Question
The Long Walk of the Navahos
1860—March 12, U.S. Congress passes Pre-emption Bill, providing free land to settlers in western territories. April 3, first Pony Express leaves St. Joseph, Missouri; delivers letters at Sacramento, California, April 13. April 23, Democratic National Convention at Charleston, South Carolina, divides on the slavery issue. May 16–18, Republican National Convention in Chicago nominates Abraham Lincoln for President. June, population of U.S. reaches 31,443,321. July, Spencer repeating rifle invented. November 6, Abraham Lincoln receives only 40 percent of popular vote but wins Presidency. December 20, South Carolina secedes from the Union.
1861—February 4, Confederate Congress organized at Montgomery, Alabama. February 9, Jefferson Davis elected President of Confederate States. February 11, Abraham Lincoln says farewell to friends and neighbors at Springfield, Illinois, and leaves by train for Washington. March, President Davis asks for 100,000 soldiers to defend the Confederacy. April 12, Confederates open fire on Fort Sumter. April 14, Fort Sumter falls. April 15, President Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteer soldiers. July 21, First Battle of Bull Run; Union Army falls back on Washington. October 6, rioting Russian students close down University of St. Petersburg. October 25, Pacific Telegraph line between St. Louis and San Francisco completed. December 5, Gatling gun is patented. December 14, British mourn death of Albert, Prince Consort of Queen Victoria. December 30, U.S. banks suspend gold payments.
When our fathers lived they heard that the Americans were coming across the great river westward. … We heard of guns and powder and lead—first flintlocks, then percussion caps, and now repeating rifles. We first saw the Americans at Cottonwood Wash. We had wars with the Mexicans and the Pueblos. We captured mules from the Mexicans, and had many mules. The Americans came to trade with us. When the Americans first came we had a big dance, and they danced with our women. We also traded.
—MANUELITO OF THE NAVAHOS
MANUELITO AND OTHER NAVAHO leaders made treaties with the Americans. “Then the soldiers built the fort here,” Manuelito remembered, “and gave us an agent who advised us to behave well. He told us to live peaceably with the whites; to keep our promises. They wrote down the promises, so that we would always remember them.” 1
Manuelito tried to keep the promises in the treaty, but after the soldiers came and burned his hogans and killed his livestock because of something a few wild young Navahos had done, he grew angry at the Americans. He and his band had been wealthy, but the soldiers had made them poor. To become ricos again they must raid the Mexicans to the south, and for this the Mexicans called them ladrones, or thieves. For as long as anyone could remember, the Mexicans had been raiding Navahos to steal their young children and make slaves of them, and for as long as anyone could remember the Navahos had been retaliating with raids against the Mexicans.
After the Americans came to Santa Fe and called the country New Mexico, they protected the Mexicans because they had become American citizens. The Navahos were not citizens because they were Indians, and when they raided the Mexicans, soldiers would come rushing into the Navaho country to punish them as outlaws. This was all an angry puzzle to Manuelito and his people, for they knew that many of the Mexicans had Indian blood, and yet no soldiers ever went rushing after the Mexicans to punish them for stealing Navaho children.
The first fort the Americans built in the Navaho country was in a grassy valley at the mouth of Canyon Bonito. They called it Fort Defiance, and put their horses out to graze on pastureland long prized by Manuelito and his people. The soldier chief told the Navahos that the pastures belonged to the fort, and ordered them to keep their animals away. Because there was no fencing, the Navahos could not prevent their livestock from straying to the forbidden meadows. One morning a company of mounted soldiers rode out of the fort and shot all the animals belonging to the Navahos.
To replace their horses and mules, the Navahos raided the soldiers’ herds and supply trains. The soldiers in turn began attacking bands of Navahos. In February, 1860, Manuelito led five hundred warriors against the Army’s horse herd, which was grazing a few miles north of Fort Defiance. The Navaho lances and arrows were no match for the well-armed soldier guard. They suffered more than thirty casualties but captured only a few horses. During the following weeks, Manuelito and his ally Barboncito built up a force of more than a thousand warriors, and in the darkness of the early hours of April 30, they surrounded Fort Defiance. Two hours before dawn, the Navahos attacked the fort from three sides. They were determined to wipe it off the face of their land.
