July 24, 2023 • 39 mins
During a time when New Mexico was not yet a state, a group of Diné blacksmiths fought back against injustice by counterfeiting money, ration tickets, and other things in order to survive. The ingenuity of the Diné is something that had persisted for centuries. During a time when New Mexico was not yet a state, a group of Diné blacksmiths fought back against injustice by counterfeiting money, ration tickets, and other things in order to survive.
The ingenuity of the Diné is something that had perFitzsimons, M. (2022). Counterfeiters of Bosque Redondo, The: Slavery, Silver and the U.S. War Against the Navajo Nation. Arcadia Publishing.sisted for centuries. .
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-consequences-true-crime--4347262/support.
The ingenuity of the Diné is something that had perFitzsimons, M. (2022). Counterfeiters of Bosque Redondo, The: Slavery, Silver and the U.S. War Against the Navajo Nation. Arcadia Publishing.sisted for centuries. .
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-consequences-true-crime--4347262/support.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Sign the crime scene long and Crossthe Tape with us Brendan and Harry on
our true crime podcast Crossing the Tape. We are a married couple who meant
well working as a cop and aCSI at a homicide seton. We're passionate
about our jobs and justice being served. Our episodes include rare, lesser known
cases that we found interesting. Subscribeto Crossing the Tape wherever you listen to
(00:24):
your podcast to hear about rare murdercases, heist, forensic history and more.
Hey, True Advocates, It's meEric carter Landeen, and today I
have a special story, something thatpiqued my interests when I found a book
about this very topic, and soI asked Jackie to help me write this.
This is a story that I hadn'theard until I read this book.
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It's quite incredible and it's going tohopefully teach you something about the history of
New Mexico. I'm Eric Carter Landeenand this is true consequences from the time
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the conquistadors rolled into New Mexico lookingfor gold in the sixteen hundreds. The
Navajo had suffered. They had sufferedfor so long under Spanish rule. Many
of the Spanish settlers had kidnapped womenand children and kept them as slaves.
The Pueblo revolt would allow the Navajoto be claim their lost ones, but
in sixteen ninety three, when theSpanish returned to lay claim to New Mexico,
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the practice of stealing the net womenand children would start all over again.
The net children were prized as slaves, and many Spanish households kept at
least two or three. Some keptas many as eight Navajo women and children
as slaves. As Western expansion fromthe east began, the issue of slavery
was hotly debated across the US.This was an issue that had spurred several
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political battles in the original colonies evenbefore the Civil War began. The colonists
marched westward across the land like antsinvading a pile of sugar, and eventually
the count slavery would be hotly debatedthere too. Texas would be settled by
people who were mostly from Confederate States, but New Mexico, Arizona, the
Colorado Territory, and California were stilldominated by Mexico. The thought that people
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could buy and sell people like livestockwould become a big part of the story
of the counterfeiters. The fake moneywas used as to buy food for the
tribe as it was to buy theirchildren out of slavery. While this story
seems like the stuff of legends,it's a testament to the ingenuity of people
who chose a peaceful, albeit alegal, way to survive. It's hard
to tell where to begin this story, since the regional history stretches so far
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back, and the events that ledup to this story began long before a
few Dinet men decided that they shouldmake vessels out of iron rather than silver.
By eighteen fifty two, the firstwhite settlers from the east began to
arrive in New Mexico. The Dinettehad been living in relative peace with the
Spanish, who had been living therefor generations. It was a grudging piece,
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though, a piece born out offear and hatred, but it was
peace. Nonetheless. The Navajo hadsettled around the Canyon de Chelli. They
cultivated their crops of corn and squash, and they kept sheep and goats.
They were exactly what the colonists wantedto make all Indians. They were farmers,
they were settled. They were quietwhite settlers brought their fight west with
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them when they came. The westernterritories were prized land, and there was
no doubt the US wanted to claimevery inchious part of the United States,
but the argument from the east camewith them. Would these lands be considered
free states or slave states? TheNavajo knew about slavery. Their women and
children had been taken as slaves inSpanish raids on their camps for generations.
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The white settlers would proved to beno better. They would also take women
and children when they raided Navajo communities. Admittedly, the Navajo would attack Spanish
and White settlements, but in aneffort to keep the peace, they would
send any of the women and childrenthey took back home after negotiations. The
negotiations for the Navajo women and childrenwould fail, and none of them would
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be sent home. One of thefirst meetings with the white settlers took place
in him As in eighteen fifty two. John Griner had been chosen as the
Indian agent, and the meeting wasset to hear the concerns of the Navajo
leaders and get a feel for wherethey stood. As more and more colonists
chose to settle in New Mexico.Griner was considered a fair man and he
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was not disingenuous when listening to triballeaders. Del Guardto, Armijo, and
Barboncito attended the meeting. Armijo gavea speech that summed up the concerns of
the Dina across New Mexico. Quote, I have been a captain ever since
I was a young man. Ihave come to tell my great father that
my people wished to live in peaceand quiet. We wished to cultivate the
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soil as our fathers did before us, to have the water run through our
asecchia so that we may irrigate ourlands. We do not wish to be
molested. We have to depend onour fingernails and our toe nails for support.
By the labor of our own hands. We wished to raise our own
crops, and like the sun,we wished to follow the course of nature.
The bows and arrows we carry areto shoot our game with the deer,
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the antelope, and the rabbit.But little rain fell from the clouds
last year. Our crops failed,and our young men have to support our
families with hunting. I have lostmy grandfather and two other members of my
family, who were all killed byMexicans. I've never sought revenge. My
hair is beginning to gray. Iwish to live in peace with everyone.
I want to see my cattle andhorses to be well grazed, and my
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sheep to be safely herded, andto get fat, which can never be
done while my people are at war. We like the Americans. We have
eaten their bread and meat and smoketheir tobacco. The clothing they have given
us has kept us warm in thecold winter and the snow. With the
hose they have given us, wewill cultivate our land. We are struck
dead with gratitude. I am nowbefore you. You can all see me.
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My name is well known everywhere.My people are better dressed than I
am myself. And although I amashamed to appear before you so poorly clad,
I wished you to see me justas I am to tell you.
I can plant corn and wheat andraise food for my people to eat.
If the spirits will supply us withplenty of clouds, we shall walk about
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our lands and feel satisfied. Grinnervoiced the concerns of the settlers. My
brothers. Let us talk plain sothat we understand each other. The people
living in the Rio Abajo complained thatthe Navajos have captured their children, stolen
their stock, that their fields haveto be idle, for they cannot work
them for fear of your people.Is this not so, Armijo countered,
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My people are all crying in thesame way. Three of our chiefs now
sitting before you, mourn for theirchildren who have been taken from their homes
by the Mexicans. More than twohundred of our children have been carried off,
and we know not where they are. The Mexicans have lost but few
children in comparison with what they havestolen from us. Eleven times have we
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given up our captives. Only oncehave they given us ours. My people
are yet crying for the children thatthey have lost. Is it American justice
that we must give up everything andreceive nothing? Grinner answered with quote,
you've never told us this before.The Great Father at Washington shall hear of
it, and you shall hear whathe says. Grinner wasn't totally honest when
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he claimed to know nothing of theslave trade. The Americans were well aware
that Navajo women and children were beingtaken from their homes during raids. Grinner
did send word to Washington about thesituation, a transcript of Armijos speech accompanied
with this note quote, there's toomuch truth in what these Indians complain of.
