SOURCE: John Remington Graham, A Constitutional History of Secession, 2002, 279-280
It was increasingly obvious to thinking men in the South that geography barred their peculiar institution in the Federal territories. No amount of argument can change the unanswerable reality that, outside of Kansas where they were doomed before they started, planters from the Dixie States had made no serious effort to import slaves into the huge land mass affected by Compromise of 1850 and the repeal of the Missouri Compromise in 1854. They made no serious effort, because there was nothing attractive to them in those vast stretches. And the proof of this stubborn fact is that in 1860 there were no slaves at all in the New Mexico, Utah, and Washington Territories, none in the Indian or Oklahoma Territory, none in the Dakota Territory, virtually none in the Kansas Territory which entered the Union as a free State in 1861, and barely more than a dozen in the Nebraska Territory, nor was there a prospect that more would ever arrive.
When dealing with lawyers, it is always a good idea to check their "facts" for accuracy. Esquire Graham got it wrong.
With regard to Utah Territory (aka "Deseret"), the census data from 1850 showed 26 slaves and 24 freemen. In 1852 the Territorial Legislature passed an act legalizing slavery and establishing regulation on treatment of slaves ("An Act in Relation to Service") By the 1860 territorial census, there were 29 slaves in Utah. The Congress outlawed slavery in the territories in 1862.
Similarly, in 1860, the were 22 slaves listed in the New Mexico territorial census. However, because of the Spanish cultural heritage, the actual number of "indentured servants" were under-counted. At that time, the practice of "peonage" was still prevalent in the territory. Neither were Indian slaves counted.
Esquire Graham needs to work on his "stubborn facts." It only took a few minutes to come up with the information.
"They made no serious effort, because there was nothing attractive to them in those vast stretches. And the proof of this stubborn fact is that in 1860 there were no slaves at all in the New Mexico, Utah, and Washington Territories, none in the Indian or Oklahoma Territory, none in the Dakota Territory, virtually none in the Kansas Territory which entered the Union as a free State in 1861, and barely more than a dozen in the Nebraska Territory, nor was there a prospect that more would ever arrive."
nc: Thanks for the post -- worth repeating!