Reconnaissance in Sonora

Charles D. Poston’s 1854 Exploration of Mexico and the Gadsden Purchase

By C. Gilbert Storms

The University of Arizona Press

In 1854, funded by a syndicate of San Francisco businessmen, Charles D. Poston and a party of twenty-five men launched an expedition from San Francisco to Sinaloa and Sonora, Mexico, before trekking north into Arizona and returning to California. Reconnaissance in Sonora brings to light Poston’s handwritten report to the syndicate about the journey, published here for the first time.

Poston led his party through Sonora and the territory of the 1854 Gadsden Purchase, which today encompasses southern Arizona and a portion of southern New Mexico. The syndicate’s charge to the young adventurer was to acquire land in Mexico in anticipation of the Gadsden Purchase and the building of the transcontinental railroad. Reconnaissance in Sonora details Poston’s expedition, including the founding of the town of Colorado City at the site of present-day Yuma, Arizona.

C. Gilbert Storms explores the American ideas of territorial expansion and Manifest Destiny, the national debate over a route for a transcontinental railroad, the legends of rich gold and silver mines in northern Mexico, and the French and American filibusters that plagued northern Mexico in the early 1850s.

As State Historian, I feel this work is important to [helping us] sort out fact from fiction regarding the ‘Father of Arizona.’’—Marshall Trimble, Official State Historian of Arizona

I think this will interest anyone who enjoys exploration and Southwest history.’—Heidi Osselaer, author of Winning Their Place: Arizona Women in Politics, 1883–1950

Compact, well researched, and a fast-paced read.’—The Journal of Arizona History

Well researched, well documented, and well written.’—Western Historical Quarterly

‘A richly detailed and fascinating story of the life and career of one of Arizona’s most significant figures.’—Southwestern Historical Quarterly

C. Gilbert Storms taught American literature and writing for twenty-nine years at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He now lives in Tucson, Arizona, where he researches and writes about Arizona history.

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1. Starting Out in Kentucky
Chapter 2. San Francisco and the Customs House
Chapter 3. The Government Boarding House
Chapter 4. Expansionist Dreams and Private Conquests
Chapter 5. Planning the Expedition to Sonora
Chapter 6. Navachiste and Sonora
Chapter 7. A Port on the Gulf
Chapter 8. The Sand Desert.
Chapter 9. The Gila Trail and Colorado City..
Chapter 10. Deals and Disappointments
Chapter 11. Stories of the Sonoran Expedition
Postscript: Poston’s Story
Appendix: Charles D. Poston, “Reconnoisance in Sonora”
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Related Titles