Navajo Scouts
Encyclopedia
The Navajo Scouts were part of the United States
Army Indian Scouts
between 1873 and 1895. Generally, the scouts were signed up at Fort Wingate
for six month enlistments. In the period 1873 to 1885, there were usually ten to twenty-five scouts attached to units. United States Army
records indicated that in the Geronimo Campaign of 1886, there were about 150 Navajo
scouts, divided into three companies, who were part of the 5,000 man force General Nelson A. Miles
put in the field. In 1891 they were enlisted for three years. The Navajos employed as scouts were merged into regular units of the army in 1895. At least one person served almost continuously for over twenty-five years.
, army records indicate that Major
William Redwood Price of the 8th Cavalry gave permission for fifteen Navajo to join him on a trip from Fort Wingate to Fort Apache
in April 1871 but they were not "scouts". In January 1873 authorization was given "to enlist and discharge 50 Indian Scouts" in the New Mexico Territory
. Major Price employed at least twenty-five Navajos in that first enlistment at Fort Wingate and they were very busy until their discharge in August 1873.
Most of the scouts came from the south eastern part of the reservation and the checkerboard area. Some men repeated their enlistments. Navajos reported that Mariano told the Navajos if they did not want to be Scouts they would have to move out of this non-reservation country; so they agreed to become scouts.
Lieutenant Colonel
P. T. Swaine reported on 21 November 1876 to the District of New Mexico that he had an "...interview with the Chief Mariano through whose influence the last Scouts were (obtained)." On 1 June 1877 Lieutenant
Henry Wright, 9th Cavalry, reports that he "enlisted 21 Navajo Indians to serve as Scouts selecting them from about 100 who presented themselves for enlistment, they are young and able men and well mounted." The army continued to employ Navajos as scouts through 1895.
's Apache
braves from 1876 to 1880. In 1877 they participated in a battle at the Florida Mountains, of New Mexio and again in 1879 at Las Animas Creek. Lieutenant Henry Wright and Scout Jose Chavez were both commended for bravery in an 1877 action and the latter was still in the army in 1891 at Fort Wingate. The Navajo scouts were used by General George Crook
in finding Juh, Nana and Geronimo
between 1881 and 1886. General Nelson A. Miles
put 150 Navajos in the field as part of his 5,000 troop deployment against Geronimo in 1886.
Navajo scouts accompanied the United States Army when it investigated many civilian-Navajo confrontations. For example, between June 14 and September 28, 1883 there were five different Navajo reservation related activities. Lieutenant Parker, with ten enlisted men and teo scouts, went up to the San Juan River to separate Navajos and citizens who encroached on Navajo land. Lieutenant Guy, with seventeen enlisted men and two scouts, and Captain Smith, with 56 enlisted men and five scouts helped the local Indian agent
deal with unhappy Navajo chiefs
. This involved Manuelito, Torlino, Grando Muncho and fifty armed Navajos who were upset by raids of citizens and other tribes on their people and livestock. In another action: Lieutenant Lockett, with forty-two enlisted men, were joined by Lieutenant Holomon at Navajo Springs. Evidently a citizen named Houck and or Owens had murdered a Navajo chief's son and 100 armed Navajos were looking for them. It is evident from these four months of military reports from the field that the officers tended to trust the Navajo version of events.
Navajo scouts were used in 1891 when over sixty armed Hopi were prepared to fight to prevent their children being sent away to boarding school. There was a reference in a 1891 military report, that the reporting officer knew Navajos since 1853 and commanded fifty Navajo's in Benjamin Bonneville
1857 expedition
against the Apaches, and had complete confidence in their friendship.
