Navajo Wars
Encyclopedia
Raid (military)
Raid, also known as depredation, is a military tactic or operational warfare mission which has a specific purpose and is not normally intended to capture and hold terrain, but instead finish with the raiding force quickly retreating to a previous defended position prior to the enemy forces being...
s by different 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...
bands on the rancheras along the Rio Grande
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
and the counter campaigns by the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
governments, and sometimes their civilian elements. The raiding and counter-raids began in the early 17th century and continued through 1865. It also was a fairly common practice for Navajo, or their 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...
kin, to raid one Spanish, or Mexican, village and trade with another. And the reverse was equally true of the Spanish and the Mexicans.
Timeline
- 1582: Espejo-Beltrain "found here peaceful Indian mountaineers" called Querechos. This party did not linger around AcomaAcoma PuebloAcoma Pueblo is a Native American pueblo approximately 60 miles west of Albuquerque, New Mexico in the United States. Three reservations make up Acoma Pueblo: Sky City , Acomita, and McCartys. The Acoma Pueblo tribe is a federally recognized tribal entity...
because the Querechose who carried on trade with the Pueblo were known to come to their aid in times of conflict. - 1630: Fray Benevides arranges a peace between the Tewas and NavajoNavajo peopleThe 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...
. - 1638: Governor Luis de Rosa encourages Navajos to raid the missions of his political enemy the Franciscan friars.
- 1641–42: Franciscan friars mount a military campaign against Navajo, burning corn, taking prisoners and killing some.
- 1644–47: Spanish fight Navajos living along the San Juan River.
- 1659: Bernardo Lopez sends 40 Spanish soldiers and 800 allies into Navajo land.
- 1661: Lopez sanctions killing and capture of Navajos as slaves who came to Tewa to trade.
- 1669: Spanish attack Navajos near Acoma.
- 1677–78: Navajos actively raiding Spanish pueblos. Spanish mount three different scorched earth and slave gathering campaigns.
- 1680: Navajos probably join Pueblos. Start of Great Southwestern Revolt against Spanish.
- 1691: Navajos alert Pueblos and ApacheApacheApache 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...
s that Spanish force was on its way. - 1696: Navajos said to be inciting other tribes, combined with TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
in revolt. - 1698–1699: End of Great Southwestern Revolt; Spanish boundaries remain constant.
Mexican period
Following the Mexican War of IndependenceMexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The movement, which became known as the Mexican War of Independence, was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought...
(1810-1821) relations with the Navajo were conducted from Santa Fe, capital of the province of Nuevo México
Santa Fe de Nuevo México
Santa Fe de Nuevo México was a province of New Spain and later Mexico that existed from the late 16th century up through the mid-19th century. It was centered on the upper valley of the Rio Grande , in an area that included most of the present-day U.S. state of New Mexico...
.
Timeline
- June, 1822: Massacre of Navajo tribal leaders at Jemez Pueblo followed by extensive Navajo raids.
American period
The U.S. military assumed nominal control of the southwest from Mexico by 1846. Military and civilian records show that civilians continued their raids into Navajo lands. Likewise, Navajo raided these same civilians. SlaveryHistory of slavery in the United States
Slavery in the United States was a form of slave labor which existed as a legal institution in North America for more than a century before the founding of the United States in 1776, and continued mostly in the South until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in...
, the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
and civilian militias complicated the U.S. military response to the Navajo until the mid 1860s, which culminated in the Long Walk
Long 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...
.
Timeline
- 1846: Following an invitation from a small party of American soldiers under the command of Captain John Reid who journeyed deep into Navajo country and contacted him, NarbonaNarbonaNarbona was a Navajo chief who participated in the Navajo Wars. He was killed in a confrontation with U.S. soldiers on August 30th, 1849....
and other Navajos negotiated a treaty of peace with Colonel Alexander DoniphanAlexander William DoniphanAlexander William Doniphan was a 19th-century American attorney, soldier and politician from Missouri who is best known today as the man who prevented the summary execution of Mormon founder Joseph Smith, Jr. at the close of the 1838 Mormon War in that state...
on November 21, 1846 at Bear Springs, Ojo del Oso (later the site of Fort WingateFort WingateFort 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...
). The treaty was not honored by young Navajo raiders who continued to steal stock from New Mexican villages and herders. - 1849: The military governor of New Mexico, Colonel John Macrae Washington, accompanied by John S. Calhoun, Indian agent, led a force of 400 into Navajo county, penetrating Canyon de ChellyCanyon de Chelly National MonumentCanyon de Chelly National Monument was established on April 1, 1931 as a unit of the National Park Service. It is located in northeastern Arizona within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation...