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It was the custom of the Mexicansto fit out expeditions against them,
everyone claiming what he stole as plunder. They own large flocks of sheep,
goats, horses, mules, andcattle. They are very industrious, hard
working people. They not only tillthe land themselves, but they manufacture their
own clothing, and a Navajo blanketwill at any time command the price of
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a mule. It is not tobe wandered at if they should retaliate when
they so repeatedly suffered by these maraudingexpeditions. These Indians are now what the
US government is striving to make ofall the wild Indian a farming community.
I am so well convinced with thetruth of the remarks of Armihoe that I
confess I had but little to say. If the Indians must return all the
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captives and property taken from the Mexicans, Is it anything but just that they
should claim what has been stolen fromthem? I think not. Yes,
there were those who tried to rectifythe horrible circumstances that the Navajo were forced
to endure. Now all of theAmericans were bent on the destruction of the
tribes, at least not in thebeginning. Sometime in the early eighteen fifties,
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Delgadito saddled his horse, Saiboyetta.He wasn't sure what he would encounter
when he got there. He feltthat the Spaniards may just shoot him as
he rode up, and the Americanswere not to be trusted either. He
had no idea who was running thingsin that part of the country now,
but he was on a mission.He wanted to learn to work silver.
The only man who could teach himthat was the blacksmith. There is no
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proof that Delgadito was the first tolearn the trade, but early accounts seemed
to indicate that he was. Hewould later become a tribal medicine man and
a man that others would come tofor advice. His position in the tribe,
compounded by his ability to work withiron and silver, made him a
very prosperous member of the tribe.He owned many sheep and horses. The
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Americans would later pick him out asa principal leader and would rely on him
for negotiations with the tribe. Thisassessment of Delgadito wasn't entirely accurate, though
it's true that he did have someinfluence over the tribal government and he was
a medicine man. But the Denayallowed each man to take his own path
through life. There really weren't anyprincipal leaders. Delgadito worked iron for several
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years before learning to work silver,and he taught others a trade. He
taught them to build their own forgesand defend the flames using turkey feathers.
The Nabajo were known to have createdportable forges so that they could take their
work anywhere they wanted. Navajo silverwas prized at the time, and many
tribesmen wore leather belts with silver conchosand sure and coats with silver buttons on
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them. Bits and bridles were madefrom silver and were adorned with jingles.
Henry Dodge became the Indian Agent ineighteen fifty five, and though no treaties
were approved by Congress during his timeas agent, he forged a bond with
the Dinae that would never be forgotten. He ordered supplies from the US government
so that the Navajo could build weaves, plant crops, and forge iron.
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He also attempted to recover the childrenthat had been stolen from the tribes.
Before Dodge took charge, the Navajowere committed to going to war with the
Spaniards and the Americans, but Dodgespent three years negotiating on their behalf.
He was killed by Apache raiders duringan hunting expedition in eighteen fifty eight.
Dodge spent three years avoiding war betweenthe settlers and the Navajo, a piece
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that could have been maintained if onlyColonel Edward Canby hadn't entered the picture.
The Navajo were accustomed to grazing theirlivestock on summer grounds in Canyon de Chelli
and on winter grounds closer to FortDefiance, but Canby wouldn't allows a thing.
He told Delgadito that the herds hadto be moved or there would be
war. Del Gadito and Barbuncito refusedto move the herds. They thought that
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the land around Fort Defiance was theirsas much as the land around Canyon to
Celli. The Navajo refused to movethe herds and that winter, American raiders
killed several thousand sheep and stole aboutas many horses. Negotiations, if that's
what they're supposed to be called,consisted of, can be telling the tribes
that if they didn't want to bewiped out, they would stay in Canyon
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to Celli and not leave pretty soon, even though the canyon began to get
smaller as can be suspected that therewas gold in the canyon. James Carlton
would echo this sentiment when he becameIndian agent. He would devise a plan
to take the entire canyon and theland all around it. Based on a
rumor about gold being in the canyon, he made the decision to move the
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Navajo to Bosque Relondo. He calledthis land a reservation. The Navajo called
it a prison. Carlton was aman who could convince anyone of anything,
and when it came time to talkingabout creating a reservation on the Bosquerelundo,
his story would change depending on whohe was trying to convince. He told
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the US government that it was thebest way to mine for gold. He
told the settlers that this would keepthe peace. He told the Navajo that
they would be happier on the busqueRerelondo. He told them the land was
fertile and that there was a goodgraze for their livestock. He also told
them that if they wanted to avoidgetting wiped off the base of the planet,
they would just go and not lookback. Carlton was an amazing liar.
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He convinced himself that this was agreat idea and that the government would
gladly provide for about five thousand Navajo. He didn't count on twelve thousand Denish
showing up to the party, plusthe Mescalero apaches that he had brought in
from the west. Due threats andcoercion, he convinced Delgadito that he needed
to bring as many Navajo into thereservation as he could. Del Gadito weighed
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his options carefully before agreeing to bringthe first eight hundred Navajo into the reservation.
The trip was long four hundred miles, but Carlton had ordered his men
to ensure that every one of theNavajo that came in were treated as well
as they could be. They wereescorted by several wagons carrying supplies, and
those who couldn't ride because they werevery old or very young were transported in
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one of the wagons. There wasplenty of beef and bread to eat.
They were given sugar rations and flourto make their own food. When they
arrived, they were treated to doublerations, and they had warm blankets and
tents set up to live in.Del Gadito had come to avoid war and
expected to be treated poorly. Thiswas not the case. In the beginning.
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Del Gadito was lulled into a falsesense of security by how well his
people were being treated. Encouraged bythis treatment, he went out to convince
more Navajo to come to the BosqueLuondo to live. Delgadito convinced several other
bands to surrender and moved to thereser. But the more that came,
the less food they had. Theywere given fewer and fewer rations. People
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began to die on the trail betweentheir home and the Bosque. It was
estimated that on one of the tripsbetween the Canyon to Chile and the Bosque,
two hundred people out of one thousandtravelers died of starvation or exposure.
The number of people who died alongthe long walk is unknown. Some commanders
kept records and considered the Navajo theircharges, but others considered them prisoners and
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not worthy of noting their deaths.Things were even worse on the reservation.
The Navajo had to surrender all theirbelongings to go to the reservation. All
their livestock, horses, crops,forges, and looms were taken by the
Americans that had no way to fendfor themselves. The only shelters they had
were the tents that were originally broughtin for the tribes. There were no
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blankets and no clothes. The reservationwas overcrowded, with rival bands living in
close proximity to one another, andnowhere to hunt for game. Those commanding
the Boske had demanded food for themany people who had surrendered, but Captain
Carleton couldn't or wouldn't get more food. He told the government back in Washington
that there were five thousand Navajo onthe reservation. As people stopped coming in,
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the census was twelve thousand. Thatof the Department of the Interior refused
more rations. He told Carlton thatif he wanted more rations that he would
have to deal with the Secretary ofWar. Del Gazito had learned a lot
from the settlers The Spanish had taughthim to forge iron and silver, but
the white settlers had taught him toread and write. This didn't happen purposefully.
