USA > Arizona > History of Arizona and New Mexico, 1530-1888, Volume XVII > Part 45
USA > New Mexico > History of Arizona and New Mexico, 1530-1888, Volume XVII > Part 45
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diary day by day down to and including the march to Cal. It is largely de- voted to a scientific description of the country visited, and contains drawings. Emory's Journal (unofficial), extending from Aug. 2d to Sept. 5th, was pub- lished in the newspapers, and I find it in Niles' Register, Ixxi. 138-40, 157-9, 174-5. In Id., 90-2, is a fragment of the journal of some officer not named, covering the period of Aug. 13th-23d. Cooke's diary, Conquest, 34 et seq., also includes the march of the main army from the 15th of Aug., and of course it is described by Hughes and the rest. Says Cooke: 'I commanded the advance guard, and held to the main road, not receiving orders to take the obscure route, known to the general, which turned the position at the cañon. As I passed it I concluded that important information had been re- ceived in the night. So it proved, and I found at the rocky gorge only a rude breastwork of large trees felled across it. It had evidently proved im- possible to give coherence to the wretched mass of our opponents who were now for the first time assembled together. They became panic-stricken at once on the approach of such an imposing array of horsemen of a superior race, and it appeared, overestimated our numbers, which the reports of igno- rance and fear had vastly magnified.'
10 ' Proclamation ! As by the act of the republic of Mexico, a state of war exists between that government and the U. S., and as the undersigned, at the head of his troops, on the 18th took possession of Sta Fé, . . . he now aunounces his intention to hold the department, with its original boundaries (both sides of the Del Norte)'-so it seems the original boundaries were on both sides !- 'as a part of the U. S., and under the name of the territory of New Mexico. The undersigned has come to N. Mex. with a strong military force, and an equally strong one is following close in his rear. He has more troops than necessary to put down any opposition that can possibly be brought against him, and therefore it would be folly and madness for any dissatisfied or discontented persons to think of resisting him. The undersigned has instruc- tions from his govt to respect the religious institutions of N. Mex., to protect the property of the church, to cause the worship of those belonging to it to be undisturbed, and their religious rights in the amplest manner preserved to them. Also to protect the persons and property of all quiet and peace- able inhabitants within its boundaries, against their enemies the Utes, Nava- jos, and others. And while he assures all that it will be his pleasure as well
HIST. ARIZ. AND N. MEX. 27
418
AMERICAN OCCUPATION OF NEW MEXICO.
From the 9th for many days representatives of other towns, of the Indian pueblos, and in some cases of Navajo, Yuta, and even Apache bands, came to listen to the general's explanations of United States policy, and to offer peaceful submission to his authority. Many among the ignorant populace had been led to believe that they would be robbed, outraged, or mnur- dered by the Americanos; and many of a higher class had left the city with their families in fear of insults from a lawless soldiery; but these fears were to a considerable extent removed by the general's words and acts, and many of the fugitives returned to their homes. A flag-staff to bear the stars and stripes was raised in the plaza. Captain Emory on the 19th selected a site for a fort, and four days later work was begun on Fort Marcy, an adobe.structure commanding the city from an adjoining hill. The animals were sent to the region of Galisteo to a grazing camp guarded by a detachment under Lieutenant-colonel Ruff. On the 23d and following Sundays the general and staff attended church; an express for the states was de- spatched on the 25th; and in the evening of the 27th
as his duty to comply with those instructions, he calls upon them to exert themselves in preserving order, in promoting concord, and in maintaining the authority and efficiency of the laws; to require of those who have left their homes, and taken up arms against the troops of the U. S., to return forthwith to them, or else they will be considered as enemies and traitors (!), subjecting their persons to punishment and their property to seizure and confiscation for the benefit of the public treasury. It is the wish and inten- tion of the U. S. to provide for N. Mex. a free govt, with the least possible delay, similar to those in the U. S., and the people of N. Mex. will then be called on to exercise the rights of free men in electing their own representa- tives to the territorial legislature; but until this can be done, the laws hitherto in existence will be continued until changed or modified by compe- tent authority; and those persons holding office will continue in the same for the present, provided they will consider themselves good citizens and willing to take the oath of allegiance to the U. S. The undersigned hereby absolves all persons residing within the boundary of N. Mex. from further allegiance to the republic of Mexico, and hereby claims them as citizens of the U. S. Those who remain quiet and peaceable will be considered as good citizens and receive protection. Those who are found in arms, or instigating others against the U. S., will be considered as traitors (!), and treated accordingly; Don Manuel Armijo, the late gov. of this department, has fled from it. The undersigned has taken possession of it without firing a gun or shedding a drop of blood-in which he most truly rejoices; and for the present will be considered as governor of this territory. Given, etc., Sta Fé, Ang. 22, 1896. By the Governor, S. W. Kearny, Brigadier-General.' The copy in Cutts reads S. W. Kearny, brig-gen. U. S. A., by the governor, Juan Bautista Vigil y Alarid.'
