<P> In Santa Fe, Governor Manuel Armijo wanted to avoid battle, but on August 9, Catholic priests, Diego Archuleta (the young regular - army commander), and the young militia officers Manuel Chaves and Miguel Pino forced him to muster a defense . Armijo set up a position in Apache Canyon, a narrow pass about 10 miles (16 km) southeast of the city . However, on August 14, before the American army was even in view, he decided not to fight . (An American named James Magoffin claimed he had convinced Armijo and Archuleta to follow this course; an unverified story says he bribed Armijo .) When Pino, Chaves, and some of the militiamen insisted on fighting, Armijo ordered the cannon pointed at them . The New Mexican army retreated to Santa Fe, and Armijo fled to Chihuahua . </P> <P> Kearny and his troops encountered no Mexican forces when they arrived on August 15 . Kearny and his force entered Santa Fe and claimed the New Mexico Territory for the United States without a shot being fired . Kearny declared himself the military governor of the New Mexico Territory on August 18 and established a civilian government . American officers with a background in law drew up a temporary legal system for the territory called the Kearny Code . </P> <P> Kearny then took the remainder of his army west to Alta California . When he departed with his forces for California, he left Colonel Sterling Price in command of U.S. forces in New Mexico . He appointed Charles Bent as New Mexico's first territorial governor . </P> <P> Following Kearny's departure, dissenters in Santa Fe plotted a Christmas uprising . When the plans were discovered by the U.S. authorities, the dissenters postponed the uprising . They attracted numerous Indian allies, including Puebloan peoples, who also wanted to push the Americans from the territory . On the morning of January 19, 1847, the insurrectionists began the revolt in Don Fernando de Taos, present - day Taos, New Mexico, which later gave it the name the Taos Revolt . They were led by Pablo Montoya, a New Mexican, and Tomás Romero, a Taos pueblo Indian also known as Tomasito (Little Thomas). </P>

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