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The Americans had given him documents sohe could travel and bring more and
more of his people in. Hestudied those documents, and he learned what
each letter looked like and what itmeant. Before too long, Del Gazito
could write his name and read someof the words that were put on the
papers that he carried. No onereally knows when the forgeries began, but
ration tickets would show up with numbersthat were much higher than the original ticket
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that was made out for. Someof these tickets disappeared altogether. This was
when the army decided that the rationtickets and any travel passports should be made
from iron. The US Army officialchose to allow the Navajo to have forges
to make metal goods and looms tomake clothes. The irony was not lost
on del Gadito. He now hada forge, and he could make ration
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tickets, travel passports, and pesosthat were indistinguishable from the ones the army
had made. At one point,there were three hundred counterfeit ration tickets.
Mixed in with the authentic ones,and the man who was in charge of
the rations, Henry Bristol, couldn'ttell the difference. They couldn't be thrown
out. Travel passports allow people totravel across New Mexico, and when the
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forgeries began, several Navajo slipped outof the Bosque Redondo and disappeared. Barbuoncito
used one of these passports to leavethe Bosque. He went back to Canyondicelli
and evaded capture for a year beforehe surrendered with a few other families who
were on the brink of starvation.When Carlton found out at the counterfeit operation,
he was already surrounded by scandal.He was participating in the slave trade,
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which had been banned for years.He was keeping Navajo children to give
to his friends as gifts. Carltonwas caught gifting a Navajo girl to a
psalter in Santa Fe. The psalterreported the transaction and the newspapers caught wind
of it. It was reported inthe Santa Fe New Mexican and the people
of New Mexico had a heyday withthe news. How dare he forced them
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to give up their slaves? Whenhe was keeping several of his own.
The US government was growing weary withthe reservation experiment too. They had heard
that the prisoners were being ill treatedand starved. Reports were coming in every
day of children dying of dysentery andsmallpox. They had heard that there was
two little food, water, andhardly any shelter, and to make matters
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worse, there was no goal toshow for it. Carlton insisted that he
just needed more time the Navajo couldthrive in the Buscuit Relundo. Public outcry
was growing for all the people ofthe First Nations. In eighteen sixty four,
word had come from the Colorado territoryof the Sand Creek Massacre, where
seven hundred and fifty women, childrenand elderly were slaughtered in a meadow along
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the Big Sandy Creek. These tribeswere headed to Fort Lyon to surrender and
be taken to a reservation. Theynever made it. The politicians in Washington
had enough. In March of eighteensixty five, the Senate and House passed
a joint resolution directing that an inquiryinto the condition of the Indian tribes and
their treatment by the civil and militaryauthorities of the United States. A few
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weeks later, Representative Louis Ross,an Illinois Democrat, traveled to the Boscerelondo
to hold Congressional field hearings on thetreatment of the Navajo on the reservation.
Del Gadito. Del Gadito was oneof many call to testify. When Louis
Ross spoke with Henry Bristol, Bristoldecided it was best not to mention the
counterfeiting scheme. Bristol decided that thingshad already gone badly enough. The reservation
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didn't need another scandal. The Navahoodidn't mention it either. When Ross spoke
to Delgadito, the conversation was transcribedby a clerk so it could be sent
back to Washington. Delgadito. Thosewords were not transcribed accurately, but the
thoughts came through loud and clear.Delgadito, there's plenty below here, but
we have to go too far forit. Don't know whether fuel could be
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floated down the river or not.Nose of some floating down could pack the
wood if we had. Buddos.The water has alkali in it, and
they are afraid it will make themsick. A good many have been sick
and died, and when they drinkthe water they took sick and died.
And others have got sick by carryingmesquite so far. Those that were attended
by the doctor all died. Donot know his name. He was physician
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at the hospital. There is ahospital here for us, but all who
go in never come out. Wehave physicians among ourselves, but they can't
cure all. Some must die.They commenced to get sick about last October,
and since then, every day someof them have died. So many
of them dying. They are gettingfrightened. A good many of his children
and grandchildren have died. Three sonsand two daughters have died. They are
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dying as though they were shooting atthem with a rifle. Question do the
young like to work and want towork? Del Garrito? The young men
work well, love to work.Even the women. Question, are your
women and children all pretty well now? Del Garrito? All are not well.
Some of them are sick. Atthis. Many of the Navajo Apache
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leaders nodded in agreement. Question,if your people had plenty of wood,
could they make all the clothes?Del Garrito, Yes, if we had
the wood, we could make allthe clothes. For the tribe. All
of them know how to cultivate byirrigation. Thinks there's plenty of land,
but somehow the crops do not comeout well. Last year the worms destroyed
their crops. There's plenty of pasturefor all their stock. Some have but
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twenty thirty or forty, but morehave none. None have a hundred.
They try to keep their sheep fortheir milk and only kill them when necessary
when the rations are shot or smellbad. They depend on the milk of
the sheep to live and give tothe little children. They are honest and
do not kill each other's sheep.They own the animals themselves and are not
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in common. They would like eachman to have his own piece of land
and work it for himself and hisfamily. They have not grained stock and
other things enough. When they haveenough, they would like their children to
go to school. They would notlike to have their children go to school
until they have learned all kinds oftrade so they can make a living.
Some officers at fort can be toldthem when they got there, the government
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would give them herds of horses,sheep and cattle and other things that they
needed. But they have not receivedthem. They've had to lose a good
deal of their property on account ofthe war, and Utah stole the rest
from them. They have been atwar with Utah nine years and about the
same number of years with the Mexicans. But before the war with Utah and
the Mexicans had everything we wanted,but now have lost everything. Delgadito was
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quite young when the war commenced withthe Mexicans. In the war, everything
was stolen on both sides, women, children, and flocks. When children
were taken, we kept them,sold them, or gave them back.
The Mexicans got the most children.We only have two and they don't want
to go back. Have not beenin the habit of selling our own children.
Don't know of an instance. Theysay they are. Women sometimes come
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to the tents outside of the fortand make contracts with the soldiers to stay
with them for a night and givethem five dollars or something else, but
in the morning take away what theygave them and kick them off. This
happens most every day. In thenight, they leave the fort and go
to the Indian camps. The womenare not forced, but consent willingly.
A good many of the women havea venereal disease. It has existed among
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them a good many years in theirown country, but was not so common
there as it is here. Thereare remedies secure the disease, but they
cannot get them. They have noconfidence in the medicines given them at the
hospital, think it would do themno good. Most of the old men
know how to cure the disease.They use the root of a wild weed
that do not grow here. Someof the people are dying here of the
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disease. Some were taken to thehospital, but we're not cured. When
they find out a person has thedisease, they reported to the hospital.
This they have done for some time, but all that have reported there have
died. The custom of the tribeis to never enter a house where a
person has died but abandoned it.That is the reason they don't want to
go to the hospital. They wouldprefer a tent out by the camps for
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their hospital. Question were you madea chief by your own people or by
the whites del garto by my ownpeople? Question to all the chiefs,
would you all like to go backto your old country or remain here?
Collectively? They would rather prefer tobe in their own country. Although they
have most everything they want here,they are all of this opinion and would
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like to have you send them back, and if you have any present to
give them, they will distribute themamong them. If they were sent back,
they would promise to never commit anact of hostility. Question if you
were sent back, could you makeyour own living, Delgadito. Yes,
we could support ourselves, and youcould send some troops to see that we
kept our promise. Then the questionthey all have been waiting for finally came.
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Do you want us, when wego back to the Great Father and
the Great Counsel, that you wouldlike to be sent back to your old
country? Collectively? Yes, wewould all like to go, and if
sent back, we would go straightback the way we came. Question are
the soldiers treating you badly? Andif so, please let us know,
Delgadito, the soldiers here treat usvery bad, whipping and kicking us.
