Kearny sends a note to Col. Alexander William Doniphan, his second-in-command in Santa Fe, on October 2, to take all prisoners held by the Navajo and property which may have been stole from the inhabitants" of New Mexico.

On October 5, while on his way to California, Kearny stops in Socorro, New Mexico.

He writes a proclamation here that authorizes "all the inhabitants (Mexican & Pueblos) ...to form war parties, march into the country of their enemies, the Navajoes, to recover their property, to make reprisals and obtain redress for the many insults received from them. The old, the women and the children of the Navajoes must not be injured."

Kearny orders Doniphan to send a regiment of soldiers into Navajo country and secure a peace treaty with them.

A detachment of thirty men makes contact with the Navajo and speak to the Navajo Chief Narbona in mid-October.