The Americans, under the command of General Kearney, having taken
possession of New Mexico, Colonel Doniphan with a regiment of mounted
riflemen, was ordered to march to Chihuahua, and join General Wool.
The country between Santa Fe and Chihuahua was very little known, and
therefore when Colonel Doniphan set out he did not expect to encounter
the toils and dangers he afterwards met. A vast and dreary desert
was to be traversed, and a hostile people to be dealt with. Colonel
Doniphan began his march on the 17th of December, 1846, and soon
after reached the tract of country called by the Mexicans the “desert
of death,” where the bones of murdered men and famished animals were
strewn along the road, and where not a drop of water nor a blade
of grass met the eyes of the traveller. After passing through this
desert, the troops reached Bracito, where they repulsed an attack made
by the Mexicans. Doniphan was reinforced soon after, and marched for
Chihuahua. Near that place he again defeated the enemy. He remained six
weeks at Chihuahua, and seeing nothing of General Wool, marched to meet
General Taylor.
[Illustration: GENERAL PRICE AT TAOS.]