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Question do you get enough to eathere? Del Gadito, No, we
do not get enough to eat Questionhow much do you get as a ration?
The answer to this question was nevermade part of the record. Question
is there any game in your owncountry? Yes? There's plenty of rabbits,
antelope, deer, and wild potatoes. Delgadito says, they would like
to have you send them back totheir own country. They think you are
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the greatest men and can send themback, and they would like to have
it done soon. Ross then toldhim that he was only there to perform
the inquest. He didn't have theauthority to release them from the reservation,
but he would relay the wish tothe President and Congress. Delgadito and other
headmen talked among themselves. Then Delgaditotold the interpreter, they say they will
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try and work to do all theycan to support themselves until they learn what
disposition is to be made of them. Then the blacksmith turn counterfeiter asked one
more favor of the congressman. Heasked if it was possible for the government
to send more tools for a blacksmith'sshop. Carlton was subsequently fired after the
inquest. Ulysses S. Grant himselfsent him packing. The experiment on the
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busquere Dando was a total failure.Carlton tried to cajole his way back into
Grant's good graces. He promised thatthe tribes at the busquet could thrive there.
They just needed time. He broughtup the gold that he had never
found again. He said he justneeded time. He told Grant that with
time everything would be just fine.Sunshine and Roses. Grant sent him packing.
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On July ninth, eighteen sixty seven, a fight broke out between prisoners
and troops on the reservation. Whenit was all over, one soldier had
been wounded, and several warriors hadfled with their families. A few months
after, Cadet testified at the inquestwith the Congressman Ross. He gathered all
the Muscalario Apache and they left twomore than three hundred Apache men, women
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and children just packed up and movedout. They were never seen again.
After yet another inquest, the troopswere found to be responsible for the skirmish.
The tribesmen were going about their normalbusiness when some soldier got trigger happy.
Congress pushed for the reservation to close, but the rest of the politicians
in Washington were against the idea.The issue of slavery of Navajo children had
become the elephant in the room.During one of the congressional hearings, New
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Mexico Chief Justice Kirby Bennet publicly accusedGovernor Connolly and most of the Indian Service
agents of enslaving and selling Navajo womenand children. In the spring of eighteen
sixty seven, Congress passed an actto abolish and forever prohibit the system of
peonage in the territory of New Mexicoand other parts of the United States.
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This came almost two years after theend of slavery in the eastern part of
the United States. General George Gettywould be Carlton's replacement, and he had
a long, tenuous journey ahead ofhim. He again asked the headsmen to
meet with him. He wanted toknow about the skirmish in July. Of
course, del Gasito was asked tocome and speak. He knew nothing of
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the fight, but he took theopportunity to state his position on the reservation.
My thoughts are as they always were. My head and heart are for
the right. When brought from myown country here, I was told this
ground was my ground, and thiswater my water. I intend to live
here and do what is right.The first time I entered here, I
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did not get any crop. Threetimes I have tried to raise crops and
failed. I don't like the Bosquebecause I don't think crops can be raised
here. Since I have been here, I have not been able to raise
even a basketful. I do notbelieve the ground here is the best ground
for us. We have plenty offood and clothing, but we can't get
two of anything. If we do, one disappears. We know not how
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in our old country we raised abundantcrops. Here we can raise none.
I feel sorry that we can't getsheep or cattle of any kind. It
seems as if I would never seeany more flocks. Of course, that
wasn't the question that was asked,but it was a good opener for another
white man to hear his real complaints. Getty was the first officer to listen
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to the Dena in several years,and he caught the ear of the President
and other government officials. Those officialswere already questioning whether the reservation was a
necessity. Now they were questioning itsethics. In May of at sixty eight,
barbon Cito held a prayer ceremony.The Dinab were still waiting to hear
their fate. In barbon Cito's anxietygot the better of him. He went
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to see the crystal gazers and theytold him that he needed a coyote.
That coyote is a trickster. Hemeans well, but he could use his
power to change the minds of thearmy. He may be able to lead
the people back home. Four daysafter he went to see the crystal gazers,
barbon Cito walked into camp with acoyote that was bound and blindfolded.
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He asked all the people to forma great circle around him. Hundreds,
then thousands of people came together.The circle covered most of the planes.
Barboncito began to pray as the peoplegathered. When the prayer was finished,
he placed a small bead made ofwhite shell in the coyote's mouth. This
represented changing women in a new beginning. Then he let him go. The
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coyote ran first to the east.Barbun Cito yelled, not that way.
All the people on that side ofthe circle began to shout and wave their
arms. The coyote changed direction,but this time he went south. That
wasn't right either. The people onthe side of the circle began to yell
and wave their hands. The coyotejust wanting to get away from the crazy
mob, turned again and ran fullspeed to the west. Barbon Cito shouted,
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opened the circle, let him through. The circle opened and the coyote
ran. He paused once to lookback, howled, and then continued his
run west towards freedom. Samuel Teppinwas the next to come and meet with
the Denat. He was the UnionArmy commander who had single handedly tried to
end slavery in New Mexico. Williamto Kumse Sherman was with him. They
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invited twenty four Navajo headman to meetand discuss the future of the Denat this
time, barbon Cito was chosen tospeak for the Denat. He had been
waiting years for this moment. Hestood and spoke, quote, we know
this land is not like us.It seems whatever we do here causes death.
Our grandfathers had no idea of livingin any other country except our own,
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and I do not think it isright for us to do so.
Before I am sick or older,I want to go and see the place
where I was born. I hopeto God you will not ask me to
go to any other country except myown. This hope goes in at my
feet and out my mouth as Iam speaking to you, Sherman was taken
with a speech. I believe youhave told the truth. He said,
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all people love the country where theywere born and raised. We want to
do what is right. Barboncito letout a whoop and jumped to his feet.
At this, he was done withthe Bosque. He wanted to go
home. He wasn't quite finished,though, he again broach the subject of
Navajo slaves. He wanted them togo home as well. Barboncito, I
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want to drop to this conversation nowand talk about Navajo children held as prisoners
by Mexicans. Some of those presenthave lost a brother or a sister,
and I know that they are inthe hands of Mexicans. I have seen
some myself, Sherman, about theirchildren being sold as peons by Mexicans.
You ought to know that they're isan act of Congress against it. About
four years ago we had slaves,and there was a great war about it.
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Now there are none. Congress ourgreat Council has passed a law prohibiting
peonage in New Mexico, so thatif any Mexican holds a Navajo and ponage
he is liable to be put inthe penitentiary. We do not know that
there are any Navajo's held by Mexicansas peons, but if there are,
you can apply to the judges ofthe civil Court and the land commissioners.
They are the proper persons, andthey will decide whether the Navajo is to
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go back to his own people orremain with the Mexicans. That isn't matter
with which we have nothing to do. What do you say about schools,
blacksmith carpenter shops for the purpose ofteaching your children? Barboncito. Another counterfeiter
said, we would like to havea blacksmith, as a great number of
us can work at the trade.We would like a carpenter shop too,
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and if a school was established amongus, I am satisfied a great number
would attend. I like it verywell. Whatever orders you leave here,
you may rely upon their being obeyedat being done. The courts didn't help
the Navajo get their people back,though. Whenever someone would pass by a
settlement, suddenly all the slaves woulddisappear. The young captors would grow up
to marry the colonizers, and theywould assimilate and forget the teachings that they
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had learned as children. The parentsand siblings of these captives would remain in
mourning, but there would be nomore stolen children. The colonizers were unwilling
to risk imprisonment by enslaving any moreof the Denette children, so any new
trafficking stopped. On June first,eighteen sixty eight, the last treaty was
signed. This one allowed the Dinetteto go home. Del Gadito made his
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ex on the treaty, along withall the other Navajo headsman, but there
had been a mistake, and ared line was drawn through his name.
