JANUARY 19th, 1847 – With the Mexican War (April 1846 – February 1848) still raging, New Mexico Territorial Governor Charles Bent was killed, scalped, and stripped naked at his home in Taos, NM on this date. Five others were murdered along with him, including a female Native American.
Bent had foolishly eschewed military protection and had just arrived in Taos from his office and business headquarters in Santa Fe. In December of 1846 wealthy and influential New Mexico families had been exposed for acting as agents of Mexico and plotting violence to bring down the American authorities.
Governor Bent and Colonel Sterling Price were informed of this and had most of the conspirators arrested, but the few who escaped were still at large. Those conspirators ordered a group of Pueblo Native Americans to assassinate Charles Bent, leading to his January 19th death and the New Mexico Uprising, also called the Taos Uprising.
Bent, of the storied Bent Family of traders and merchants, had helped establish the Santa Fe Trail from Saint Louis to Santa Fe along with his younger brother William. (The family was also famed for Bent’s Fort.) Charles had also extensively documented the culture and history of Native Americans in the region.
On January 24th Colonel Price, with 353 men, defeated 1,500-2,000 Mexican and Pueblo troops of the New Mexico Uprising at the Battle of Cañada. The battle took place along the road to Santa Cruz de la Cañada. Following a few more battles and then a brief siege, Price retook Taos and decisively defeated the hostile forces by February 5th.
FOR MY SHORT SUMMARY OF THE MEXICAN WAR AND OTHER U.S. CONFLICTS CLICK HERE.
Balladeer's Blog 
Balladeer,
Thanks for this summary of the events in Taos. I grew up in West Texas and New Mexico and (every summer) went to campgrounds around Tres Ritos and Taos.
For those who fear IA taking over, every time I tried to look up more information on the Battle of Cañada, Google gave me tons of **** on Canada. Arrgh.
Thank you! That’s quite a point about the limitations of AI.
The amazing events of that century leave anyone gasping.
He was scalped?! They all must have had enormous courage and
conviction all would be well. So admirable
Gwen.
I agree, they leave us gasping and reeling even today!
So informative
Thank you very much!
An insightful article. I am very unfamiliar with this piece of history regarding a life of a governor that was slain, so I found it a fascinating read. The discussion about Native Americans being involved in grim murders brought to mind several movies about the subject.
For instance, it reminded me of Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon”. Captivating historical drama telling the true story of the Osage tribe of Native Americans that faced murders back in 1920’s Oklahoma. A masterpiece, this was one of my favorite films from the year 2023.
Here’s why it’s worth watching:
I understand. Looking forward to reading your review of that film.