Taos Revolt — Governor Bent Assassinated; New Mexico Uprising Crushed

On January 19, 1847, Mexican residents and Taos Pueblo Indians rose against US occupation of New Mexico, killing newly appointed Territorial Governor Charles Bent and several other US officials in a predawn massacre at Taos. The revolt was the most significant challenge to Kearny's proclaimed US sovereignty over New Mexico. Colonel Sterling Price marched north from Santa Fe with approximately 350 soldiers and suppressed the uprising in a series of engagements, culminating in the storming of the Taos Pueblo church on February 4, 1847, where some 150 defenders were killed. Surviving revolt leaders were subsequently tried for treason and hanged — a prosecution many observers found unjust since New Mexico had only recently been declared US territory and the accused had never sworn allegiance to the United States. The revolt demonstrated that US conquest did not automatically produce US loyalty.