The Long Walk Of The Navajo By Mariah Martinez

The Long walk
Mariah Martinez
The Long Walk of the Navajo, or also known as the Long Walk to Bosque Redondo which was a deportation of the Navajo people from their reservations in 1864 from what is today's Arizona and New Mexico by the United Stated Government to be forced walk to Bosque Redondo. The Navajos were aggressively moved from place to place at gunpoint from the United States soldiers and even their homes were being raided leaving behind cattle, land, and their personal belongings . Threw out the whole journey there were many obstacles that not only the Navajo underwent but also the Spanish, Mexican, Apache, Comanche, Ute, and after 1846 the Anglo Americans had gone through the long walks also.
"The tension in 1859 and 1860, and
soon a large fraction of Navajos under the leadership of Manuelito began harassing the patrols and quartermaster supply trains."(Bailey, 2015) August 1851 Colonel Edwin Sumner created Fort Defiance for the U.S. government and Fort Wingate. The Bonneville Treaty of 1858 reduced the extent of Navajo land. Also there were treaties that were signed in 1849, 1858 and 1861 they all had failed. "On July 12, 1858 for the slaughter of the Navajo livestock on the grazing grounds. There was an attack on Fort Defiance by about 1,000 Navajo warriors under the leadership of Manuelito and Barboncito on April 30, 1860. Navajos were angry that the Army was bringing in troops to wage war."(Thomas, 2015) With constant back and forth between them all it did was cause more tension making things worse for the Navajo in the end. Even though treaties were signed there was still confrontations between the United States and the Navajo, like on February 15, 1861 when there was a dispute over a horse race because the United Stated Army believed that they were cheating and with this dispute it caused a full on massacre killing 30 Native Americans.
Just seven month later on September 22, 1861 military leaders started making plans to send the Navajo's. The idea was made by James Carleton to remove the Navajo's. "Originated by General James H. Carleton, New Mexico's U.S. Army commander, the plan called for the removal of the Navajo from their native lands, including areas in northeastern Arizona, through western New Mexico, and north into Utah and Colorado."( Kathy, 2015) Later the United States were to declared war on the Navajo so that they could fully accomplish their plans that they had made for getting rid of the Navajo so, on October 31, 1862 the congress agreed on the establishment of Fort Sumner on a forty mile square. Even though the new area for the Navajo wasn’t in good condition it didn’t have great water, or wood they also wanted to change the Navajos but despite the poor conditions they still went along with everything anyways and the first Indian reservation was made. “Though some officers specifically discouraged the selection of Bosque Redondo as a site because of its poor water and minimal provisions of firewood, it was established anyway. It was to be the first Indian reservation west of Oklahoma Indian Territory. The plan was to turn the Apache and Navajo into farmers on the Bosque Redondo with irrigation from the Pecos River. They were also to be civilized by going to school and practicing Christianity.”(Kathy, 2015)
After the final battle with the United Stated Army at Canyon de Chelly, the day was finally here for the Indians they were to be moved out of their home and begin their long walk to Bosque Redondo. In 1863 Carleton went to speak with the leader of the Navajo tribe to tell them to move out willingly or the US army would remove them by force, but the leader rejected the Generals offer now Carleton would get all his troops together to get all the Navajos out of their homes and off to Bosque Redondo."Under General Carleton’s orders in June 1863 Kit Carson with more than 700 men under him began the next phase of the war with the Navajos by first establishing yet another fort, Fort Canby, in Navajo country. Then in July he began a campaign of harassment against them."(Bailey, 2015) Carson and his men had orders to get all the Navajos out the women and children would They also destroyed the Navajos crops and to either captured or kill their livestock, Carleton would even pay soldiers who would bring him the Navajos horses, mules, and sheep.
Carson's plan wasn’t a complete success he only had 180 Navajos and he still needed other tribes to raid "At this point Carleton ordered Carson to strike at the Navajo homeland of Canon de Chelly where Carson’s troops destroyed their crops and orchards, as well destroying or taking their livestock and food caches and burning down their homes.
