Texas in turn achieved her independence of Mexico in 1836. In March, 1845, Texas became one of the United States, and thus, according to the Cherokee assumption, "the United States again came into possession of that portion of the outlet west of 100°, if indeed it had ever been a part of the territory claimed by Mexico and which by Texan independence she was forced to relinquish. The United States, more than a year after she had come into possession of the country now claimed by the Cherokees, reaffirmed the grant to them, that is to say, by the treaty of August 17, 1846." The "portion of the outlet west of 100°" here alluded to is the strip of country lying between Kansas and Texas from north to south and between the 100° and New Mexico from east to west. By act of Congress of September 9, 1850,[624] the east boundary of New Mexico was fixed at 103° west longitude and the north boundary of Texas at 36° 30' north latitude, and by act of May 30, 1854,[625] the south boundary of Kansas was established at 37° north latitude, thus leaving this strip of country outside the limits of any organized State or Territory, and so it still remains. This claim of the Cherokees was admitted by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs at the time of the conclusion of the treaty of July 9, 1868, to be a valid one, and was inserted in the boundaries defined by that treaty. The treaty, however, failed of ratification, and it was afterwards determined by the executive authorities of the United States that at the date of the treaty of 1835 with the Cherokees the sovereignty of the United States extended only to the one hundredth meridian, and that the reaffirmation of the treaty guarantee of 1835 by subsequent treaties was not intended to enlarge the area of their territory, but simply as an assurance that the United States were fully conscious of their obligation to maintain the integrity of such guarantee. Consequently the Cherokee outlet was limited in its western protraction to that meridian. DELAWARES, MUNSEES, AND SHAWNEES JOIN THE CHEROKEES.