LS, one lightly lined page, 7.75 x 9.75, November 5, 1847. Buchanan, then secretary of state, writes to Secretary of War W. L. Marcy. In part: “In accordance with [your] request … I have the honor to transmit herewith, copies, extracts, and duplicates, taken from the correspondence with this Department, of Thomas O. Larkin, Esq., U.S. Consul at Monterey, relating to occurrences in California & the State of the Country, during the months of March, April, May & June 1840. There are several Despatches of Mr. Larkin, in the files of this Department of a date subsequent to June 1846, giving an account of the progress of the war, all of which are open to the examination of the parties; and if the whole or any portion of them be deemed material, copies will be cheerfully furnished….” In March 1840, a group of American rebels led by Isaac Graham staged a revolt in Alta California, then a province under Mexican control. Though the governor, Juan Bautista Alvarado, ordered their arrest and deportation to Mexico City to stand trial, the rebels were acquitted of all charges in the following year. Though unsuccessful in its immediate aims, the revolt signaled the unstoppable encroachment of American influence in the region as part of the doctrine of “Manifest Destiny.” Tensions came to a head a few year later, in 1846, with the outbreak of the Mexican-American War, one result of which was the cession of Alta California to the United States, and, in 1850, California statehood. Two tape stains showing through from reverse (touching text), faint toning along folds, and a touch of mild handling wear, otherwise fine, clean condition. Auction LOA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA.
