The Negotiators

Attorney and politician José Bernardo Couto was one of four Mexicans who negotiated a peace treaty with U.S. envoy Nicholas P. Trist to end the war. Cuoto actually worked on the negotiations twice—first in August 1847 during the Armistice arranged by General Scott and Santa Anna, although negotiations stalled. Several months later, following the occupation of Mexico City by General Scott’s troops, Cuoto renewed negotiations, actually urging Trist to ignore his recall to Washington DC and stay to negotiate an end to the war. When a pro-war faction argued against approval, Cuoto defended the treaty to the politicians. According to Cuoto, the treaty, "while a painful necessity, was neither a national disgrace nor a permanent setback to Mexican development. He likened the territorial cessions to an amputation performed to save a patient’s life. By ending the war, the treaty had saved Mexico from possible obliteration as a nation."

Nicholas P. Trist, a loyal Polk partisan, was sent to Mexico to try and negotiate an end to the war. The secrecy of his mission earned him an icy reception from General Scott, but eventually the two men learned to work well together. Polk, concerned about Trist's closeness to Scott, a political rival, recalled the diplomat. Despite his orders to leave Mexico, Trist used the time between his recall and the arrival of his replacement to negotiate the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Although Trist had no authority to conduct negotiations, Polk found it impossible to undo Trist's agreements and accepted the treaty.