Santa Fe Governor Armijo had set up a position in Apache Canyon, a narrow pass about ten miles (sixteen kilometers) southeast of the city.

However, on August 14, before the American army was even in view, he had decided not to fight.

When Pino, Chaves, and some of the militiamen insisted on fighting, Armijo had ordered the cannon pointed at them.

The New Mexican army had retreated to Santa Fe, and Armijo had fled to Chihuahua.

Kearny and his troops encountered no Mexican forces when they arrived on August 15.

Kearny and his force enter Santa Fe and claim  the New Mexico Territory for the United States without a shot being fired.

Establishing a civil government under ex-Missourian Santa Fe trader Charles Bent, Kearney divides his command into three forces: one, commanded by Colonel Sterling Price, to occupy New Mexico; a second, under Alexander William Doniphan, to capture Chihuahua; and the third, his own, to occupy California.

American officers with a background in law draw up a temporary legal system for the territory called the Kearny Code.