CONTENT PREVIEW

The long column of soldiers, regimental flags flying, shuffled down the dusty main street of Las Vegas, signaling the beginning of a new era for frontier New Mexico.
It was Aug. 15, 1846, and the United States was at war with Mexico. As a result, Brig. Gen. Stephen Watts Kearny's Army of the West -- 1,650 strong -- had come to proclaim U.S. sovereignty over the Mexican province of New Mexico.