419
KEARNY AT THE CAPITAL.
Kearny gave a grand ball to officers and citizens. Minor military movements, such as the arrival of small parties that had lagged on the way and the stationing of local detachments, need not be noticed in detail. There were unfounded rumors of hostile preparations in the south, and that Colonel Ugarte was approaching with a Mexican force from Chihuahua, which caused Kearny to march down the river with nearly half his army. This tour extended to Tomé, occupied the time from the 2d to the 13th of September, and revealed no indications of hostility among the abajeños.
Back at Santa Fé, the general sent strong detach- ments under Major Gilpin and Lieutenant-colonel Jackson, who had succeeded Ruff by election of the volunteers-to Abiquiú and Cebolleta on the Navajo frontier; and gave his attention to the organization of a civil government put in operation on the 22d of September. Then on the 25th, he set out on the march to California by the Gila route, with his 300 dragoons, two thirds of which number, however, were presently sent back, when Kit Carson was met with the inaccurate news that the conquest of California had already been accomplished.11 Orders left were to the effect that the Mormon Battalion should follow the general to California, and that Doniphan's regi- ment, on the arrival of Price's to take its place, should march south to join General Wool at Chihuahua. Among the volunteers of both regiments there was much sickness, caused to a considerable extent by in- dulgence in the various dissipations of the New Mex- ican metropolis. Some 300 of the Missourians are said to have been buried at Santa Fé. There was also a great scarcity of supplies, the commissary de- partment of the army of the west being grossly
11 See Hist. Cal., v., for the conquest of Cal., including Kearny's march across the continent, and disaster at S. Pascual. Emory's Notes is the most complete narrative of the march. Carson was met on Oct. 6th, and 3 of the 5 companies were sent back. It was on Oct. 15th that Kearny left the Rio Grande, in about lat. 33° 20', to strike off westward to the Gila, which river he followed down to the Colorado. I shall say more of his march across N. Mex. and Ariz. a little later.
420
AMERICAN OCCUPATION OF NEW MEXICO.
mismanaged, as it appears. Provisions must be bought from fellow-citizens, not seized, as in an en- emy's country ; and even the money furnished the troops was not apparently of a kind that could be utilized, to say nothing of exorbitant prices. The men were profoundly disgusted with the country and its people, and their complaints were doubtless somewhat too highly colored. Moreover, the re- straints of military life were irksome to the Mis- sourians. They were willing to fight the Mexicans, but could not understand their obligation as soldiers to work on the fort, wear their coats under a hot sun, observe petty regulations, or obey orders against the propriety of which, as American citizens, they could pre- sent strong arguments. The popularity of the officers was therefore in inverse ratio to their knowledge and enforcement of discipline. Brawls and arrests for insubordination were of not infrequent occurrence. Yet amusements were not wanting, among which were theatrical performances by a company of military amateurs. 12
Colonel Price with his 2d Missouri volunteers ar- rived at Santa Fé about the 1st of October.13 The
12 In Niles' Register, lxx .- iii. passim, are many items from various sources on all phases of the N. Mex. campaign, including many complaints from the volunteers. The disorders and insubordination are also narrated hy Hughes and others, who often defend the volunteers and condemn the officers. Lieut. - col Ruff was much disliked, and the qualities that made him unpopular pro- cured him a captain's commission in the regular army. A private was elected to fill his place over the major. Geo. F. Ruxton, Adventures in Mexico and the Rocky Mountains, N. Y., 1848, p. 178-90, an English traveller who wrote from personal observation, pronounced the volunteers 'the dirtiest, rowdiest crew I have ever seen collected together;' and he gives a much more uufavor- able account of their lack of discipline in camp and lawless conduct in town, than any other writer-probably too unfavorable; yet he admits they were good fighters. Cutts, Conquest, 220-1, gives a programme of the theatrical performance on Christmas evening.
