From Notable Alumni · Foundation editorial

Conqueror of California (you're welcome, Stanford); bloodless taker of New Mexico; U.S. Military Governor of California. Stephen Watts Kearny (CC 1812) took a commission in 1812, spent the Mexican–American War acquiring American territory at a marching pace, and accomplished the bloodless conquest of New Mexico in nineteen days. He proceeded west and seized California for the United States, the territory that would in due course produce, among other things, Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and recipes utilizing the avocado. The civil code he drafted in Santa Fe survived him; so did his quarrel with John C. Frémont over the command of California, which the Army eventually settled in his favor with a court-martial.