Joaquin, on the Pacific coast. In May, 1845, Fremont set out on his third expedition, and passed the winter in the valley of the San Joaquin, then Mexican territory. In May, 1846, he received orders from Wash'ington to move into California and counteract any foreign scheme for securing that Territory, and to conciliate the good-will of the inhabitants toward the United States. Fremont had but sixty men with him, but he at once moved into the valley of the Sacramento. The Mexican

inhabitants were seriously considering at this time whether they should massacre the American settlers, or whether, in the event of a war between Mexico and the United States, they should place California under the protection of Great Britain. Fremont was informed of these plots, and, though no war existed as yet between the two republics, he also learned that the Mexican General De Castro was advancing to drive him out of California. The American settlers flocked to Fremont's camp, with their arms and horses, and he soon found himself at the head of a considerable

force. He was thus enabled to repulse De Castro's attack, and, after a few conflicts, to drive him from Upper California. By July, 1846, the Mexican authority was entirely overthrown in Upper California, and the flag of independence was raised by the settlers.

The American squadron in the Pacific was commanded by Commodore Sloat, who was ordered by the secretary of the navy to seize the port of San Francisco as soon as he was reliably informed of the existence of war between the two countries, and to occupy or blockade such other Mexican ports as his force would permit. In the early summer of 1846 the American squadron was lying at Mazatlan. A British squadron under Admiral Seymour also lay in the harbor, and the American commodore became convinced that the British admiral was watching him for the purpose of interfering with his designs upon California. He therefore resolved to get rid of him, and put to sea and sailed to the westward, as if making for the Sandwich islands. The British fleet followed him promptly, but in the night the commodore tacked and sailed up the coast. to Monterey, while the British continued their course to the islands. Sloat was coldly received at Monterey by the authorities. Hearing of the action of Fremont and the American settlers, the commodore a few days later took possession of the town, and sent a courier to Fremont, who at once joined him with his mounted men. California was now taken possession of in the name of the United States.

About the middle of July Commodore Stockton arrived in the harbor, and succeeded Commodore Sloat, who returned home, in the command of the squadron. The next day Admiral Seymour arrived at Monterey He saw he was too late, and quietly submitted to what he could not prevent, though he was greatly astonished to find the town in possession of the American forces. On the 17th of August Fremont and Stockton occupied Los Angeles, the capital of Upper California.

In June, 1846, General Kearney, with the "Army of the West," numbering eighteen hundred men, marched from Fort Leavenworth, on the Missouri, across the plains to Santa Fé, the capital of the Mexican province of New Mexico. After a march of nearly one thousand miles, he occupied Santa Fé on the 18th of August. Leaving a garrison at Santa Fé, Kearney pushed on towards California, intending to conquer that province also; but upon reaching the Gila river, he was met by the famous hunter Kit Carson, who informed him of the conquest of California by Fremont and Stockton. Kearney thereupon sent two companies of dragoons under Major Sumner back to Santa Fé, and with the remainder continued his march to the Pacific coast.

Upon leaving Santa Fé, Kearney had instructed Colonel Doniphan to

invade the country of the Navajoe Indians and compel them to make peace with the Americans. Doniphan set out in November, 1846, and crossing the mountains, which were covered with snow, succeeded in making a treaty with the Navajoes, by which they agreed to refrain from hostilities against the people of New Mexico. He then marched to the southeast to meet General Wool at Chihuahua.

The inhabitants of New Mexico, encouraged by the absence of Doniphan with so large a force, rose in revolt against the American forces, ::d murdered the American governor of the territory and several other officials on the 14th of January, 1847. Colonel Sterling Price, commanding the troops at Santa Fé, at once marched against the insurgents,

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defeated them in two engagements, though they greatly outnumbered his force, and suppressed the rebellion. The insurgents obtained peace only by surrendering their leaders, several of whom were hanged by the Americans.

Colonel Doniphan, in the meantime, had continued his march. His route lay through a barren region destitute of water or grass called the Jornado del Muerto-"The Journey of Death." He pressed forward with firmness through this terrible region, his men and animals suffering greatly on the march, and in the latter part of December entered the valley of the Rio Grande. With a force of eight hundred and fifty-six men he defeated over twelve hundred Mexicans at Brazito, on the 26th

of December, 1846, and inflicted upon them a loss of nearly two hundred men; losing only seven men himself. On the 28th he occupied El Paso, and there waited until his artillery could join him from Santa Fé. It arrived in the course of a month, and on the 8th of February he resumed his march to Chihuahua. On the 28th he encountered and defeated a Mexican force of over fifteen hundred men with ten pieces of artillery, at a pass of the Sacramento river, a tributary of the Rio Grande. The Mexicans lost over three hundred killed and a number wounded. The Americans lost two killed and several wounded. The Mexicans were

completely routed, and left their artillery and all their train in the hands of the Americans.

On the 1st of March, 1847, Doniphan entered Chihuahua, and raising the American flag on the citadel, took possession of the province in the name of the United States. Chihuahua was one of the largest cities in Mexico, and contained nearly thirty thousand inhabitants. Doniphan's force was less than one thousand men. He had expected to find General Wool here, and failing to meet him was in utter ignorance of the positions of the American forces. His own position, in the midst of a hostile population, was perilous indeed, but by his firm and just