The Conquest of New Mexico and California; A Historical & Personal Narrative, With Illustrations and Map

Oakland, California: Biobooks, 1952 [per verso copyright notice]. First California Edition, [stated] limited to 600 copies [stated]. Hardcover. Very good. x, [4], 165, [5] pages. Illustrations (some with color). Foreword by Joseph A. Sullivan. This edition is based on the 1878 First Edition, published by Putnam. Notes. Chapters on New Mexico, The Insurrection in New Mexico, The Infantry March to the Pacific, California, and Final Conquest of California. There is a fold-out sketch map at the end of the book (measuring 18 inches by 9-1/2 inches), showing part of the march and wagon road of Lt. Colonel Cooke, from Santa Fe to the Pacific Ocean, 1846--1847. This is volume XXXIII of the publisher's California Relations series. Later edition cited as Howes C728, Flake 2498. Philip St. George Cooke (June 13, 1809 - March 20, 1895) was a career United States Army cavalry officer who served as a Union General in the American Civil War. He is noted for his authorship of an Army cavalry manual, and is sometimes called the "Father of the U.S. Cavalry." His service in the Civil War was significant. During the Mexican-American War he led the Mormon Battalion from Santa Fe to California, establishing what became known as Cooke's Wagon Road, later to become the southern route to California during the California Gold Rush. He received a brevet promotion to lieutenant colonel for his service in California. In command of 2nd U.S. Dragoons, he defeated the Apache in Ojo Caliente, New Mexico in 1854, was in the 1855 Battle of Ash Hollow against the Sioux, and was sent to keep the peace in Bleeding Kansas in 1856-1857. Cooke took part in the Utah expedition of 1857-58, and he was promoted to colonel and assigned command of the 2nd U.S. Dragoons. This is a first-hand narrative by the leader of the Mormon Battalion. George Cooke took command at Santa Fe with orders from General Kearney to open a wagon route to the Pacific by the Gila River Route. This involved a march of 1100 miles through unknown wilderness without road or trail. The Mormon Battalion, the only religion-based unit in United States military history, served from July 1846 - July 1847 during the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848. The battalion was a volunteer unit of between 534 and 559. Latter-day Saint men, led by Mormon company officers commanded by regular U.S. Army officers. During its service, the battalion made a grueling march of nearly 2,100 miles from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to San Diego, California. This remains one of the longest single military marches in U.S. history. Arriving in Santa Fe in October, General Kearny had dispatched Captain (brevet promotion to Lieutenant Colonel) Philip St. George Cooke, West Point class of 1827, to assume command of the battalion. His assignment was to march them to California and to build a wagon road along the way. In Santa Fe 91 sick men and all but a few of the women and children were sent to Pueblo, in present-day Colorado. Three separate detachments left the battalion and went to Pueblo to winter. For the next four months, Cooke led the battalion across some of the most arduous terrain in North America. Most of the Mormon soldiers soon learned to respect and follow him. The group acquired another guide in New Mexico - adventurer and mountain man Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, who as an infant had traveled with his mother Sacagawea across the continent with the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The Mormon Battalion arrived in San Diego on January 29, 1847 after a march of some 1,900 miles from Iowa. For the next five months until their discharge on July 16, 1847 in Los Angeles, the battalion trained and also performed occupation duties in several locations in southern California. The most significant service the battalion provided in California was as a reliable unit under Cooke to reinforce General Kearny's one company of army troops. The construction of Fort Moore in Los Angeles was one measure Cooke employed to protect military control under Kearny. Some 22 Mormon men died from disease or other natural causes during their service. About 80 of the men reenlisted for another six months of service.
After being mustered out, Jesse D. Hunter, captain of Company B, was appointed Indian Agent for southern California by the military governor, Colonel Richard Mason. Hunter was California's third Indian agent, the first two being Johann Sutter and Mariano Vallejo, both appointed by Mason's predecessor, Stephen Kearny. Hunter's mission was to protect ranchos and missions from depredations, and to generally control the Indian labor force, to the point of requiring Indians to carry passports. Fifteen men were selected to escort John C. Fremont back east to his court-martial. A few discharged veterans worked in the Sacramento area for James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill. Henry Bigler recorded in his diary the actual date when gold was discovered, January 24, 1848. This gold find started the California Gold Rush the next year. $17,000 in gold was contributed to the economy of the Latter-day Saints' new home by members of the Mormon Battalion returning from California. The battalion's march and service supported the eventual cession of much of the American Southwest from Mexico to the United States, especially the Gadsden Purchase of 1853 of southern Arizona and New Mexico. The march also opened a southern wagon route to California. Veterans of the battalion played significant roles in America's westward expansion in California, Utah, Arizona and other parts of the West. The Mormon Battalion arrived in San Diego on January 29, 1847. For the next five months until their discharge on July 16, 1847 in Los Angeles, the battalion trained and did garrison duties in several locations in southern California. Discharged members of the Mormon Battalion were helping to build a sawmill for John Sutter when gold was discovered there in January 1848, starting the California Gold Rush.