History and government of New Mexico . should have been most certainly sweptaway by the Civil War was the system of peonage, orbondage for debt (sec. 149). But the EmancipationProclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment appliedonly to Negroes. The peon received no relief until Con-gress abolished the whole system in 1867. Whipping as a punishment for stealing stock still con-tinued. Not less than thirty lashes, well laid on hisbare back, nor more than sixty, at the discretion of thecourt was the punishment prescribed. The custom wasdefended on the ground that the opportunities for stealing THE C
History and government of New Mexico . should have been most certainly sweptaway by the Civil War was the system of peonage, orbondage for debt (sec. 149). But the EmancipationProclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment appliedonly to Negroes. The peon received no relief until Con-gress abolished the whole system in 1867. Whipping as a punishment for stealing stock still con-tinued. Not less than thirty lashes, well laid on hisbare back, nor more than sixty, at the discretion of thecourt was the punishment prescribed. The custom wasdefended on the ground that the opportunities for stealing THE CIVIL WAR 177 were so great and jails so few as to demand some severeand speedy method of dealing with criminals. 211. Organization of the Territory of Arizona. — The Civil War period saw New Mexicos territory reduced byhalf. The Territory of Colorado, organized in 1861, tookin the northeastern section lying north of the thirty-seventh parallel. Then in 1863 the western half wasorganized into the Territory of Arizona. The few settle-. American Indian Fighters on the Desert Quenching TheirThirst With Blood from Their Own Veins ments out there in the Gadsden Purchase south of theGila had already in 1859-1860 and again at the opening ofthe Civil War tried to join the Mesilla Valley and organizethe Territory of Arizona. The military posts had beenabandoned; the Indians had again become masters of thecountry ; and the settlers had fled for their lives. Tucson,Yuma, a few ranches, and an occasional miner were allthere was of civilization left. To this situation the govern-ment at Washington could not be indifferent; for the regionsouth of the Gila was an important link in the shortest i78 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO overland route from the Missouri River to the Pacificcoast and was the only route from the Southwest to thecoast. In 1863, therefore, Congress cut off all of NewMexico west of the one hundred and ninth meridian andorganized it into the Territory of Arizona. A new gov-ernme
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