Editing Southwestern United States (section)

===Becoming states===
[[File:United States 1849-1850.png|thumb|left|United States 1849–1850]]
[[File:United States 1850-1853-03.png|thumb|United States 1850–1853]]
Of the states of which at least a portion make up the Southwest, Texas was the first to achieve statehood. On December 29, 1845, the Republic of Texas was annexed, bypassing the status of becoming a territory, and immediately became a state.<ref name="TAnnexation">{{Handbook of Texas|id=mga02|name=Annexation}}</ref> Initially, its borders included parts of what would become several other states: almost half of New Mexico, a third of Colorado, and small portions of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming.<ref name="comp1850">{{Handbook of Texas|id=nbc02|name=Compromise of 1850}}</ref> Texas current borders were set in the [[Compromise of 1850]], where Texas ceded land to the federal government in exchange for $10 million, which would go to paying off the debt Texas had accumulated in its war with Mexico.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/nbc02 | publisher=Texas State Historical Association | title=Compromise of 1850 | access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref>

Following the Mexican Cession, the lands of what had been the Mexican territory of Alta California were in flux: portions of what is now New Mexico were claimed, but never controlled, by Texas. With the Compromise of 1850, the states of Texas and California were created (Texas as a slave state, and California as a free state), as well as the [[Utah Territory]] and [[New Mexico Territory]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.history.com/topics/compromise-of-1850 | publisher=History.com | title=Compromise of 1850 | access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref> The New Mexico Territory consisted of most of Arizona and New Mexico (excluding a strip along their southern borders), a small section of southern Colorado, and the very southern tip of Nevada;<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nmgs.org/artcuar6.htm | publisher=New Mexico Genealogical Society | title=A Cuarto Centennial History of New Mexico, Chapter Six: The Territorial Period | last=Torrez | first=Robert J. | access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref> while the Utah Territory consisted of Utah, most of Nevada, and portions of Wyoming and Colorado.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700063286/Utah-Territorys-creation-in-1850-paved-way-to-statehood.html?pg=all | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713092342/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700063286/Utah-Territorys-creation-in-1850-paved-way-to-statehood.html?pg=all | url-status=dead | archive-date=July 13, 2015 | publisher=Deseret News | title=Utah Territory's creation in 1850 paved way to statehood | last=Arave | first=Lynn | date=September 5, 2010 | access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref> The New Mexico Territory was expanded along its southern extent, to its current border, with the signing of the Gadsden Purchase Treaty on December 30, 1853,<ref name=brit1911 /><ref>{{cite web | url=http://gadsdenpurchase.com/ | publisher=Official Gadsden Purchase Web Site | title=The Actual Treaty | access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref> which was ratified by the U.S. Congress, with some slight alterations, in April 1854.<ref>{{cite book | last=Kluger | first=Richard | title=Seizing Destiny: How America Grew From Sea to Shining Sea | date=2007 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/seizingdestinyho00klug/page/502 502–503] | publisher=A.A. Knopf | isbn=978-0375413414 | url=https://archive.org/details/seizingdestinyho00klug/page/502 }}</ref>

[[File:1860 Colorado Territory map.svg|thumb|left|1860 Colorado Territory map]]
[[File:Utah Territory evolution animation - August 2011.gif|thumb|Utah Territory evolution 1850–1868]]
The [[Colorado Territory]] was organized on February 28, 1861, created out of lands then currently in the Utah, Kansas, Nebraska, and New Mexico territories.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/02/28/native-history-colorado-territory-created-amidst-gold-rush-153774 | publisher=Indian Country Today Media Network | title=Native History: Colorado Territory Created Amidst Gold Rush | last=Rose | first=Christina | date=February 28, 2014 | access-date=July 10, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422023314/http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/02/28/native-history-colorado-territory-created-amidst-gold-rush-153774 | archive-date=April 22, 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[Nevada Territory]] was also organized in 1861, on March 2, with land taken from the existing Utah Territory. Initially, only the western 2/3 of what is currently the State of Nevada was included in the territory, with its boundary to the east being the [[39th meridian west from Washington]], and to the south the [[37th parallel north|37th parallel]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.leg.state.nv.us/Division/Research/Library/Documents/HistDocs/1861Act.pdf | publisher=State of Nevada | title=Act of Congress (1861) Organizing the Territory of Nevada | access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref> In 1862 Nevada's eastern border shifted to the [[38th meridian west from Washington]], and finally to its current position at the [[37th meridian west from Washington]] in 1866. The boundary modification in 1866 also included adding the southern triangular tip of the present-day state, taken from the Arizona Territory.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/row/landsurveys/Study_material/State_Boundaries/ca-nv-border-p1-2.pdf | publisher=Department of Transportation, California | title=The Colorful History of the California/Nevada State Boundary | last=Wilusz | first=John P. | access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/stream/boundariesofunit00gann#page/126/mode/2up | publisher=Washington Printing Office | title=Boundaries of the United States | place=Washington, D.C. | last=Gannett | first=Henry | date=1885 | pages=125–126 | access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref>