Under that he signed his name incursive del Gadito. June eighteenth was the
day that the Navajo were released fromthe Bosquerretumdo, a line formed ten miles
long. As they began their journey, they sang in the beauty I walk
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with beauty before, I walk withbeauty behind me, I walk with beauty
above me, I walk with beautyaround me. I walk it has become
beauty again. The land that theDina returned to was substantially smaller than the
one they left four years before.None of their four sacred mountains fell within
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its borders. But it was theirs, and they could rejoice in that between
eighteen sixty eight and nineteen thirty four, tribal leaders would negotiate for more land
fourteen times. Del Gallito would liveto see all but the last two.
Barboncito would die three years before hespoke at the hearing that secured the release
of the DNA from the Boscatredondo.He was buried in Canyon d Celli with
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one copy of the Tree of eighteensixty eight. Manuelito and his wife Anita
went on to lead the Navajo nationfor another twenty five years. After the
return to Canyon de Chelli, hewould continue to fight for the freedom of
Navajo children in slavery. When askedby General Oliver Howard, how so many
Navajo children end up as slaves,Manuelito bit back harshly. You know very
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well how they came to be there, When this world was dark, with
dirt and sand flying, and thestones were raised by the wind, and
all were fighting with the government andthemselves. You know very well how this
thing happened. When all the nationscame against us, then we lost our
children. Manuelito may have never seenthe release of the Navajo children, but
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their slavery spurred him on to becomea champion of education for the tribe.
He's quoted as saying, my grandchildreneducation is a ladder. He sent two
of his sons to Carlisle Indian IndustrialSchool. Both of them became ill.
One died at the school and theother died shortly after returning home. The
Carlisle School would become the model forother boarding schools, designed not to teach
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children trades so they could eventually supportthemselves, but to assimilate them into colonial
ways. Delgadito passed away in eighteenseventy, just two years after returning home.
He would always be remembered as thefirst Navajo blacksmith and counterfeiter. No
other tribe has ever been allowed toleave a reservation to return to their homeland.
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Most ended up far from the placethat they were born. After being
removed from their homes, many neversaw their countries again. The story of
the Busque Ralundo was all but forgottenby nineteen ninety when a group of Navajo
school children went went to visit FortSumner. Those children learned quite a bit
about Billy the Kid, but sadlynothing was mentioned about their ancestors who had
suffered for four years under military rule. When they left the site, they
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left a note that read, wefound Fort Sumner Historical Site discriminating and not
telling the true story behind what reallyhappened to our ancestors in eighteen sixty four
to eighteen sixty eight. We thereforedeclare that the museums show and tell the
true history of the Navajos and theUnited States Military today. That letter greets
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visitors at the Bosque Memorial Museum.A census of twenty twenty one found that
the enrolled membership of the Navajo Nationwas three hundred and ninety nine thousand,
four hundred and ninety four people.It's the largest tribal nation in the US,
even surpassing the enrollment of the CherokeeNation. The story of the Navajo
countefitters showed the resilience in fortitude thatexists in the Dank culture to this day.
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Their ingenuity and studiousness are what helpedthem survive to foster a tribe that
has grown to the largest in theland. The ingenuity lives on in the
great grandchildren of Manuelito Barboncito de Gartoand others. The greed of the colonists
got them sent to the Bosque,but their integrity and perseverance brought them home.
(38:43):
Thanks for listening, and stay safeNew Mexico.
Sign the crime scene long and Crossthe Tape with us Brendan and Harry on
our true crime podcast Crossing the Tape. We are a married couple who meant
well working as a cop and aCSI at a homicide seton. We're passionate
about our jobs and justice being served. Our episodes include rare, lesser known
cases that we found interesting. Subscribeto Crossing the Tape wherever you listen to
(00:24):
your podcast to hear about rare murdercases, heist, forensic history and more.
Hey, True Advocates, It's meEric carter Landeen, and today I
have a special story, something thatpiqued my interests when I found a book
about this very topic, and soI asked Jackie to help me write this.
This is a story that I hadn'theard until I read this book.
(00:48):
It's quite incredible and it's going tohopefully teach you something about the history of
New Mexico. I'm Eric Carter Landeenand this is true consequences from the time
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the conquistadors rolled into New Mexico lookingfor gold in the sixteen hundreds. The
Navajo had suffered. They had sufferedfor so long under Spanish rule. Many
of the Spanish settlers had kidnapped womenand children and kept them as slaves.
The Pueblo revolt would allow the Navajoto be claim their lost ones, but
in sixteen ninety three, when theSpanish returned to lay claim to New Mexico,
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the practice of stealing the net womenand children would start all over again.
The net children were prized as slaves, and many Spanish households kept at
least two or three. Some keptas many as eight Navajo women and children
as slaves. As Western expansion fromthe east began, the issue of slavery
was hotly debated across the US.This was an issue that had spurred several
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political battles in the original colonies evenbefore the Civil War began. The colonists
marched westward across the land like antsinvading a pile of sugar, and eventually
the count slavery would be hotly debatedthere too. Texas would be settled by
people who were mostly from Confederate States, but New Mexico, Arizona, the
Colorado Territory, and California were stilldominated by Mexico. The thought that people
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could buy and sell people like livestockwould become a big part of the story
of the counterfeiters. The fake moneywas used as to buy food for the
tribe as it was to buy theirchildren out of slavery. While this story
seems like the stuff of legends,it's a testament to the ingenuity of people
who chose a peaceful, albeit alegal, way to survive. It's hard
to tell where to begin this story, since the regional history stretches so far
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back, and the events that ledup to this story began long before a
few Dinet men decided that they shouldmake vessels out of iron rather than silver.
By eighteen fifty two, the firstwhite settlers from the east began to
arrive in New Mexico. The Dinettehad been living in relative peace with the
Spanish, who had been living therefor generations. It was a grudging piece,
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though, a piece born out offear and hatred, but it was
peace. Nonetheless. The Navajo hadsettled around the Canyon de Chelli. They
cultivated their crops of corn and squash, and they kept sheep and goats.
They were exactly what the colonists wantedto make all Indians. They were farmers,
they were settled. They were quietwhite settlers brought their fight west with
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them when they came. The westernterritories were prized land, and there was
no doubt the US wanted to claimevery inchious part of the United States,
but the argument from the east camewith them. Would these lands be considered
free states or slave states? TheNavajo knew about slavery. Their women and
children had been taken as slaves inSpanish raids on their camps for generations.
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The white settlers would proved to beno better. They would also take women
and children when they raided Navajo communities. Admittedly, the Navajo would attack Spanish
and White settlements, but in aneffort to keep the peace, they would
send any of the women and childrenthey took back home after negotiations. The
negotiations for the Navajo women and childrenwould fail, and none of them would
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be sent home. One of thefirst meetings with the white settlers took place
in him As in eighteen fifty two. John Griner had been chosen as the
Indian agent, and the meeting wasset to hear the concerns of the Navajo
leaders and get a feel for wherethey stood. As more and more colonists
chose to settle in New Mexico.Griner was considered a fair man and he
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was not disingenuous when listening to triballeaders. Del Guardto, Armijo, and
Barboncito attended the meeting. Armijo gavea speech that summed up the concerns of
the Dina across New Mexico. Quote, I have been a captain ever since
I was a young man. Ihave come to tell my great father that
my people wished to live in peaceand quiet. We wished to cultivate the
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soil as our fathers did before us, to have the water run through our
asecchia so that we may irrigate ourlands. We do not wish to be
molested. We have to depend onour fingernails and our toe nails for support.