, and there signed a treaty with two Navajo leaders acknowledging the jurisdiction of the United States and allowing forts and trading posts in Navajo land. The United States, on its part promised "such donations [and] such other liberal and humane measures, as [it] may deem meet and proper". - 1851: Col. Edwin SumnerEdwin Vose SumnerEdwin Vose Sumner was a career United States Army officer who became a Union Army general and the oldest field commander of any Army Corps on either side during the American Civil War...
builds forts and establishes Fort DefianceFort Defiance, ArizonaFort Defiance is a census-designated place in Apache County, Arizona, United States. The population was 4,061 at the 2000 census.- History :...
in the middle of Diné bikéyahNavajo NationThe Navajo Nation is a semi-autonomous Native American-governed territory covering , occupying all of northeastern Arizona, the southeastern portion of Utah, and northwestern New Mexico...
(Navajo territory). - 1855: A treaty is signed at Laguna Negra by ManuelitoManuelitoManuelito was one of the principal war chiefs of the Navajo people before, during and after the Long Walk Period. His name means Little Manuel in Spanish. He was born to the Clan, near the Bear's Ears in southeastern Utah about 1818. As any Navajo, he was known by different names depending upon...
and Zarcillos Largos for the Navajo and Henry Linn Dodge (Indian agent), Governor Merriweather, and General John GarlandJohn Garland (general)John Garland was a career United States soldier in the Regular Army who had a long and distinguished career spanning fifty years of service during the War of 1812, Seminole Wars, Mexican-American War, Utah War and very briefly into the American Civil War.-Early life and career:Garland was born in...
. - 1858: Navajo demand that Fort Defiance stop grazing their livestock on prime Navajo land. A servant of the commanding officer rapeRapeRape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
s a Navajo, and the Navajo take traditional revenge and kill the man. The military fights the Navajo seeking the murderers. - 1860: U.S. military, Mexican-Americans, Zunis, and Utes all raid Navajo land.
- January: Navajo kill four soldiers from Fort Defiance.
- April: Manulito, Barboncito and 1,000 Navajo attackSecond Battle of Fort DefianceThe Second Battle of Fort Defiance was a military engagement fought during the United States period of the Navajo Wars. On August 30, 1860, about 1,000 Navajo warriors assaulted the United States Army garrison of Fort Defiance in New Mexico Territory, now within present day Arizona...
Ft. Defiance. Others raid sheep and mules near Santa FeSanta Fe, New MexicoSanta Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
. - May–October: 400 New Mexicans under Manuel Antonio ChavesManuel Antonio ChavesManuel Antonio Chaves or Chávez , known as El Leoncito , was a soldier in the Mexican Army and then became a rancher who lived in New Mexico. His life was full of incident, and his courage and marksmanship became literally legendary in his own time...
form a militia and raid Navajo land, followed by independent raids by citizens for captives. - September–December: Seven army expeditions kill 23 Navajo.
- 1861: Civil War causes the Union troops to abandon forts and head east.
- February: Another treaty is signed at Fort Fauntleroy (later Fort WingateFort WingateFort 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...
). - February: General Edward CanbyEdward CanbyEdward Richard Sprigg Canby was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War, Reconstruction era, and the Indian Wars...
says 31 citizens from TaosTaos, New MexicoTaos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico, incorporated in 1934. As of the 2000 census, its population was 4,700. Other nearby communities include Ranchos de Taos, Cañon, Taos Canyon, Ranchitos, and El Prado. The town is close to Taos Pueblo, the Native American...
arrive at Fort with captive Navajos (taken from them by Canby) and need of rations. - March: Canby reports four more citizen groups have attacked Navajos for captives.
- August: Manuel Antonio ChavesManuel Antonio ChavesManuel Antonio Chaves or Chávez , known as El Leoncito , was a soldier in the Mexican Army and then became a rancher who lived in New Mexico. His life was full of incident, and his courage and marksmanship became literally legendary in his own time...
of the New Mexico Volunteers1st Regiment New Mexico Volunteer CavalryThe 1st Regiment New Mexico Cavalry was a volunteer cavalry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War, although it was engaged exclusively against Native Americans.-Service:...
orders his command to open fire on gathered Navajos after a dispute arose from allegations of cheating at a horse race between Navajos & New Mexican Volunteers forces at Fort Wingate. Treaty signed in February is broken and Navajos resume attacks.