They came very near succeeding. With a rattle of fire from their few old Spanish guns, the Navahos drove in the sentries and overran several buildings. As startled soldiers poured from their barracks, they met showers of arrows, but after several minutes of confusion the soldiers formed files and soon commenced a steady musket fire. When daylight came, the Navahos pulled back into the hills, satisfied that they had taught the soldiers a good lesson.
The United States Army, however, considered the attack a challenge of the flag flying over Fort Defiance, an act of war. A few weeks later Colonel Edward Richard Sprigg Canby, at the head of six companies of cavalry and nine of infantry.
After reading this passage answer the following :
1. What you notice, Textual Evidence, My thoughts
2. What you notice, Textual Evidence, My thoughts
3. What you notice, Textual Evidence, My thoughts
4. What you notice, Textual Evidence, My thoughts
5. What you notice, Textual Evidence, My thoughts
1860—March 12, U.S. Congress passes Pre-emption Bill, providing free land to settlers in western territories. April 3, first Pony Express leaves St. Joseph, Missouri; delivers letters at Sacramento, California, April 13. April 23, Democratic National Convention at Charleston, South Carolina, divides on the slavery issue. May 16–18, Republican National Convention in Chicago nominates Abraham Lincoln for President. June, population of U.S. reaches 31,443,321. July, Spencer repeating rifle invented. November 6, Abraham Lincoln receives only 40 percent of popular vote but wins Presidency. December 20, South Carolina secedes from the Union.
1861—February 4, Confederate Congress organized at Montgomery, Alabama. February 9, Jefferson Davis elected President of Confederate States. February 11, Abraham Lincoln says farewell to friends and neighbors at Springfield, Illinois, and leaves by train for Washington. March, President Davis asks for 100,000 soldiers to defend the Confederacy. April 12, Confederates open fire on Fort Sumter. April 14, Fort Sumter falls. April 15, President Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteer soldiers. July 21, First Battle of Bull Run; Union Army falls back on Washington. October 6, rioting Russian students close down University of St. Petersburg. October 25, Pacific Telegraph line between St. Louis and San Francisco completed. December 5, Gatling gun is patented. December 14, British mourn death of Albert, Prince Consort of Queen Victoria. December 30, U.S. banks suspend gold payments.
When our fathers lived they heard that the Americans were coming across the great river westward. … We heard of guns and powder and lead—first flintlocks, then percussion caps, and now repeating rifles. We first saw the Americans at Cottonwood Wash. We had wars with the Mexicans and the Pueblos. We captured mules from the Mexicans, and had many mules. The Americans came to trade with us. When the Americans first came we had a big dance, and they danced with our women. We also traded.
—MANUELITO OF THE NAVAHOS
MANUELITO AND OTHER NAVAHO leaders made treaties with the Americans. “Then the soldiers built the fort here,” Manuelito remembered, “and gave us an agent who advised us to behave well. He told us to live peaceably with the whites; to keep our promises. They wrote down the promises, so that we would always remember them.” 1
Manuelito tried to keep the promises in the treaty, but after the soldiers came and burned his hogans and killed his livestock because of something a few wild young Navahos had done, he grew angry at the Americans. He and his band had been wealthy, but the soldiers had made them poor. To become ricos again they must raid the Mexicans to the south, and for this the Mexicans called them ladrones, or thieves. For as long as anyone could remember, the Mexicans had been raiding Navahos to steal their young children and make slaves of them, and for as long as anyone could remember the Navahos had been retaliating with raids against the Mexicans.
After the Americans came to Santa Fe and called the country New Mexico, they protected the Mexicans because they had become American citizens. The Navahos were not citizens because they were Indians, and when they raided the Mexicans, soldiers would come rushing into the Navaho country to punish them as outlaws. This was all an angry puzzle to Manuelito and his people, for they knew that many of the Mexicans had Indian blood, and yet no soldiers ever went rushing after the Mexicans to punish them for stealing Navaho children.