In the late 1920s scouts became eligible for pensions. Many men were enlisted under nicknames and had lost their discharge papers. These men gave depositions about their service and vouched for others to Crown Point Indian Agent S. F. Stacker and Pension Examiner C. R. Franks in the late 1920s to early 1940s.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Army Indian Scouts
U.S. Army Indian Scouts
Native Americans have made up an integral part of U.S. military conflicts since America's beginning. Colonists recruited Indian allies during such instances as the Pequot War from 1634–1638, the Revolutionary War, as well as in War of 1812...
between 1873 and 1895. Generally, the scouts were signed up at Fort Wingate
Fort Wingate
Fort Wingate is near Gallup, New Mexico. There were two locations in New Mexico that had this name. The first one was located near San Rafael. The current fort was established on the southern edge of the Navajo territory in 1862. The initial purpose of the fort was to control the large Navajo...
for six month enlistments. In the period 1873 to 1885, there were usually ten to twenty-five scouts attached to units. United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
records indicated that in the Geronimo Campaign of 1886, there were about 150 Navajo
Navajo people
The Navajo of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the...
scouts, divided into three companies, who were part of the 5,000 man force General Nelson A. Miles
Nelson A. Miles
Nelson Appleton Miles was a United States soldier who served in the American Civil War, Indian Wars, and the Spanish-American War.-Early life:Miles was born in Westminster, Massachusetts, on his family's farm...
put in the field. In 1891 they were enlisted for three years. The Navajos employed as scouts were merged into regular units of the army in 1895. At least one person served almost continuously for over twenty-five years.
Enlistments
Between 300 to 400 Navajos served enlistments as Indian Scouts. Most of them came from the south eastern part of the reservation and the checkerboard area. Over 125 Navajo Scouts or their spouses received pensions between the 1920s and the 1940s. After the Long Walk of the NavajoLong Walk of the Navajo
The Long Walk of the Navajo, also called the Long Walk to Bosque Redondo , refers to the 1864 deportation of the Navajo people by the U.S. Government. Navajos were forced to walk at gunpoint from their reservation in what is now Arizona to eastern New Mexico. The trip lasted about 18 days...
, army records indicate that Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
William Redwood Price of the 8th Cavalry gave permission for fifteen Navajo to join him on a trip from Fort Wingate to Fort Apache
Fort Apache, Arizona
Fort Apache is an unincorporated community in Navajo County, Arizona, United States. Fort Apache is located on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation east of Canyon Day. Fort Apache has a post office with ZIP code 85926....
in April 1871 but they were not "scouts". In January 1873 authorization was given "to enlist and discharge 50 Indian Scouts" in the New Mexico Territory
New Mexico Territory
thumb|right|240px|Proposed boundaries for State of New Mexico, 1850The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of...
. Major Price employed at least twenty-five Navajos in that first enlistment at Fort Wingate and they were very busy until their discharge in August 1873.
Most of the scouts came from the south eastern part of the reservation and the checkerboard area. Some men repeated their enlistments. Navajos reported that Mariano told the Navajos if they did not want to be Scouts they would have to move out of this non-reservation country; so they agreed to become scouts.
Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
P. T. Swaine reported on 21 November 1876 to the District of New Mexico that he had an "...interview with the Chief Mariano through whose influence the last Scouts were (obtained)." On 1 June 1877 Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Henry Wright, 9th Cavalry, reports that he "enlisted 21 Navajo Indians to serve as Scouts selecting them from about 100 who presented themselves for enlistment, they are young and able men and well mounted." The army continued to employ Navajos as scouts through 1895.
Indian Wars
The scouts out of Fort Wingate were engaged in fighting VictorioVictorio
Victorio was a warrior and chief of the Chihenne band of the Chiricahua Apaches in what is now the American states of New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and the Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua....
's Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
braves from 1876 to 1880. In 1877 they participated in a battle at the Florida Mountains, of New Mexio and again in 1879 at Las Animas Creek. Lieutenant Henry Wright and Scout Jose Chavez were both commended for bravery in an 1877 action and the latter was still in the army in 1891 at Fort Wingate. The Navajo scouts were used by General George Crook
George Crook
George R. Crook was a career United States Army officer, most noted for his distinguished service during the American Civil War and the Indian Wars.-Early life:...
in finding Juh, Nana and Geronimo
Geronimo
Geronimo was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who fought against Mexico and the United States for their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades during the Apache Wars. Allegedly, "Geronimo" was the name given to him during a Mexican incident...
between 1881 and 1886. General Nelson A. Miles
Nelson A. Miles
Nelson Appleton Miles was a United States soldier who served in the American Civil War, Indian Wars, and the Spanish-American War.-Early life:Miles was born in Westminster, Massachusetts, on his family's farm...
put 150 Navajos in the field as part of his 5,000 troop deployment against Geronimo in 1886.
