WI: State of Montezuma in 1875

In the book Lost States by Michael Trinkton, we get a glimpse of of the many Western States that could have been, in this case sparsely occupied Arizona and New Mexico Territory:

Speaking of stupidity, I have to mention the sorry tale of Stephen Elkins—the New Mexico Territory delegate to the United States Congress back in 1875. That year, population issues didn't seem to matter to Congress—and the Senate and House were both in favor of New Mexico statehood. But just before the final vote, Elkins entered the House floor and conspicuously shook hands with congressman Julius Burrows of Michigan.

That was a huge mistake.

Burrows had been extremely critical of southern racial policies—infuriating congressmen from states like Georgia and Alabama. So when the southern delegation saw Burrows fraternizing with Elkins, they immediately switched their votes. It was just enough to kill the statehood bill. One ill-advised handshake meant New Mexico would have to wait 37 more years to join the Union.

Now if he had simply avoided that handshake, could we have gotten the state of Montezuma? Would it enter the Union that year (1875) and if so which way would it have voted in the extremely close election of 1876? What would this mean for the other western states, including Nevada and Utah?

lost-states-montezuma_6.jpg
 
Bump. I feel this might have a big impact on Southwestern history, given how far back it goes.
 
Given it's status as a sparsely populated western state, I'd wager there's a good chance that It'll go GOP in TTL's Election of 1876. This means no Great Compromise and Reconstruction lingers on.
 
To keep to balance of states even wouldn't one of the northern western states need to be split? Somewhere in the vicinity of Montana
 
A beautiful map, but one littered with inaccuracies, inconsistencies and time distortions - I gave up trying to list them all - but then again, it is a map from "Lost States", which is lazily written and filled w/amateurish errors. Is there a bona fide record of this 1875 Elkins-Burrows encounter or of N.M. being rejected for statehood in 1875?
 

katchen

Banned
I would guess that this map is about 1850 vintage. Certainly pre-1858. Notice that the Gadsden Purchase (1858 has not been made from Mexico.(1858) Nor have Kasas and Nebraska been organized, let alone separated from one another. We don't even see Nevada separated off from Utah.

Having said that, I would answer the question by saying that the admission of New Mexico in 1875 would probably have fulfilled the worst fears of the Republicans and put Samuel Tilden in the White House. New Mexico was and is heavily Catholic, (though crypto-Jewish) and that would likely translate into Democratic votes.

The Democrats, by the way, could very likely also have put Samuel Tilden in the White House if they had blocked Colorado's statehood in 1876 (though they could not have known that). Or by insisting on New Mexico statehood alongside Colorado statehood as a compromise.
 
... the admission of New Mexico in 1875 would probably have fulfilled the worst fears of the Republicans and put Samuel Tilden in the White House. New Mexico was and is heavily Catholic, (though crypto-Jewish) and that would likely translate into Democratic votes. ...

I did a little research and, based upon what I found, 1870s New Mexico would be, using today's lingo, a "purple" swing state. NM's electoral votes in 1876 could end up in either Hayes' or Tilden's column. BTW, Trinidad Romero (R) was elected as the territory's Delegate to United States Congress in that election.
 
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