By the labor of our own hands. We wished to raise our own
crops, and like the sun,we wished to follow the course of nature.
The bows and arrows we carry areto shoot our game with the deer,
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the antelope, and the rabbit.But little rain fell from the clouds
last year. Our crops failed,and our young men have to support our
families with hunting. I have lostmy grandfather and two other members of my
family, who were all killed byMexicans. I've never sought revenge. My
hair is beginning to gray. Iwish to live in peace with everyone.
I want to see my cattle andhorses to be well grazed, and my
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sheep to be safely herded, andto get fat, which can never be
done while my people are at war. We like the Americans. We have
eaten their bread and meat and smoketheir tobacco. The clothing they have given
us has kept us warm in thecold winter and the snow. With the
hose they have given us, wewill cultivate our land. We are struck
dead with gratitude. I am nowbefore you. You can all see me.
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My name is well known everywhere.My people are better dressed than I
am myself. And although I amashamed to appear before you so poorly clad,
I wished you to see me justas I am to tell you.
I can plant corn and wheat andraise food for my people to eat.
If the spirits will supply us withplenty of clouds, we shall walk about
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our lands and feel satisfied. Grinnervoiced the concerns of the settlers. My
brothers. Let us talk plain sothat we understand each other. The people
living in the Rio Abajo complained thatthe Navajos have captured their children, stolen
their stock, that their fields haveto be idle, for they cannot work
them for fear of your people.Is this not so, Armijo countered,
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My people are all crying in thesame way. Three of our chiefs now
sitting before you, mourn for theirchildren who have been taken from their homes
by the Mexicans. More than twohundred of our children have been carried off,
and we know not where they are. The Mexicans have lost but few
children in comparison with what they havestolen from us. Eleven times have we
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given up our captives. Only oncehave they given us ours. My people
are yet crying for the children thatthey have lost. Is it American justice
that we must give up everything andreceive nothing? Grinner answered with quote,
you've never told us this before.The Great Father at Washington shall hear of
it, and you shall hear whathe says. Grinner wasn't totally honest when
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he claimed to know nothing of theslave trade. The Americans were well aware
that Navajo women and children were beingtaken from their homes during raids. Grinner
did send word to Washington about thesituation, a transcript of Armijos speech accompanied
with this note quote, there's toomuch truth in what these Indians complain of.
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It was the custom of the Mexicansto fit out expeditions against them,
everyone claiming what he stole as plunder. They own large flocks of sheep,
goats, horses, mules, andcattle. They are very industrious, hard
working people. They not only tillthe land themselves, but they manufacture their
own clothing, and a Navajo blanketwill at any time command the price of
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a mule. It is not tobe wandered at if they should retaliate when
they so repeatedly suffered by these maraudingexpeditions. These Indians are now what the
US government is striving to make ofall the wild Indian a farming community.
I am so well convinced with thetruth of the remarks of Armihoe that I
confess I had but little to say. If the Indians must return all the
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captives and property taken from the Mexicans, Is it anything but just that they
should claim what has been stolen fromthem? I think not. Yes,
there were those who tried to rectifythe horrible circumstances that the Navajo were forced
to endure. Now all of theAmericans were bent on the destruction of the
tribes, at least not in thebeginning. Sometime in the early eighteen fifties,
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Delgadito saddled his horse, Saiboyetta.He wasn't sure what he would encounter
when he got there. He feltthat the Spaniards may just shoot him as
he rode up, and the Americanswere not to be trusted either. He
had no idea who was running thingsin that part of the country now,
but he was on a mission.He wanted to learn to work silver.
The only man who could teach himthat was the blacksmith. There is no
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proof that Delgadito was the first tolearn the trade, but early accounts seemed
to indicate that he was. Hewould later become a tribal medicine man and
a man that others would come tofor advice. His position in the tribe,
compounded by his ability to work withiron and silver, made him a
very prosperous member of the tribe.He owned many sheep and horses. The
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Americans would later pick him out asa principal leader and would rely on him
for negotiations with the tribe. Thisassessment of Delgadito wasn't entirely accurate, though
it's true that he did have someinfluence over the tribal government and he was
a medicine man. But the Denayallowed each man to take his own path
through life. There really weren't anyprincipal leaders. Delgadito worked iron for several
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years before learning to work silver,and he taught others a trade. He
taught them to build their own forgesand defend the flames using turkey feathers.
The Nabajo were known to have createdportable forges so that they could take their
work anywhere they wanted. Navajo silverwas prized at the time, and many
tribesmen wore leather belts with silver conchosand sure and coats with silver buttons on
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them. Bits and bridles were madefrom silver and were adorned with jingles.
Henry Dodge became the Indian Agent ineighteen fifty five, and though no treaties
were approved by Congress during his timeas agent, he forged a bond with
the Dinae that would never be forgotten. He ordered supplies from the US government
so that the Navajo could build weaves, plant crops, and forge iron.
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He also attempted to recover the childrenthat had been stolen from the tribes.
Before Dodge took charge, the Navajowere committed to going to war with the
Spaniards and the Americans, but Dodgespent three years negotiating on their behalf.
He was killed by Apache raiders duringan hunting expedition in eighteen fifty eight.
Dodge spent three years avoiding war betweenthe settlers and the Navajo, a piece
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that could have been maintained if onlyColonel Edward Canby hadn't entered the picture.
The Navajo were accustomed to grazing theirlivestock on summer grounds in Canyon de Chelli
and on winter grounds closer to FortDefiance, but Canby wouldn't allows a thing.
He told Delgadito that the herds hadto be moved or there would be
war. Del Gadito and Barbuncito refusedto move the herds. They thought that
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the land around Fort Defiance was theirsas much as the land around Canyon to
Celli. The Navajo refused to movethe herds and that winter, American raiders
killed several thousand sheep and stole aboutas many horses. Negotiations, if that's
what they're supposed to be called,consisted of, can be telling the tribes
that if they didn't want to bewiped out, they would stay in Canyon
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to Celli and not leave pretty soon, even though the canyon began to get
smaller as can be suspected that therewas gold in the canyon. James Carlton
would echo this sentiment when he becameIndian agent. He would devise a plan
to take the entire canyon and theland all around it. Based on a
rumor about gold being in the canyon, he made the decision to move the
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Navajo to Bosque Relondo. He calledthis land a reservation. The Navajo called
it a prison. Carlton was aman who could convince anyone of anything,
and when it came time to talkingabout creating a reservation on the Bosquerelundo,
his story would change depending on whohe was trying to convince. He told
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the US government that it was thebest way to mine for gold. He
told the settlers that this would keepthe peace. He told the Navajo that
they would be happier on the busqueRerelondo. He told them the land was
fertile and that there was a goodgraze for their livestock. He also told
them that if they wanted to avoidgetting wiped off the base of the planet,
they would just go and not lookback. Carlton was an amazing liar.