A Campaign in New Mexico uth Colonel Doniphan. By Frank S. Edwards, a volunteer. With a map of the route, and a table of the distances traversed, Phil., 1847, 12mo. This is an interesting though brief narrative of the cam- paign in N. Mex. and Chihuahua, though more attention is given to the coun- try and people than to the historic sequence of events. Another anonymous narrative is The Conquest of Santa Fe and subjugation of New Mexico, Phil., 1847, Svo.
13 Perhaps a little earlier, as the arrival was made known to Kearny on his march Oct. 2d or 3d. I have found no narrative or report devoted especially to the movements of Price's regiment.
421
MORMON TROOPS.
Mormon Battalion under Lieutenant Smith arrived in two divisions on the 9th and 12th. On account of illness about 150 of the men with most of the families were detached and sent to winter at Pueblo, in what was later Colorado, from which point they found their way the next year to Salt Lake. The rest of the battalion, 340 strong, was put under the command of Lieutenant-colonel Cooke, and started on the 19th to follow Kearny and open a wagon-road across the con- tinent. Meeting the returning dragoons on the 23d and turning off from the Rio Grande November 13th, they found it impracticable to find a way for their wagons toward the west, and accordingly directed their course farther southward to the San Bernardino rancho on the later frontier, and thence marched by Tucson to Kearny's route on the Gila. The adven- tures of the battalion from its organization pertain to the history of California rather than to that of New Mexico.14
Orders came back from Kearny that Doniphan be- fore starting for Chihuahua should undertake a cam- paign in the Navajo country. In September, as we have seen, Lieutenant-colonel Jackson with three com- panies had been sent to Cebolleta on the frontier; and from this point, apparently before Kearny's last orders were known, Captain Reid, with thirty volunteers and a chief called Sandoval as guide, starting the 20th of October, had in twenty days made a somewhat remarkable entry far to the west and north into the heart of the Navajo country. He met the head chief Narbona, found the Indians well disposed toward the Americans, made arrangements for a treaty council at Santa Fé, and returned to Cebolleta. Major Gilpin, who had been stationed at Abiquiú in September, had made an expedition into the Yuta country, and had brought some 60 leading men of that nation to Santa Fé, where a treaty was made on October 13th. Un-
14 See Hist. Cal., v., chap. xviii., this series. For the march the authorities are Tyler's History; Bigler's Diary, MS .; Cooke's Journal; Id., Report; Id., Conquest.
422
AMERICAN OCCUPATION OF NEW MEXICO.
der the new orders, Gilpin left Abiquiú on the 22d with his two companies, reënforced by 65 pueblo and Mexican allies; went up the Chama, crossed to the San Juan, descended that river, reached the Chelly cañons, thence apparently turned eastward and by way of the Laguna Colorada reached a place called Ojo del Oso, or Bear Spring, on the 20th of Novem- ber.15 Meanwhile Doniphan left Santa Fé on Octo- ber 26th, but from Alburquerque sent most of his force down the river to Valverde to protect the cara- van of traders and make prepartions for the march to Chihuahua. 16 With a small party he then went to Covero, whither Jackson had moved his force from Cebolleta. From this point, having received a de- spatch from Gilpin on the San Juan, and sent in reply orders to assemble as many Navajos as possible at Ojo del Oso, Doniphan with Jackson and 150 men started on the 15th toward the headwaters of the Puerco and thence north-westward, toiling through the deep snows and over the mountains, and joining Major Gilpin on the 21st. There were about 500 Navajos present, including the chiefs of many bands. They professed friendship and admiration for the Americans, but had much difficulty in comprehending why the new-comers should interfere with their war- fare against the detested Mexicans. At last, however,
16 I do not find this spring on the maps, but suppose it was not far from Red Lake, N. E. from Ft Defiance, in the later Navajo reservation. Doni- phan's report states that Gilpin reached the Little Colorado; and Hughes' narrative indicates a limit very far west for both Gilpin and Reid; but in the absence of original diaries I suppose that neither went much farther west than the Chelly, from which the Ojo del Oso was 1 day's march possibly west but probably east.
