As the Industrial Revolution continued to progress, many traders saw an opportunity. They saw an untapped market, the trade between the South and the Pacific Coast. California, Oregon, & Washington, had of late become populated through the Gold Rush and were only growing. Cities along the way could also be involved by the new railroad track to be laid.
On this day December 30th, in 1853, an American Ambassador to Mexico, James Gadsen, signed a treaty with would give land to the United States for a total of $10 million. Adjusting for inflation, today that would be about $260 Million. Land acquired totaled 27,600 sq. miles, and covers parts of Arizona and New Mexico.
With the railroad age coming around, traders knew that it was important to connect all of the U.S. They also came to realize that part of it would have to dip into then Mexican land. What ended up coming from this was a Southern Route of the Trans-Continental Railroad to the west. The Senate approved and ratified the Gadsden purchase April 25, 1854, and it was finalized by Mexico June 8, 1854.