Category:New Mexico Territory

The Territory of New Mexico was organized in 1850, and existed until 1912, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of New Mexico.

The western portion of New Mexico Territory came from the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, while the remainder, from the Rio Grande to the present New Mexico-Texas border, was added as consequence of the Compromise of 1850. The Gadsden Purchase of 1853 added a small additional area to New Mexico Territory – the southernmost strip of present Arizona and New Mexico.

The land contained in the original 1850 New Mexico Territory was the western portion of the future state, plus most of future Arizona, small parts of Colorado and Nevada. Parts were ceded to the Colorado Territory in 1861 and the Arizona Territory in 1863.

See also Category:New Mexico, and Jefferson Territory.