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He convinced himself that this was agreat idea and that the government would
gladly provide for about five thousand Navajo. He didn't count on twelve thousand Denish
showing up to the party, plusthe Mescalero apaches that he had brought in
from the west. Due threats andcoercion, he convinced Delgadito that he needed
to bring as many Navajo into thereservation as he could. Del Gadito weighed
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his options carefully before agreeing to bringthe first eight hundred Navajo into the reservation.
The trip was long four hundred miles, but Carlton had ordered his men
to ensure that every one of theNavajo that came in were treated as well
as they could be. They wereescorted by several wagons carrying supplies, and
those who couldn't ride because they werevery old or very young were transported in
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one of the wagons. There wasplenty of beef and bread to eat.
They were given sugar rations and flourto make their own food. When they
arrived, they were treated to doublerations, and they had warm blankets and
tents set up to live in.Del Gadito had come to avoid war and
expected to be treated poorly. Thiswas not the case. In the beginning.
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Del Gadito was lulled into a falsesense of security by how well his
people were being treated. Encouraged bythis treatment, he went out to convince
more Navajo to come to the BosqueLuondo to live. Delgadito convinced several other
bands to surrender and moved to thereser. But the more that came,
the less food they had. Theywere given fewer and fewer rations. People
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began to die on the trail betweentheir home and the Bosque. It was
estimated that on one of the tripsbetween the Canyon to Chile and the Bosque,
two hundred people out of one thousandtravelers died of starvation or exposure.
The number of people who died alongthe long walk is unknown. Some commanders
kept records and considered the Navajo theircharges, but others considered them prisoners and
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not worthy of noting their deaths.Things were even worse on the reservation.
The Navajo had to surrender all theirbelongings to go to the reservation. All
their livestock, horses, crops,forges, and looms were taken by the
Americans that had no way to fendfor themselves. The only shelters they had
were the tents that were originally broughtin for the tribes. There were no
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blankets and no clothes. The reservationwas overcrowded, with rival bands living in
close proximity to one another, andnowhere to hunt for game. Those commanding
the Boske had demanded food for themany people who had surrendered, but Captain
Carleton couldn't or wouldn't get more food. He told the government back in Washington
that there were five thousand Navajo onthe reservation. As people stopped coming in,
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the census was twelve thousand. Thatof the Department of the Interior refused
more rations. He told Carlton thatif he wanted more rations that he would
have to deal with the Secretary ofWar. Del Gazito had learned a lot
from the settlers The Spanish had taughthim to forge iron and silver, but
the white settlers had taught him toread and write. This didn't happen purposefully.
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The Americans had given him documents sohe could travel and bring more and
more of his people in. Hestudied those documents, and he learned what
each letter looked like and what itmeant. Before too long, Del Gazito
could write his name and read someof the words that were put on the
papers that he carried. No onereally knows when the forgeries began, but
ration tickets would show up with numbersthat were much higher than the original ticket
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that was made out for. Someof these tickets disappeared altogether. This was
when the army decided that the rationtickets and any travel passports should be made
from iron. The US Army officialchose to allow the Navajo to have forges
to make metal goods and looms tomake clothes. The irony was not lost
on del Gadito. He now hada forge, and he could make ration
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tickets, travel passports, and pesosthat were indistinguishable from the ones the army
had made. At one point,there were three hundred counterfeit ration tickets.
Mixed in with the authentic ones,and the man who was in charge of
the rations, Henry Bristol, couldn'ttell the difference. They couldn't be thrown
out. Travel passports allow people totravel across New Mexico, and when the
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forgeries began, several Navajo slipped outof the Bosque Redondo and disappeared. Barbuoncito
used one of these passports to leavethe Bosque. He went back to Canyondicelli
and evaded capture for a year beforehe surrendered with a few other families who
were on the brink of starvation.When Carlton found out at the counterfeit operation,
he was already surrounded by scandal.He was participating in the slave trade,
(18:04):
which had been banned for years.He was keeping Navajo children to give
to his friends as gifts. Carltonwas caught gifting a Navajo girl to a
psalter in Santa Fe. The psalterreported the transaction and the newspapers caught wind
of it. It was reported inthe Santa Fe New Mexican and the people
of New Mexico had a heyday withthe news. How dare he forced them
(18:27):
to give up their slaves? Whenhe was keeping several of his own.
The US government was growing weary withthe reservation experiment too. They had heard
that the prisoners were being ill treatedand starved. Reports were coming in every
day of children dying of dysentery andsmallpox. They had heard that there was
two little food, water, andhardly any shelter, and to make matters
(18:49):
worse, there was no goal toshow for it. Carlton insisted that he
just needed more time the Navajo couldthrive in the Buscuit Relundo. Public outcry
was growing for all the people ofthe First Nations. In eighteen sixty four,
word had come from the Colorado territoryof the Sand Creek Massacre, where
seven hundred and fifty women, childrenand elderly were slaughtered in a meadow along
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the Big Sandy Creek. These tribeswere headed to Fort Lyon to surrender and
be taken to a reservation. Theynever made it. The politicians in Washington
had enough. In March of eighteensixty five, the Senate and House passed
a joint resolution directing that an inquiryinto the condition of the Indian tribes and
their treatment by the civil and militaryauthorities of the United States. A few
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weeks later, Representative Louis Ross,an Illinois Democrat, traveled to the Boscerelondo
to hold Congressional field hearings on thetreatment of the Navajo on the reservation.
Del Gadito. Del Gadito was oneof many call to testify. When Louis
Ross spoke with Henry Bristol, Bristoldecided it was best not to mention the
counterfeiting scheme. Bristol decided that thingshad already gone badly enough. The reservation
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didn't need another scandal. The Navahoodidn't mention it either. When Ross spoke
to Delgadito, the conversation was transcribedby a clerk so it could be sent
back to Washington. Delgadito. Thosewords were not transcribed accurately, but the
thoughts came through loud and clear.Delgadito, there's plenty below here, but
we have to go too far forit. Don't know whether fuel could be
(20:25):
floated down the river or not.Nose of some floating down could pack the
wood if we had. Buddos.The water has alkali in it, and
they are afraid it will make themsick. A good many have been sick
and died, and when they drinkthe water they took sick and died.
And others have got sick by carryingmesquite so far. Those that were attended
by the doctor all died. Donot know his name. He was physician
(20:47):
at the hospital. There is ahospital here for us, but all who
go in never come out. Wehave physicians among ourselves, but they can't
cure all. Some must die.They commenced to get sick about last October,
and since then, every day someof them have died. So many
of them dying. They are gettingfrightened. A good many of his children
and grandchildren have died. Three sonsand two daughters have died. They are
(21:11):
dying as though they were shooting atthem with a rifle. Question do the
young like to work and want towork? Del Garrito? The young men
work well, love to work.Even the women. Question, are your
women and children all pretty well now? Del Garrito? All are not well.
Some of them are sick. Atthis. Many of the Navajo Apache
(21:33):
leaders nodded in agreement. Question,if your people had plenty of wood,
could they make all the clothes?Del Garrito, Yes, if we had
the wood, we could make allthe clothes. For the tribe. All
of them know how to cultivate byirrigation. Thinks there's plenty of land,
but somehow the crops do not comeout well. Last year the worms destroyed
their crops. There's plenty of pasturefor all their stock. Some have but
(21:56):
twenty thirty or forty, but morehave none. None have a hundred.
