This was what they had come for, and it was a welcome diversion to learn
that the weariness of marching was likely to be diversified by a season of
fighting. They had made the longest march ever achieved by an American
army, nearly all of it through a barren and inhospitable country, and it
was with genuine elation that they pressed forward to the canon, hopeful
of having a brush with the enemy. They met with a genuine disappointment
when they found the pass empty of foes. The Mexicans had failed to await
their coming.
Kearney had already begun his prescribed work of annexing New Mexico to
the United States, the Alcalde and the prominent citizens of Las Vegas
having taken an oath of allegiance to the laws and government of the
United States. As they marched on, a similar oath was administered at San
Miguel and Pecos, and willingly taken. Here the soldiers fairly revelled
in the fresh vegetables, milk, eggs, fruits, and chickens which the
inhabitants were glad to exchange for the money of their new guests.
Orders had been given that all food and forage obtained from the peaceable
inhabitants should be paid for, and Kearney saw that this was done.
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