The Navajo's 'Long March' to the Treaty of Bosque Redondo was their 'Trail of Tears'
The Navajo leader,
Barboncito, negotiated a peace treaty with General William Tecumseh
Sherman which allowed the Navajo to return to their
homelands. General Sherman had planned to send them to Indian
territory in Oklahoma or Kansas, but Barboncito refused:
"When the Navajos were first created, four mountains and four
rivers were pointed out to us, inside of which we should
live. That was to be our country and it was given to us by
the first Woman of the Dineh. I hope you will not ask me to
go to any country except my own."
Click here to see articles on this treaty.
In exchange for
a promise to never make war on the United States again, the federal
government promised to give the Navajos 13,000 sheep, corn, flour,
and staples enough to get them through the first winter before
their crops were planted. Not one of these treaty provision
was kept, and the promised goods went missing between Washington
D.C. and the Indian agents in the field.