In May 1846, Governor Edwards of Missouri asked Colonel Alexander W. Doniphan, a lawyer in Liberty, to help raise troops in the state’s western counties for volunteer service in the war with Mexico. Within a week or so, Doniphan raised eight companies of men, organized at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, forming the First Missouri Mounted Volunteers. This regiment formed a portion of the column known as the Army of the West, commanded by General Stephen W. Kearny. After several weeks of training, the Army of the West began its march to Santa Fe, New Mexico, on June 26, 1846, and entered Santa Fe without firing a shot on August 18.

In November 1846, Colonel Doniphan was ordered with his regiment into the country of the Navajo Indians on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains to subdue any aggression. He completed this movement swiftly, even though his soldiers toiled through snow three feet deep on the crests and eastern slope of the mountains.

Having accomplished this by concluding a satisfactory treaty with the Indians, he returned to the Rio del Norte. On the banks of that stream, he collected and refreshed his men, preparing to meet up with General John E. Wool.

In December 1846, he and his men moved South towards Chihuahua. In quick succession followed his brilliant and decisive victories at Brazito and Sacramento, the capture of Chihuahua, the plunge of his little army into the unknown country between Chihuahua and Saltillo, and its triumphant emergence. After he arrived at Saltillo, his regiment was ordered home. The march continued to Matamoras before heading to New Orleans. The men were discharged at New Orleans, Louisiana, and arrived home about July 1, 1847.

The march of this regiment from Fort Leavenworth to Santa Fe, Chihuahua, Saltillo, and Matamoras—a distance of nearly 3,600 miles—is called Doniphan’s Expedition. It is essential to Kansas history, as no road led from Fort Leavenworth to the Santa Fe Trail at the time of the expedition. The army therefore steered southwesterly, with the view of intersecting the main Santa Fe Trail at or near the Narrows, 65 miles west of Independence, Missouri. They encountered many deep ravines and creeks with high, rugged banks. The heat was often excessive; the grass was tall and rank; the earth in many places was so soft that the heavily loaded wagons would sink almost up to the axle upon the level prairie, and the men were frequently compelled to dismount and drag them from the mire with their hands. Hence, the march was, of necessity, both slow and tedious. About noon on June 30, they arrived on the banks of the Kansas River, which they crossed in boats without loss or accident, and encamped for the night on the West bank among the friendly Shawnee Indians. On July 1, the troops continued a southwesterly march to intersect the road leading from Independence to Santa Fe. After a toilsome march of some 15 miles without a guide, sometimes directing their course southward and sometimes westward, they at length struck upon the Santa Fe trace and encamped for the night near Black Jack in what is now Douglas County.

Provisions were conveyed in wagons, and beef cattle were driven along for the men’s use. The animals subsisted entirely on grazing. By July 5, the troops had reached Council Grove, now the county seat of Morris County, Kansas, one of the most important stations on the old trail. Advancing about 16 miles further, they encamped near Diamond Spring.

On July 9, they arrived at the Little Arkansas River in Rice County. On the evening of July 12, they were found in Walnut Creek, Barton County. The following day brought them to the noted Pawnee Rock, near which they diverged from the main Santa Fe Trail and followed the Arkansas River to a point near the present-day city of Pueblo, Colorado, where they crossed into enemy territory.

Then began what proved to be one of American history’s most remarkable military campaigns. The principal engagement was the Battle of Sacramento; one writer said, “Did American arms ever fight the most wonderful?”

Colonel Doniphan’s men attacked a fortified position held by troops, outnumbering them nearly five to one. In speaking of their charge at that place, the same writer said, “It has never been equaled in all the annals of the world’s warfare.” The State of Kansas has honored Colonel Doniphan by naming a county and a town for him, and the State of Missouri named the seat of Ripley County in his honor.