- February: Another treaty is signed at Fort Fauntleroy (later Fort Wingate
- 1862: ConfederateConfederate States of AmericaThe Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
forcesConfederate States ArmyThe Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
push up the Rio Grande, and raids on Navajos by civilians increase. - 1862: Union forcesUnion ArmyThe Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
, of the Colorado Volunteers, assisted by some New Mexican Volunteer militia units, push the Confederate forces back to TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. With the arrival of the California Volunteers under the command of General James H. CarletonJames Henry CarletonJames Henry Carleton was an officer in the Union army during the American Civil War. Carleton is most well known as an Indian fighter in the southwestern United States.-Biography:...
, Fort Wingate is re-established at Ojo del Oso (formerly Fauntleroy). Citizens state Navajos and Apaches stole 30,000 sheep in 1862. - 1863: Navajos are continually raided by militia.
- July: The New Mexico District Military Governor, General James Henry CarletonJames Henry CarletonJames Henry Carleton was an officer in the Union army during the American Civil War. Carleton is most well known as an Indian fighter in the southwestern United States.-Biography:...
, tells 18 Navajo chiefs that they must surrender by July 20, 1863, and move to Fort Sumner, at the Bosque Redondo. - July: Under orders from Gen. Carleton, Col. Kit CarsonKit CarsonChristopher Houston "Kit" Carson was an American frontiersman and Indian fighter. Carson left home in rural present-day Missouri at age 16 and became a Mountain man and trapper in the West. Carson explored the west to California, and north through the Rocky Mountains. He lived among and married...
starts his simultaneous campaign against the Mescelaro Apache and Navajo. - September: Carson is ordered to direct four companies of New Mexican Volunteer Militia at Fort Wingate against the Navajo. Carson's first priority is to defeat the Mescalero Apache, then afterwards the Navajo.
- October: General Carleton establishes Bosque Redondo and the defeated Mescelaro Apaches are sent there first in December.
- July: The New Mexico District Military Governor, General James Henry Carleton
Between September 1863 and January 1864, Carson and his men chased the Navajo, killing and capturing a few. Crops were burned, stock was confiscated, hogan
Hogan
A hogan is the primary traditional home of the Navajo people. Other traditional structures include the summer shelter, the underground home, and the sweat house...
s were burned. Some of Carson's men marched through Canyon de Chelly
Battle of Canyon de Chelly
The Battle of Canyon de Chelly was fought in 1864 as part of the Navajo Wars. It was a successful operation for the United States Army which precipitated the Long Walk and was the final major military engagement between the Navajo and the Americans...
destroying Navajo property. Without food or shelter to sustain them through the winters, and continuously chased by the U.S. Army, groups of Navajo began to surrender.
Starting in January 1864, many bands and their leaders—Barboncito
Barboncito
Barboncito was a famous Navajo political and spiritual leader. His name means poorly groomed child in Spanish. He also was known as , , , and...
, Armijo, and finally in 1866 Manuelito
Manuelito
Manuelito was one of the principal war chiefs of the Navajo people before, during and after the Long Walk Period. His name means Little Manuel in Spanish. He was born to the Clan, near the Bear's Ears in southeastern Utah about 1818. As any Navajo, he was known by different names depending upon...
—surrendered or were captured and made what is called the "Long Walk
Long 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...
" to the Bosque Redondo reservation at Fort Sumner
Fort Sumner
Fort Sumner was a military fort in De Baca County in southeastern New Mexico charged with the internment of Navajo and Mescalero Apache populations from 1863-1868 at nearby Bosque Redondo.-History:...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
.
Although a bitter memory for many Navajo, there is this firsthand account:
"By slow stages we traveled eastward by present Gallup and Chusbbito, Bear Spring, which is now called Fort WingateFort WingateFort 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...
. You ask how they treated us? If there was room the soldiers put the women and children on the wagons. Some even let them ride behind them on their horses. I have never been able to understand a people who killed you one day and on the next played with your children...?"
—Very Slim Man, Navajo elder, quoted by Richard Van Valkenburgh, Desert MagazineDesert MagazineDesert Magazine was a monthly regional publication based in the Colorado Desert, in the Coachella Valley town of Palm Desert near Palm Springs, United States.-Editors:...
, April, 1946, p. 23.