16 The Valverde detachment of 3 companies was under Capt. Walton, start- ing south on Nov. 2d from a point opposite Alburquerque. Capt. Burgwin with his dragoons also went to the relief of the traders. There was a rumor of a Mexican force advancing from the south. The Navajos had also been raiding Isleta and the southern towns, and Lieut. Grier pursued one party, killing 3, and recovering captives and live-stock. Walton reached Valverde on Nov. 24th. All kinds of rumors were current; sheep and cattle were re- peatedly run off by Indians and others; and two volunteers were killed by the savages. An Englishman came as ambassador to induce the traders to dismiss all American teamsters and guards, trust the Mexicans, pay 13 cents per lb. on their goods, and enter Chihuahua unmolested. Some were inclined to accept this proposition; but Walton sent a force to Fra Cristóbal to pre- vent the passage of any part of the caravan.
423
NAVAJO CAMPAIGN.
after a day of speech-making, they consented to a treaty, which was formally signed on the 22d by Doni- phan, Jackson, and Gilpin on the one side, and four- teen chieftains on the other.17 Its terms included "a firm and lasting peace" between the Navajos and Americans-the latter to include New Mexicans and Pueblos; mutual free trade, including visits for trading purposes ; mutual restoration of all captives, and of all property taken since the 18th of August. Gifts were exchanged, and then the parties separated. The Amer- icans returned by different routes, one division with the three regimental officers and a few native chief- tains going by way of Zuñi, where on the 26th a treaty was concluded between the Zuñis and Navajos. All were reunited at Valverde about December 12th. The treaties, like dozens of earlier ones with the same tribes, had but slight practical effect; but the journals of the different branches of this complicated campaign if extant would doubtless furnish many interesting and valuable items of geographical information.18
Before the colonel's return from the Navajo cam- paign James Magoffin with Dr Connelly and a few others ventured southward, but were arrested at El Paso and carried as prisoners to Chihuahua; the trad- ers also started in advance of the army, by which they were overtaken on the way; and a company of volun- teers known as the Chihuahua Rangers left Santa Fé on December 1st under Captain Hudson, with the idea of opening communication with General Wool, but they also turned back to join the army before reach- ing El Paso. Finally Doniphan's army of about 900 men left Valverde in three divisions on the 14th,
17 The treaty of Ojo del Oso is given in Hughes' Doniphan's Exped., 188-9. 18 There is a very brief undated report of the campaign by Col Doniphan in the documents accompanying the president's message of Dec. 7, 1847. U. S. Govt Doc., 30th cong. Ist sess., Sen. Ex. Doc. i., p. 496. A detailed report is promised, but I have not found it. The most complete narrative, and a very satisfactory one except in certain geographic respects, is that in Hughes' Doniphan's Exped., 143-94. The subject is also recorded more or less fully in the other narratives already cited in this chapter. Collins, in Ind. Aff. Report, 1858, p. 188, tells us that the conditions of the treaty were not observed by the Indians, who continued to murder and steal as before.
424
AMERICAN OCCUPATION OF NEW MEXICO.
16th, and 19th of December. After passing the Jornada del Muerto all were reunited on the 22d at Doña Ana, including Hudson's company and the trad- ers. Two Mexican scouts were killed with one bullet on the 24th; and at El Bracito, some 30 miles below Doña Ana, on Christmas afternoon a force of the enemy, estimated at about 600 regulars-Vera Cruz dragoons, with cavalry and infantry from Chihuahua -and 500 El Paso militia, was encountered. These troops, commanded by an officer named Ponce de Leon, made a charge upon the Americans, but being met by a volley of rifle bullets at short range were forced to retreat, pursued for a short distance, and los- ing perhaps thirty men killed.19 No further opposi- tion was encountered, and on December 27th, Doni- phan took possession of El Paso, the citizens having come out to meet him with a white flag, offering surrender and asking for clemency and protection. After a stay of forty-two days, and being reënforced by 117 men of the artillery batallion under Clark and Weightman from Santa Fé, the army marched on February 8, 1847, for Chihuahua, which city they occupied at the beginning of March, after a brilliant victory over four times their own number of Mexican troops at Sacramento. General Wool was not here, and after holding the town about two months to await orders and protect the traders in the sale of their goods, Doniphan marched on to Saltillo, presently returning by water via New Orleans to Missouri as the time of the volunteers had expired. The expedi-
19 Semi-official report of Lieut. C. H. Kibben of the artillery in Cutts' Conq., 77; Brooks' Campaign, 169-71. K. says 'the number of their dead is said to be at least 30; that of their wounded was slight so far as ascertained.' Brooks, p. 87, says the Mexican loss in killed and wounded was about 200 men! Hughes, Doniphan's Exped., 266, puts the loss at 71 killed, 5 prison- ers, and not less than 150 wounded including their general, Ponce de Leon. The Mexicans also lost a cannon. The American loss was 7 or 8 wounded.
