con
mission produced both civil and commo
law authorities covering the question
very fully and seemingly very COZ
clusiyely.
Against the claim OF Texas TO this lir
as defined In the treaty, the COMM
sloners OF the United States seem to ha,
answered nothing except the arbitral
assumption OF their orders from the pre-
ident, that they should ascertain al
mark the true Tooth MERIDIAN at It's Il
tersection OF Red river, notwithstandir
both the act OF congress and the ACT
the legislature of Texas, under which Il
joint commission was appointed. I
quired the boundary to be marked a
cording 70 the terms OF the treaty.
Assuming that II was their duty simp
to mark the intersection Of the true 100
meridian with Red riyer,and that 1t wou
cross both the North and South Forks
Red river, they declined to consider Il
terms OF the treaty, that the line be q
laid down IN Melish's map,n and oonfn,
themselves to the investigation OF d
question, which stIeam, the North or Sou
Fork OF Red river, should be consider,
Red river. II the North Fork were r,
river they conceded Greer county 10 TIE
as II the South Fork, they claim,
Greer county for the United State
Without reiinquishing claim 70 the III
al a.