A look at the current map of New Mexico, following the Rio Grande south from Albuquerque to Socorro, then leaving the river and drawing a direct line to El Paso, reveals the area labeled "Jornada del Muerto"--the journey of the dead.  To traverse this desolation became the fate of an expedition sent by Mirabeau B. Lamar, second president of the Republic of Texas, who in his grandiose plans wanted not only to officially claim the territory of the Republic to the Rio Grande at Sante Fe, but also to conquer all the territory to the Pacific.  This story recounts those glorious plans and their terrible demise.