Fidel Sonora

Fidel Sonora served as Secretary of Home Affairs in the Cabinet of President Hector Niles. Following the August 1853 armistice ending combat in the Rocky Mountain War, Niles assigned Sonora the task of conducting a survey of the U.S.M., to "make an inventory of assets and liabilities, to determine where we stand." Sonora was able to report that conditions were much better than was generally assumed. The war had mostly been fought in the thinly-populated areas of Arizona and Mexico del Norte, leaving the developed parts of Mexico barely touched. Sonora recommended federal aid only to the Indian tribes in those two states who had suffered most from the war.

Sonora does not have an entry in Sobel's index. He is mentioned on page 161 of For Want of a Nail ....