From July 24–27, 1861 a Confederate force under the command of Lt. Colonel John Robert Baylor forced the surrender of the small Union garrison stationed at [[Fort Fillmore]], near [[Mesilla, New Mexico]]. On August 1, 1861, Baylor declared the creation of the [[Confederate Arizona|Arizona Territory]], and claimed it for the Confederacy, with Mesilla as its capital.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.mesillanm.gov/mesilla-visiting/2014-10-22-17-21-34/the-civil-war.html | publisher=Town of Mesilla | title=The Civil War | access-date=July 10, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713081049/http://www.mesillanm.gov/mesilla-visiting/2014-10-22-17-21-34/the-civil-war.html | archive-date=July 13, 2015 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref> The territory, which had been formed by the portion of the existing New Mexico Territory below the 34th parallel, became official on February 14, 1862.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.csawardept.com/documents/secession/AZ/ | publisher=The Confederate War Department | title=Ordinance of Secession of the Arizona Territory | access-date=July 10, 2015 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622110945/http://www.csawardept.com/documents/secession/AZ/ | archive-date=June 22, 2015 | df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://alliance.la.asu.edu/maps/Historical_AZ.pdf | publisher=Arizona State University | title=Historical Development of Arizona and New Mexico Boundaries | access-date=July 10, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150322022027/http://alliance.la.asu.edu/maps/Historical_AZ.pdf | archive-date=March 22, 2015 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref>

[[File:Wpdms Arizona Territory 1860 ZP.svg|thumb|left|Confederate Arizona (outlined in blue)]]
[[File:Wpdms new mexico territory 1866.png|thumb|Split of Arizona and New Mexico territories, in 1866, after small portion ceded to Nevada]]
Nevada was admitted to the Union on October 31, 1864, becoming the 36th state.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ahgp.org/inter-mt/mevada-admitted-to-union-1864.html | publisher=The American History and Genealogy Project | title=Nevada Admitted to Union, 1864 | access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref> This was followed by the admittance to the Union of Colorado, which became the 38th state on August 1, 1876.<ref name=Colorado_Statehood_Proclamation>{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=70540|title=Proclamation of the Admission of Colorado to the Union|format=[[php]]|author=President of the United States of America|date=August 1, 1876|publisher=The American Presidency Project|access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref> Confederate Arizona was short-lived, however. By May 1862, Confederate forces had been driven out of the region by union troops. That same month a bill was introduced into the U.S. Congress, and on February 24, 1863 [[Abraham Lincoln]] signed the [[Arizona Organic Act]], which officially created the U.S. [[Arizona Territory|Territory of Arizona]], splitting the New Mexico Territory at the 107th meridian.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.azcentral.com/story/travel/local/history/2014/04/15/arizona-explained-statehood-happened/7735503/ | publisher=Arizona Republic | title=Arizona Explained: How statehood happened | last=Stanley | first=John | date=April 15, 2014 | access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.sharlot.org/library-archives/tag/arizonas-organic-act/ | publisher=Sharlot Hall Museum | title=Tag Archives: Arizona's Organic Act | access-date=July 10, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924101220/http://www.sharlot.org/library-archives/tag/arizonas-organic-act/ | archive-date=September 24, 2015 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.sharlot.org/library-archives/days-past/history-of-the-arizona-territory/ | publisher=Sharlot Hall Museum | last=Poston | first=Charles Debrille | date=September 17, 2011 | title=History of the Arizona Territory | access-date=July 10, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714183857/http://www.sharlot.org/library-archives/days-past/history-of-the-arizona-territory/ | archive-date=July 14, 2015 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref>

Utah, as shown above, evolved out of the Utah Territory, as pieces of the original territory created in 1850 were carved out: parts were ceded to Nevada, Wyoming, and Colorado in 1861; another section to Nevada in 1862; and the final section to Nevada in 1866.{{sfn|Gannett|1885|page=124}} In 1890, the LDS church issued the [[1890 Manifesto]], which officially banned polygamy for members of the church.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/topics/the-manifesto-and-the-end-of-plural-marriage?lang=eng | publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | title=The Manifesto and the End of Plural Marriage | access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref> It was the last roadblock for Utah entering the Union, and on January 4, 1896, Utah was officially granted statehood, becoming the 45th state.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.utah.com/visitor/state_facts/statehood.htm | publisher=State of Utah | title=Utah Statehood | access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref>

In 1869, [[John Wesley Powell]] led a 3-month expedition which explored the [[Grand Canyon]] and the Colorado River.<ref name="National Atlas US">{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalatlas.gov/articles/government/a_usgs.html |title=The Beginnings of the U.S. Geological Survey |publisher=National Atlas of the United States |year=2010 |access-date=October 9, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121001205522/http://www.nationalatlas.gov/articles/government/a_usgs.html |archive-date=October 1, 2012 }}</ref> In 1875, he would publish a book describing his explorations, ''Report of the Exploration of the Columbia River of the West and Its Tributaries'', which was later republished as ''[[The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons]]''.