The first fort the Americans built in the Navaho country was in a grassy valley at the mouth of Canyon Bonito. They called it Fort Defiance, and put their horses out to graze on pastureland long prized by Manuelito and his people. The soldier chief told the Navahos that the pastures belonged to the fort, and ordered them to keep their animals away. Because there was no fencing, the Navahos could not prevent their livestock from straying to the forbidden meadows. One morning a company of mounted soldiers rode out of the fort and shot all the animals belonging to the Navahos.
To replace their horses and mules, the Navahos raided the soldiers’ herds and supply trains. The soldiers in turn began attacking bands of Navahos. In February, 1860, Manuelito led five hundred warriors against the Army’s horse herd, which was grazing a few miles north of Fort Defiance. The Navaho lances and arrows were no match for the well-armed soldier guard. They suffered more than thirty casualties but captured only a few horses. During the following weeks, Manuelito and his ally Barboncito built up a force of more than a thousand warriors, and in the darkness of the early hours of April 30, they surrounded Fort Defiance. Two hours before dawn, the Navahos attacked the fort from three sides. They were determined to wipe it off the face of their land.
They came very near succeeding. With a rattle of fire from their few old Spanish guns, the Navahos drove in the sentries and overran several buildings. As startled soldiers poured from their barracks, they met showers of arrows, but after several minutes of confusion the soldiers formed files and soon commenced a steady musket fire. When daylight came, the Navahos pulled back into the hills, satisfied that they had taught the soldiers a good lesson.
The United States Army, however, considered the attack a challenge of the flag flying over Fort Defiance, an act of war. A few weeks later Colonel Edward Richard Sprigg Canby, at the head of six companies of cavalry and nine of infantry.
After reading this passage answer the following :
1. What you notice, Textual Evidence, My thoughts
2. What you notice, Textual Evidence, My thoughts
3. What you notice, Textual Evidence, My thoughts
4. What you notice, Textual Evidence, My thoughts
5. What you notice, Textual Evidence, My thoughts
Answers
GPT-4o mini
Certainly! Below are five observations based on the passage about the Long Walk of the Navahos, including textual evidence and personal thoughts for each observation.
### 1. Strained Relations Between Navahos and Americans
**Textual Evidence:** “Manuelito tried to keep the promises in the treaty, but after the soldiers came and burned his hogans and killed his livestock because of something a few wild young Navahos had done, he grew angry at the Americans.”
**My Thoughts:** This highlights the fractious nature of the relationship between the Navahos and the U.S. government. Despite initial cooperation and treaties, violent actions and broken promises led to deep resentment among the Navaho people. It raises questions about the nature of treaties and the power dynamics involved in such agreements.
### 2. Economic Hardship Due to American Intervention
**Textual Evidence:** “The soldiers had made them poor. To become ricos again they must raid the Mexicans to the south, and for this the Mexicans called them ladrones, or thieves.”
**My Thoughts:** This statement illustrates the economic consequences of American expansion for the Navahos. Stripped of their wealth and resources, Manuelito’s desire to reclaim his people’s prosperity through raiding demonstrates a tragic cycle of violence borne from desperation. It reflects on how colonial actions can lead to economic and moral dilemmas for indigenous communities.
### 3. Perception of Fairness in Justice
**Textual Evidence:** “This was all an angry puzzle to Manuelito and his people, for they knew that many of the Mexicans had Indian blood, and yet no soldiers ever went rushing after the Mexicans to punish them for stealing Navaho children.”
**My Thoughts:** This reflects the complexity of racial and ethnic identities in the context of colonialism. Manuelito’s awareness of the mixed heritage among Mexicans juxtaposes the arbitrary nature of how justice was dispensed, drawing attention to the unequal treatment of the Navahos. It raises critical questions about how history and identity intersect in the context of systemic injustice.