Some additional references for the N. Mex. campaign in general are Rip- ley's War with Mexico, i. 270-80; Furber's Twelve Months' Volunteer, 247-63, 437, et seq .; Jenkins' Hist. Mex. War, 135-40; Mansfieldl's Mex. War, 78-83; Davis' El Gringo, 93 et seq .; Miller, in Sta Fé, Centennial, 24-6; Brackett's Hist. U. S. Cavalry, 69-71, 104-7; also mention in many other works on Mex., N. Mex., and the war.
425
CIVIL GOVERNMENT.
tion of the regiment had been a remarkable one, in some respects almost without parallel, though its most brilliant features do not pertain directly to the annals of New Mexico.
General Kearny's original instructions of June 3, 1846, from the secretary of war, included the follow- ing: "Should you conquer and take possession of New Mexico and California, or considerable places in either, you will establish temporary civil governments therein -abolishing all arbitrary restrictions that may exist, so far as it may be done with safety. In perform- ing this duty it would be wise and prudent to con- tinue in their employment all such of the existing officers as are known to be friendly to the United States, and will take the oath of allegiance to them. You may assure the people of these provinces that it is the wish and design of the United States to provide for them a free government with the least possible delay, similar to that which exists in our territories. They will then be called upon to exercise the rights of free men in electing their own representatives to the territorial legislature. It is foreseen that what relates to the civil government will be a difficult and unpleasant part of your duty, and much must neces- sarily be left to your own discretion. In your whole conduct you will act in such a manner as best to con- ciliate the inhabitants, and render them friendly to the United States." 20 Kearny's proclamation of Au- gust 22d, more or less in accordance with these instructions, though going in certain respects far beyond their letter, has already been presented in this chapter. From the first day of occupation, Cap- tain Waldo, of the volunteers, was set at work trans- lating all the Spanish and Mexican laws that could be found at Santa Fé; while Colonel Doniphan, a lawyer by profession, aided by Willard P. Hall- elected to congress during this absence-busied him-
20 These instructions may be conveniently consulted in Cutts' Conquest, 246-7, though often repeated elsewhere.
426
AMERICAN OCCUPATION OF NEW MEXICO.
self with the preparation of a code of laws founded in part on Waldo's fragmentary translations, but mainly on the laws of Missouri and Texas. Finally, on the 22d of September, the general published this code- still in force in New Mexico down to 1886-printed in English and Spanish with the old press and type found at the capital, and at the same time his appoint- ment of governor and other officials, thus organizing the civil government deemed necessary.21 With the code was submitted to the government at Washington an "organic law of the territory of New Mexico," which provided for a permanent territorial organiza- tion under the laws of the United States, naming the first Monday in August 1847 as the day for electing a delegate to congress.22
It was noticeable that Kearny's proclamations ig- nored the old theory that eastern New Mexico be- longed to Texas. A still more notable feature was the clearly announced intention of retaining the coun- try as a permanent possession of the United States. This was the first open avowal of the administration's real purpose to make this a war for the acquisition of territory, and not, as had been pretended, for the pro-
21 Sept. 22, 1846, Kearny's report on the code and its publication; also his appointment of officers, in Cutts' Conquest, 64-5. The latter reads: 'Being duly authorized by the pres. of the U. S. of America, I hereby make the fol- lowing appointments for the government of N. Mex., a territory of the U. S. The officers thus appointed will be obeyed and respected accordingly.' Gov- ernor, Charles Bent, part owner of Bent's Fort, married to a native of Taos; secretary, Donaciano Vigil, a native of New Mexico, of long official experience in various civil and military positions; marshal, Richard Dallam, an Ameri- can mining operator at Los Placeres; district attorney, Francis P. Blair, Jr, in later years somewhat famous as congressman and politician; treasurer, Charles Blumner; auditor, Eugene Leitzendorfer, a Sta Fé trader, married to a daughter of the former governor, Santiago Abreu; judges of the superior court, Joab Houghton, a lawyer of later prominence in the territory, Antonio José Otero, of a prominent and influential Spanish family, and Charles Beau- bien, a pioneer of 1827, married to a native wife. The biographic items are from Prince's Hist. Sketches, 367-8. The Kearny code, with the precedent bill of rights issued on the same date, may be found in New Mexico, Compiled Laws, Sta Fé, 1885, p. 82-129.
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