From Wikipedia, for what it’s worth:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Guadalupe_Hidalgo
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cover of the exchange copy of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo in Spanish) is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States[1][2] to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico, that ended the Mexican-American War (1846–1848). The treaty provided for the Mexican Cession, in which Mexico ceded 1.36 million km² (525,000 square miles; 55%[3] of its pre-war territory, not including Texas) to the United States in exchange for US$15 million (equivalent to $313 million in 2006 dollars) and the ensured safety of pre-existing property rights of Mexican citizens in the transferred territories, the latter of which the United States in a significant number of cases failed to honor.[4][5][6] The United States also agreed to take over $3.25 million ($68 million in 2006 dollars) in debts Mexico owed to American citizens.
In Mexico, the war is sometimes referred to as the War of North American Invasion (La Intervención Norteamericana). Mexico had controlled the area in question for about 25 years since it had seceded from the Spanish Empire in 1821 in the Mexican War of Independence. The Spanish had conquered the area from the Native American tribes over the preceding three centuries.
There were approximately 80,000 Mexicans in the areas of California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas during this period and they made up about 20% of the population.[7]
The Treaty took its name from what is now the suburb of Mexico City where it was signed on 2 February 1848.
The cession that the treaty facilitated included parts of the modern-day U.S. states of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Wyoming, as well as the whole of California, Nevada, and Utah. The remaining parts of what are today the states of Arizona and New Mexico were later ceded under the 1853 Gadsden Purchase, in which the United States paid an additional $10,000,000.
Background
Under U.S. President John Tyler, The Republic of Texas was admitted to the Union on March 1, 1845. It became the 28th state later that year under President James K. Polk. The Mexican government had long warned that annexation meant war with the United States, and had never recognized the Republic of Texas as an independent country. The United Kingdom and France, which both recognized the independence of Texas, repeatedly tried to dissuade Mexico from declaring war against its neighbor. British efforts to mediate were fruitless, in part because additional political disputes (particularly the Oregon boundary dispute) arose between Mexico, Britain and the United States. Before the outbreak of hostilities, on November 10, 1845, the U.S. President James K. Polk had sent negotiator John Slidell to Mexico to offer the country around $5 million for the territory of Nuevo México, and up to $40 million for Alta California.[8] The Mexican government had simply dismissed Slidell, refusing to even meet with him[9] as they were greatly insulted by such an offer. This is because earlier that year Mexico had broken off diplomatic relations with the United States over the annexation of Texas, which Mexico had warned would be considered an act of war if passed by the US Congress. Mexico’s basis for this was partly a condition of the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819 — which politically independent Mexico had inherited — in which the US had relinquished all claims to Mexican territory, ad infinitum.[10] After this snub Polk, an expansionist, himself took insult[9] and actively sought to provoke war with Mexico.[11][12] After the Thornton Affair, a skirmish between Mexican and American troops which took place on disputed territory near the Rio Grande (see the Treaties of Velasco), President Polk signed a declaration of war into effect on May 13, 1846, forty-nine days before the Mexican Congress was forced to formally declare war on July 1.
The war in Mexico’s Northern territories largely ended on January 13, 1847, with the signing of the Treaty of Cahuenga. Mexico’s subsequent defeat left them with little choice but to accept the United States’ demands, or risk total annexation of Mexico.[9][13] Nicholas Trist, Chief Clerk of the State Department under President Polk, negotiated the treaty with the Mexican delegation, despite having been recalled by the President.[14] Notwithstanding that the treaty had been negotiated against his instructions, given its favorable terms President Polk passed it on to the Senate.[14]
[edit]Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Part of the original treaty
The treaty was signed by Nicholas Trist on behalf of the United States and Luis G. Cuevas, Bernardo Couto and Miguel Atristain as plenipotentiary representatives of Mexico on February 2, 1848, at the main altar of the old Cathedral of Guadalupe at Villa Hidalgo (today Gustavo A. Madero, D.F.), slightly north of Mexico City as U.S troops under the command of General Winfield Scott were occupying Mexico City.
I was going to write that the cities of Scottsdale,AZ and Winfield, KS were both named for this individual, but a quick search showed that it was an entirely different Winfield Scott that they were named for.
Never mind.