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An Important 1850 New Mexico Territorial Letter, 

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Historical Memorabilia Start Price:350.00 USD Estimated At:500.00 - 700.00 USD
An Important 1850 New Mexico Territorial Letter, 

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Auction Date:2009 Jun 24 @ 10:00 (UTC-04:00 : AST/EDT)
Location:6270 Este Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio, 45232, United States
1p, ALS by Geo[rge] Sykes, Las Vegas(?), NM, 18 July 1850. Docketed on verso Certified?? of Capt. Sykes In relation to lumber. Sykes asserts that a quantity of lumber was taken from the Steamer St. Paul for the use of the Battalion in April 1849. Some was taken for use by the command on the march to Santa Fe, but most was left near Fort Leavenworth, MO. At the time, the unit going to New Mexico was under the command of Bvt. Lt. Col. E.B. Alexander. This was the military expedition sent to Navajo country led by Lt. James Simpson of the Corps of Topographical Engineers. The information and maps created by the expedition were to be useful not only in later actions by the military, but the engineers also noted geological formations and archaeological ruins in Chaco and Canyon de Chelly.

George Sykes graduated from USMA in 1842. He served in the Seminole and Mexican Wars, earning a brevet captaincy for actions at Cerro Gordo. He was then stationed in the West, seeing action against the Apaches in 1854 and Navajo in 1859. At the outset of the Civil War, he was commissioned major and fought at First Manassas. He received a number of brevets including ones for action at Gaines' Mill and Gettysburg. In 1864 he was sent to Kansas, and served most of the remainder of his career in the West. He died in Texas in 1880.

Edmund Brooke Alexander graduated USMC in 1823. He also received a brevet for actions at Cerro Gordo, as well as Contreras and Churubusco during the Mexican War. He seems to have served in Texas for a while after this expedition to Santa Fe. He served in St. Louis as Provost Marshall during the Civil War. 

The Thomas Minckler Collection of Western Americana

Condition: Light toning, expected folds.