 When the U.S. discovered that a much easier railroad route to California lay slightly south of the Gila River, in Mexico, Santa Anna sold the Gadsden Strip to the US for $10 million in the Gadsden Purchase in 1853.This loss of still more territory provoked considerable outrage among Mexicans, but Santa Anna claimed that he needed money to rebuild the army from the war.In the end, he kept or squandered most of it.