"Mexico," said he, "has passed the boundary of the United States; has invaded our territory and shed American blood on American soil." Congress declared that war existed, and Polk called for 50,000 volunteers (May 13, 1846).

When the Mexicans crossed the Rio Grande and attacked the Americans at Fort Brown, Taylor was at Point Isabel. Hurrying southward to the relief of the fort, he met the enemy at Palo Alto, beat them, pushed on to Resaca de la Palma, beat them again, and soon crossed the river and took possession of the town of Matamoras. There he remained till August, 1846, waiting for supplies, reënforcements, and means of transportation, when he began a march toward the city of Monterey. The Mexicans, profiting by Taylor's long stay at Matamoras, had gathered in great force at Monterey, and had strongly fortified

every position. But Taylor attacked with vigor, and after three days of continuous fighting, part of the time from street to street and house to house, the Mexican General Ampudia surrendered the city (September 24, 1846). An armistice of six weeks' duration was then agreed on, after which Taylor moved on leisurely to Saltillo (sahl-teel'-yō).

364. Scott in Mexico.. Meantime, General Winfield Scott was sent to Mexico to assume chief command. He reached the mouth of the Rio Grande in January, 1847, and called on Taylor to send him 10,000 men. Santa Anna (sahn'-tah ahn'nah), who commanded the Mexicans, hearing of this order, marched at once against Taylor, who took up a strong position

at Buena Vista (bwa'-nah vees'-tah), where a desperate battle was fought February 23, 1847. The Americans won, and Santa Anna hurried off to attack Scott, who was expected at Vera Cruz. Scott landed there in March, and, after a siege of a few days, took the castle and city, and ten days later began his march westward along the national highway towards the ancient capital of the Aztecs. It was just 328 years since Cortez with his little band started from the same point on a precisely similar errand. At every step of the way the ranks of Scott grew thinner and thinner. Hundreds perished in battle. Hundreds died by the wayside of disease

more terrible than battle.

But Scott would not turn back, and victory succeeded victory with marvelous rapidity. April 8 he left Vera Cruz. April 18 he stormed the heights of Cerro Gordo. April 19 he was at Jalapa (hah-lah'-pah). On the 22d Perote (pa-rō'-ta) fell. May 15 the city of Puebla (pweb'-lah) was his. There Scott staid till August 7, when he again pushed westward, and on the 10th saw the city of Mexico. Then followed in rapid succession the victories of Contreras (con-tra'-rahs), Churubusco (choo-roo-boos'-ko), Molino del Rey (mō-lee'-no del ra), the storming of Chapultepec (chah-pool-tapek'), and the triumphal entry into Mexico, September 14, 1847. Never before in the history of the world had there been made such a march.

365. The "Wilmot Proviso." In 1846 the Mexican War was very hateful to many Northern people, and as a new House of Representatives was to be elected in the autumn of that year, Polk thought it wise to end the war if possible, and in August asked for $2,000,000 "for the settlement of the boundary question with Mexico." This, of course, meant the purchase of territory from her. But Mexico had abolished slavery in 1827, and lest any territory bought from her should be made slave soil, David Wilmot of Pennsylvania moved that the money should be granted, provided all territory bought with it should be free soil. The proviso passed the House, but not the Senate. Next year (1847) a bill to give Polk $3,000,000 with which to settle the boundary dispute was introduced, and again the proviso was attached. But the Senate rejected it, and the House then gave way, and passed the bill without the proviso. 366. Conquest of New Mexico and California. While Taylor was winning victories in northeastern Mexico, Colonel Stephen W. Kearny was ordered to march into New Mexico. Leaving Fort Leavenworth in June, 1846, he went by the Upper Arkansas River to Bents Fort, thence southwest through what is now Colorado, and by the old Santa Fé trail to the Rio Grande valley and Santa Fé (p. 330). After taking the city without opposition, he declared the whole of New Mexico to be the property of the United States, and then started to seize California. On arriving there, he found the conquest completed by the combined forces of Stockton and Frémont.

367. The Great American Desert. But how came Frémont to be in California in 1846?

If you look at any school geography published between 1820 and 1850 you will find that a large part of what is now Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Texas is put down as "THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT." Many believed it was not unlike the Desert of Sahara, and that nobody would ever want to cross it, while there was so much fertile land to the eastward. This view made people very indifferent as to our claims to Oregon, so that when Thomas H. Benton, one of

the senators from Missouri, and one of the far-sighted statesmen of the day, wanted Congress to seize and hold Oregon by force of arms, he was told that it was not worth the cost. "Oregon," said one senator, "will never be a state in the Union." "Build a railroad to Oregon?" said another. "Why, all the wealth of the Indies would not be sufficient for such a work."

368. The Santa Fé and Oregon Trails. Some explorations you remember had been made. Lewis and Clark went across the Northwest to the mouth of the Columbia in 1804-1805, and Zebulon M. Pike had penetrated in 1806 to the wild mountainous region about the head waters of the Platte, Arkansas, and Rio Grande and had probably seen the great mountain that now bears his name. Major Long followed Pike in 1820, gave his name to Longs Peak, and brought back such a dismal account of the West that he was largely responsible for the belief in a desert. The great plains from the sources of the Sabine, Brazos, and Colorado rivers to the northern boundary were, he said, "peculiarly adapted as a range for buffaloes, wild goats, and other wild game," and "might serve as a barrier to prevent too great an expansion of our population westward"; but nobody would think of cultivating the plains. For years after that the American Fur Trading Company of St. Louis had annually sent forth its caravans into Oregon and New Mexico. Because the way was beset by hostile Indians, these caravans were protected by large and strongly armed bands, and in time wore out well-beaten tracks across the prairies and over the mountain passes, which came to be known on the frontier as the Santa Fé and Oregon trails. In 1832 Captain Bonneville1 took a wagon train over the Rocky Mountain divide into the Green River valley, and Nathaniel J. Wyeth led a party from New England to the Oregon country, and in 1834 established Fort Hall in 'what is now Idaho. Still later in the thirties went Marcus Whitman and his party.

369. Explorations of Frémont. By this time it was clear 1 Read his adventures as told by Washington Irving.

MCM. HIST.-19