19th Century clash between Anglos and New Mexico's indigenous peoples
As more Anglos entered New Mexico the Navajo and Apache watched their hunting grounds turn into farmland, threatening their way of life. This pushed them to attack settlements throughout New Mexico .
In 1864, the US Army sent General James Carleton to subdue the native peoples. In turn he assigned legendary mountain man Colonel Christopher "Kit" Carson. Carson was told to imprison all of the women and children and to shoot native men on sight. Carson had lived among the American Indians for many years and spoke several different Native American languages. Carson attacked the Mescalero Apaches. After three months of brutal fighting, the Apaches surrendered. Carson sent them to the Bosque Redondo Reservation on the Pecos River .
Carson then burned the cornfields and killed the live stock of the Navajo. On the edge of starvation, they surrendered. Carson went against orders and spared the lives of the men. But he herded the entire tribe of 7,000 across the state to Bosque Redondo 300 miles away. The Navajo had few blankets and less food and hundreds died along the way of what the Navajo came to call the "Long Walk".
Bosque Redondo was a disaster, since the land was too dry to grow crops. After a couple of years the federal government admitted the mistake and let the Navajo return to their traditional lands in Northwestern New Mexico where they continue to live today.
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