victories over larger entrenched forces, and the contest closed
with the spectacular storming of the fortified heights of Cha-
pultepec and the capture of the City of Mexico (September 15,
622. At the outbreak of the war American troops had been
dispatched to seize California and New Mexico (territory which
included, besides the modern States of those names, most of the
present Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Colorado and
Wyoming). In the treaty of peace, after ceding Texas as far as
the Rio Grande, Mexico was forced to accept $15,000,000 for this
other territory. Members of the President's Cabinet wanted to
take all of Mexico ; Buchanan, Secretary of State, publicly
declared, " Destiny beckons us to hold and civilize Mexico " ;
and the press boasted confidently that the American flag in the
City of Mexico would never be hauled down. But Polk wisely in
sisted upon a more moderate policy, and took (and paid for) only
what he had offered to buy before he began the war. 623. A
misunderstanding soon arose as