With the onset of winter the Navajos were severely weakened by the loss of so much of their means of sustenance, and the ravaging of Cañon de Chelly finally broke their spirit. By February 1864 nearly 3000 Navajos had surrendered. They were incarcerated at Forts Canby and Wingate where in little over one week 126 of them died from dysentery and exposure, while over 2000 began the infamous forced march known as the “Long Walk” across New Mexico to Fort Sumner, in which many more perished. In April another 2400 Navajo men, women and children began their forced march to Bosque Redondo in the midst of heavy snow falls and blizzards which blocked the roads, and many more perished."(Bailey, 2015) They said that the United States Army was very ruthless and if anyone would to have fallen back from the group they would have been killed ."The Long Walk started in the beginning of spring in 1864. Bands of Navajo led by the Army were relocated from their traditional lands in eastern Arizona Territory and western New Mexico Territory to Fort Sumner in the Pecos River valley In The march was one that was very difficult and pushed many Navajos to
their breaking point, including death. The distance itself was cruel, but the fact that they did not receive any aid from the soldiers were devastating. Not every single person was in prime condition to trek 300 miles, many began the walk exhausted and malnourished, Others were not properly clothed and were not in the least prepared for such a long journey. Neither sympathy nor remorse were given to the Navajos. They were never informed as to where they were going, why they were being relocated, and how long it would take to get there. One account that was passed through generations within the Navajos that show the attitude of the U.S. Army is as follows: It was said that those ancestors were on the Long Walk with their daughter, who was pregnant and about to give birth...the daughter got tired and weak and couldn't keep up with the others or go further because of her condition. So my ancestors asked the Army to hold up for a while and to let the woman give birth. But the soldiers wouldn't do it. They forced my people to move on, saying that they were getting behind the others. The soldier told the parents that they had to leave their daughters behind. "Your daughter is not going to survive, anyway; sooner or later she is going to die," they said in their own language. "Go ahead," the daughter said to her parents, "things might come out all right with me," But the poor thing was mistaken, my grandparents used to say. not long after they had moved on, they heard a gunshot from where they had been a short time ago. At least 200 died during the 18-day, 300-mile. Between 8,000 and 9,000 people were settled on an area of 40 square miles, with a peak population of 9,022 by the spring of 1865. There were actually as many as 50 groups, taking one of seven known routes. They each took a different path but were on the same trail and when returning to the Navajo lands they reformed their group to become one, this group was ten miles long.(Peter,2015) " 8,500 men,women, and children had died from the 300 mile march and with the winter conditions it just made things worse for them about 200 died from starvation or the cold. Some Navajos escaped the walk by going into the Chiricahua Apache territory, the Grand Canyon, on mountains and Utah.
At Bosque Redondo there were many problems like the Navajos rivals the Mescalero Apaches were also moved to the same area and there was over two times the amount of people who were intended to be there making things worse for the both of them they even had problems with the land."Water and firewood were major issues from the start; the water was brackish and the round grove of trees was quite small. Nature and humans both caused crop failures every year. The corn crop was infested with army worms and failed repeatedly. The Pecos River flooded and washed out the head gates of the irrigation system. In 1865 Navajo began leaving. By 1867 the remaining Navajo refused to plant a crop."(Thomas, 2015) In 1866 the New Mexican public began to go against Carleton because he had moved the Navajos, January of the same year the Territorial Assembly voted to remove Carleton from his position later in September they had finally replaced Carleton for General G. W. Getty . After four years of the Navajos losing their home, being overcrowded, and living at Bosque Redondo under terrible conditions.
On June 1, 1868 the Treaty of Bosque Redondo was made between the United States and Navajo leaders at Fort Sumner. "Some of the provisions included establishing a reservation, restrictions on raiding, a resident Indian Agent and agency, compulsory education for children, the supply of seeds, agricultural implements and other provisions, rights of the Navajos to be protected, establishment of railroads and forts, compensation to tribal members, and arrangements for the return of Navajos to the reservation established by the treaty. The Navajo agreed for ten years to send their children to school and the U.S. government agreed to establish schools with teachers for every thirty Navajo children. The U.S. government also promised for ten years to make annual deliveries of things the Navajos could not make for themselves."(Thomas, 2015) The Navajos also received $150,000 for rehabilitation, 15,000 sheep and goats and 500 head of cattle,and each tribe got payments to each member. The treaty was signed by Sherman, S. F. Tappan (Indian Commissioner), Navajos Barboncito, Armijo, Delgado , Manuelito , Largo , Herrero , Chiquito , Muerte de Hombre, Hombro, Narbono, Narbono Segundo and Ganado Mucho.Now that the Treaty of Bosque Redondo was agreed upon everyone and signed the Navajos began their way back home they set off in their groups on the way back from
the long walk.The U.S. government allowed all tribes to return to their original homes and land. The Navajos also received 3.5 million acres of land in the four sacred mountains the Navajos even became more cohesive tribe after the Long Walk and they had increase the size of their reservation over 16 million acres of land.

Citations: https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Long_Walk_of_the_Navajo http://newmexicohistory.org/people/navajo-long-walk-to-bosque-redondo-1864 http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-navajolongwalk.html https://www.crowcanyon.org/EducationProducts/peoples_mesa_verde/historic_long_walk.asp