Navajo scouts accompanied the United States Army when it investigated many civilian-Navajo confrontations. For example, between June 14 and September 28, 1883 there were five different Navajo reservation related activities. Lieutenant Parker, with ten enlisted men and teo scouts, went up to the San Juan River to separate Navajos and citizens who encroached on Navajo land. Lieutenant Guy, with seventeen enlisted men and two scouts, and Captain Smith, with 56 enlisted men and five scouts helped the local Indian agent
Indian agent
In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with Native American tribes on behalf of the U.S. government.-Indian agents:*Leander Clark was agent for the Sac and Fox in Iowa beginning in 1866....
deal with unhappy Navajo chiefs
Tribal chief
A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...
. This involved Manuelito, Torlino, Grando Muncho and fifty armed Navajos who were upset by raids of citizens and other tribes on their people and livestock. In another action: Lieutenant Lockett, with forty-two enlisted men, were joined by Lieutenant Holomon at Navajo Springs. Evidently a citizen named Houck and or Owens had murdered a Navajo chief's son and 100 armed Navajos were looking for them. It is evident from these four months of military reports from the field that the officers tended to trust the Navajo version of events.
Navajo scouts were used in 1891 when over sixty armed Hopi were prepared to fight to prevent their children being sent away to boarding school. There was a reference in a 1891 military report, that the reporting officer knew Navajos since 1853 and commanded fifty Navajo's in Benjamin Bonneville
Benjamin Bonneville
Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville was a French-born officer in the United States Army, fur trapper, and explorer in the American West...
1857 expedition
Bonneville Expedition (1857)
The Bonneville Expedition was a military operation launched by the United States Army in 1857 during the Chiricahua Apache Wars. Colonel Benjamin Bonneville was in command of the party which entered the frontier from Fort Fillmore, New Mexico. Heading west across the desert where the expedition...
against the Apaches, and had complete confidence in their friendship.
In the late 1920s scouts became eligible for pensions. Many men were enlisted under nicknames and had lost their discharge papers. These men gave depositions about their service and vouched for others to Crown Point Indian Agent S. F. Stacker and Pension Examiner C. R. Franks in the late 1920s to early 1940s.
See Also
- Apache ScoutsApache scoutsThe Apache Scouts were part of the United States Army Indian Scouts, most of their service was during the Apache Wars up to 1886 though the last scout retired in 1947. The Apache scouts were the eyes and ears of the United States military and sometimes the cultural translators for the various...
- Pawnee ScoutsPawnee ScoutsPawnee Scouts were part of the United States Army in the latter half of the 19th century. Like other groups of Indian scouts, Pawnee warriors were recruited in large numbers to fight on the Northern Plains in various conflicts against hostile native Americans...
- Black Seminole ScoutsBlack Seminole ScoutsBlack Seminole Scouts, also known as the Seminole-Negro Indian Scouts, or Seminole Scouts, were employed by the United States Army between 1870 and 1914 as United States Army Indian Scouts. Despite the name, the unit included both Black Seminoles and some native Seminoles...
- Crow ScoutsCrow ScoutsCrow Scouts were first used by the United States Army in 1876 during the Great Sioux War. Because the Crow tribe was generally peaceful with the Americans, the army was able to enlist Crow warriors to help track hostile native Americans. A small group of Crow scouts witnessed General George A...
- Eskimo Scouts
Further reading
- Description of records concerning all Indian Scouts at archives.gov - Ironically has image of Apache Scouts at Ft. Wingate.