### 4. The Role of Fort Defiance as a Symbol
**Textual Evidence:** “The first fort the Americans built in the Navaho country was in a grassy valley at the mouth of Canyon Bonito. They called it Fort Defiance…”
**My Thoughts:** Fort Defiance serves as a powerful symbol of the American military presence and intrusion into Navaho land. The name itself implies a challenge to the Navaho people’s autonomy and a commitment by the U.S. to assert control. This allows for a broader reflection on how forts served as markers of colonization and the displacement of indigenous communities.
### 5. The Navahos’ Resistance
**Textual Evidence:** “During the following weeks, Manuelito and his ally Barboncito built up a force of more than a thousand warriors, and in the darkness of the early hours of April 30, they surrounded Fort Defiance.”
**My Thoughts:** The act of organizing a significant resistance against Fort Defiance illustrates the Navahos’ resilience and determination to defend their land. Despite facing overwhelming military power, this reflects a profound sense of agency and the desire to reclaim sovereignty. It emphasizes the importance of resistance in indigenous histories, often overlooked in broader narratives of American expansion.
These observations provide insight into the complexities of the interactions between the Navahos and Americans, highlighting themes of broken promises, economic hardship, injustice, symbolism, and resistance.
### 1. Strained Relations Between Navahos and Americans
**Textual Evidence:** “Manuelito tried to keep the promises in the treaty, but after the soldiers came and burned his hogans and killed his livestock because of something a few wild young Navahos had done, he grew angry at the Americans.”
**My Thoughts:** This highlights the fractious nature of the relationship between the Navahos and the U.S. government. Despite initial cooperation and treaties, violent actions and broken promises led to deep resentment among the Navaho people. It raises questions about the nature of treaties and the power dynamics involved in such agreements.
### 2. Economic Hardship Due to American Intervention
**Textual Evidence:** “The soldiers had made them poor. To become ricos again they must raid the Mexicans to the south, and for this the Mexicans called them ladrones, or thieves.”
**My Thoughts:** This statement illustrates the economic consequences of American expansion for the Navahos. Stripped of their wealth and resources, Manuelito’s desire to reclaim his people’s prosperity through raiding demonstrates a tragic cycle of violence borne from desperation. It reflects on how colonial actions can lead to economic and moral dilemmas for indigenous communities.
### 3. Perception of Fairness in Justice
**Textual Evidence:** “This was all an angry puzzle to Manuelito and his people, for they knew that many of the Mexicans had Indian blood, and yet no soldiers ever went rushing after the Mexicans to punish them for stealing Navaho children.”
**My Thoughts:** This reflects the complexity of racial and ethnic identities in the context of colonialism. Manuelito’s awareness of the mixed heritage among Mexicans juxtaposes the arbitrary nature of how justice was dispensed, drawing attention to the unequal treatment of the Navahos. It raises critical questions about how history and identity intersect in the context of systemic injustice.
### 4. The Role of Fort Defiance as a Symbol
**Textual Evidence:** “The first fort the Americans built in the Navaho country was in a grassy valley at the mouth of Canyon Bonito. They called it Fort Defiance…”
**My Thoughts:** Fort Defiance serves as a powerful symbol of the American military presence and intrusion into Navaho land. The name itself implies a challenge to the Navaho people’s autonomy and a commitment by the U.S. to assert control. This allows for a broader reflection on how forts served as markers of colonization and the displacement of indigenous communities.
### 5. The Navahos’ Resistance
**Textual Evidence:** “During the following weeks, Manuelito and his ally Barboncito built up a force of more than a thousand warriors, and in the darkness of the early hours of April 30, they surrounded Fort Defiance.”
**My Thoughts:** The act of organizing a significant resistance against Fort Defiance illustrates the Navahos’ resilience and determination to defend their land. Despite facing overwhelming military power, this reflects a profound sense of agency and the desire to reclaim sovereignty. It emphasizes the importance of resistance in indigenous histories, often overlooked in broader narratives of American expansion.
These observations provide insight into the complexities of the interactions between the Navahos and Americans, highlighting themes of broken promises, economic hardship, injustice, symbolism, and resistance.