In 1877 silver was discovered in southeastern Arizona. The notorious mining town of [[Tombstone, Arizona]] was born to service the miners.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Eric L. |last=Clements |title=Bust and bust in the mining West |journal=[[Journal of the West]] |year=1996 |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=40–53 |doi= |issn=0022-5169 }}</ref> The town would become immortalized as the scene of what is considered the greatest gunfight in the history of the Old West, the [[Gunfight at the O.K. Corral]].<ref>{{cite journal |first=Hubert I. |last=Cohen |title=Wyatt Earp at the O. K. Corral: Six Versions |journal=Journal of American Culture |year=2003 |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=204–223 |doi=10.1111/1542-734X.00087 }}</ref>

Copper was also discovered in 1877, near [[Bisbee, Arizona|Bisbee]] and [[Jerome, Arizona|Jerome]] in Arizona, which became an important component of the economy of the Southwest. Production began in 1880 and was made more profitable by the expansion of the railroad throughout the territory during the 1880s.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.azmining.com/images/HISTORY_FULL.pdf | publisher=Arizona Mining Association | title=A History of Mining in AZ | pages=10–11 | access-date=July 11, 2015}}</ref>

[[File:Santa Fe Route Map 1891.jpg|thumb|The second transcontinental railroad: the "Santa Fe Route" – 1891.]]
The early 1880s also saw the completion of the second transcontinental railroad, which ran through the heart of the Southwest, called the "Santa Fe Route." It ran from Chicago, down through Topeka, then further south to Albuquerque, before heading almost due west through northern Arizona to Los Angeles.<ref name=drury>{{cite book | last = Drury | first = George H. | title = The Train-Watcher's Guide to North American Railroads: A Contemporary Reference to the Major railroads of the U.S., Canada and Mexico | publisher = Kalmbach Publishing | year = 1992 | location = [[Waukesha, Wisconsin]] | pages = 37–42 | isbn = 0890241317}}</ref>

The repeal of the [[Sherman Silver Purchase Act]] in 1893 led to the decline of the silver mining industry in the region.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.azmining.com/images/HISTORY_FULL.pdf | publisher=Arizona Mining Association | title=A History of Mining in AZ | page=11 | access-date=July 11, 2015}}</ref>

In 1901, the [[Santa Fe Railroad]] reached the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, opening the way for a tourism boom,<ref>{{cite book|author1=Atchison, Topeka |author2=Santa Fe Railway Company |name-list-style=amp |title=The Grand Canyon of Arizona: Being a Book of Words from Many Pens, about the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River in Arizona|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ja5QAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA121|year=1906|publisher=Santa Fe Railroad|page=121}}</ref> a trend led by restaurant and hotel entrepreneur [[Fred Harvey (entrepreneur)|Fred Harvey]].<ref>{{cite book|first1=Dimitri|last1=Ioannides|first2=Dallen J.|last2=Timothy|title=Tourism in the USA: A Spatial and Social Synthesis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4tjFW965lPYC&pg=PA21|year=2010|publisher=Taylor & Francis|page=21|isbn=978-0415956840}}</ref>

The last two territories within the Southwest to achieve statehood were New Mexico and Arizona. By 1863, with the splitting off of the Arizona Territory, New Mexico reached its modern borders. They became states within forty days of one another. On January 6, 1912, New Mexico became the 47th state in the Union.<ref>{{cite book | last=Simmons | first=Marc | title=New Mexico: An Interpretive History | publisher=University of New Mexico Press | date=1988 | page=[https://archive.org/details/newmexicointerpr00simm/page/166 166] | isbn=0826311105 | place=Albuquerque | url=https://archive.org/details/newmexicointerpr00simm/page/166 }}</ref> Arizona would shortly follow, becoming the last of the 48 contiguous United States on February 14, 1912.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.history.com/topics/us-states/arizona | publisher=History.com | title=Arizona | access-date=July 10, 2015 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055223/http://www.history.com/topics/us-states/arizona | archive-date=March 4, 2016 | df=mdy-all }}</ref>