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Financial Records of Tesoreria Nacional de Arispe

Manuscript of the Annual Report of the Tesoreria Nacional de Arispe, 1823

Arizpe, the former capital of Sonora, was spelled Arispe before the 20th century. At the time, Sonora included parts of what is now Arizona. Arispe was the headquarters for the Comisaria-General, who was in charge of all military activities in Sonora and Sinaloa. These records, produced soon after Mexico’s independence from Spain, pertain to the transactions between the National Treasury of Arispe and the Commissariat, which supplied the companies, or military posts, with food and other supplies.

The collection contains various handwritten financial records of the Tesoreria Nacional de Arispe including receipts, expenses, obligations, agreements and account summaries. Most records relate to the military hospital at Arispe, companías of Tucson, Tubac, Altar, and others under the jurisdiction of the commandant at Arispe. The records give dollar amounts, name of person receiving funds, and the name of the companía. They do not provide details of supplies or provisions. Monthly accounts for the military hospital list the names, positions and salaries of employees, in addition to daily expense totals. A duplicate of the 1823 annual account summary for the Tesoreria Nacional de Arispe is comprised of 148 leaves, with a highly ornamented title page. Each account is individually detailed, with a cumulative table at the end; all sections are signed by José Maria Mendoza. Only the fourth series in the collection has been digitized. Items were originally loose sheets which were later gathered and bound together. The leather spine is stamped Comisarias, 1823.

In Spanish.