At the beginning of the U.S. War with Mexico, General Stephen W. Kearny's "Army of the West" easily conquered New Mexico. While Kearny soon continued on to California, he left occupation forces behind. Of his original compliment of four topographical engineers, Kearny took with him two (Lieutenants William H. Emory and William H. Warner) and left behind two who were sick (Lieutenants James W. Abert at Bent's Fort and William G. Peck at Santa Fe). He directed that after the latter two recovered, they should survey New Mexico and, together, produce a map. The resulting map shows the valley of the Rio del Norte from the junction with the Rio Colorado or Red River to the north of Taos to the northern edge of the Fra Cristobal range and the Jornado del Muerto in the south. Abert and Peck plotted many of the river's tributaries, surrounding mountains, existing roads and trails, pueblos, and mines. Crossed sabres at Canada, Embuda, and the Pueblo de Taos indicate sites where ? following the assassination of the new U.S. Territorial Governor Charles Bent by a mob of New Mexicans and Indians on January 19, 1847 ? U.S. forces under Colonel Sterling Price clashed with and brutally suppressed members of the Taos Rebellion.