They try to keep their sheep fortheir milk and only kill them when necessary
when the rations are shot or smellbad. They depend on the milk of
the sheep to live and give tothe little children. They are honest and
do not kill each other's sheep.They own the animals themselves and are not
(22:18):
in common. They would like eachman to have his own piece of land
and work it for himself and hisfamily. They have not grained stock and
other things enough. When they haveenough, they would like their children to
go to school. They would notlike to have their children go to school
until they have learned all kinds oftrade so they can make a living.
Some officers at fort can be toldthem when they got there, the government
(22:41):
would give them herds of horses,sheep and cattle and other things that they
needed. But they have not receivedthem. They've had to lose a good
deal of their property on account ofthe war, and Utah stole the rest
from them. They have been atwar with Utah nine years and about the
same number of years with the Mexicans. But before the war with Utah and
the Mexicans had everything we wanted,but now have lost everything. Delgadito was
(23:07):
quite young when the war commenced withthe Mexicans. In the war, everything
was stolen on both sides, women, children, and flocks. When children
were taken, we kept them,sold them, or gave them back.
The Mexicans got the most children.We only have two and they don't want
to go back. Have not beenin the habit of selling our own children.
Don't know of an instance. Theysay they are. Women sometimes come
(23:30):
to the tents outside of the fortand make contracts with the soldiers to stay
with them for a night and givethem five dollars or something else, but
in the morning take away what theygave them and kick them off. This
happens most every day. In thenight, they leave the fort and go
to the Indian camps. The womenare not forced, but consent willingly.
A good many of the women havea venereal disease. It has existed among
(23:52):
them a good many years in theirown country, but was not so common
there as it is here. Thereare remedies secure the disease, but they
cannot get them. They have noconfidence in the medicines given them at the
hospital, think it would do themno good. Most of the old men
know how to cure the disease.They use the root of a wild weed
that do not grow here. Someof the people are dying here of the
(24:12):
disease. Some were taken to thehospital, but we're not cured. When
they find out a person has thedisease, they reported to the hospital.
This they have done for some time, but all that have reported there have
died. The custom of the tribeis to never enter a house where a
person has died but abandoned it.That is the reason they don't want to
go to the hospital. They wouldprefer a tent out by the camps for
(24:33):
their hospital. Question were you madea chief by your own people or by
the whites del garto by my ownpeople? Question to all the chiefs,
would you all like to go backto your old country or remain here?
Collectively? They would rather prefer tobe in their own country. Although they
have most everything they want here,they are all of this opinion and would
(24:56):
like to have you send them back, and if you have any present to
give them, they will distribute themamong them. If they were sent back,
they would promise to never commit anact of hostility. Question if you
were sent back, could you makeyour own living, Delgadito. Yes,
we could support ourselves, and youcould send some troops to see that we
kept our promise. Then the questionthey all have been waiting for finally came.
(25:21):
Do you want us, when wego back to the Great Father and
the Great Counsel, that you wouldlike to be sent back to your old
country? Collectively? Yes, wewould all like to go, and if
sent back, we would go straightback the way we came. Question are
the soldiers treating you badly? Andif so, please let us know,
Delgadito, the soldiers here treat usvery bad, whipping and kicking us.
(25:44):
Question do you get enough to eathere? Del Gadito, No, we
do not get enough to eat Questionhow much do you get as a ration?
The answer to this question was nevermade part of the record. Question
is there any game in your owncountry? Yes? There's plenty of rabbits,
antelope, deer, and wild potatoes. Delgadito says, they would like
to have you send them back totheir own country. They think you are
(26:07):
the greatest men and can send themback, and they would like to have
it done soon. Ross then toldhim that he was only there to perform
the inquest. He didn't have theauthority to release them from the reservation,
but he would relay the wish tothe President and Congress. Delgadito and other
headmen talked among themselves. Then Delgaditotold the interpreter, they say they will
(26:29):
try and work to do all theycan to support themselves until they learn what
disposition is to be made of them. Then the blacksmith turn counterfeiter asked one
more favor of the congressman. Heasked if it was possible for the government
to send more tools for a blacksmith'sshop. Carlton was subsequently fired after the
inquest. Ulysses S. Grant himselfsent him packing. The experiment on the
(26:49):
busquere Dando was a total failure.Carlton tried to cajole his way back into
Grant's good graces. He promised thatthe tribes at the busquet could thrive there.
They just needed time. He broughtup the gold that he had never
found again. He said he justneeded time. He told Grant that with
time everything would be just fine.Sunshine and Roses. Grant sent him packing.
(27:12):
On July ninth, eighteen sixty seven, a fight broke out between prisoners
and troops on the reservation. Whenit was all over, one soldier had
been wounded, and several warriors hadfled with their families. A few months
after, Cadet testified at the inquestwith the Congressman Ross. He gathered all
the Muscalario Apache and they left twomore than three hundred Apache men, women
(27:33):
and children just packed up and movedout. They were never seen again.
After yet another inquest, the troopswere found to be responsible for the skirmish.
The tribesmen were going about their normalbusiness when some soldier got trigger happy.
Congress pushed for the reservation to close, but the rest of the politicians
in Washington were against the idea.The issue of slavery of Navajo children had
become the elephant in the room.During one of the congressional hearings, New
(27:57):
Mexico Chief Justice Kirby Bennet publicly accusedGovernor Connolly and most of the Indian Service
agents of enslaving and selling Navajo womenand children. In the spring of eighteen
sixty seven, Congress passed an actto abolish and forever prohibit the system of
peonage in the territory of New Mexicoand other parts of the United States.
(28:18):
This came almost two years after theend of slavery in the eastern part of
the United States. General George Gettywould be Carlton's replacement, and he had
a long, tenuous journey ahead ofhim. He again asked the headsmen to
meet with him. He wanted toknow about the skirmish in July. Of
course, del Gasito was asked tocome and speak. He knew nothing of
(28:38):
the fight, but he took theopportunity to state his position on the reservation.
My thoughts are as they always were. My head and heart are for
the right. When brought from myown country here, I was told this
ground was my ground, and thiswater my water. I intend to live
here and do what is right.The first time I entered here, I
(29:00):
did not get any crop. Threetimes I have tried to raise crops and
failed. I don't like the Bosquebecause I don't think crops can be raised
here. Since I have been here, I have not been able to raise
even a basketful. I do notbelieve the ground here is the best ground
for us. We have plenty offood and clothing, but we can't get
two of anything. If we do, one disappears. We know not how
(29:23):
in our old country we raised abundantcrops. Here we can raise none.
I feel sorry that we can't getsheep or cattle of any kind. It
seems as if I would never seeany more flocks. Of course, that
wasn't the question that was asked,but it was a good opener for another
white man to hear his real complaints. Getty was the first officer to listen
(29:45):
to the Dena in several years,and he caught the ear of the President
and other government officials. Those officialswere already questioning whether the reservation was a
necessity. Now they were questioning itsethics. In May of at sixty eight,
barbon Cito held a prayer ceremony.The Dinab were still waiting to hear
their fate. In barbon Cito's anxietygot the better of him. He went
(30:07):
to see the crystal gazers and theytold him that he needed a coyote.
That coyote is a trickster. Hemeans well, but he could use his
power to change the minds of thearmy. He may be able to lead
the people back home. Four daysafter he went to see the crystal gazers,
barbon Cito walked into camp with acoyote that was bound and blindfolded.
(30:27):
He asked all the people to forma great circle around him. Hundreds,
then thousands of people came together.The circle covered most of the planes.
Barboncito began to pray as the peoplegathered. When the prayer was finished,
he placed a small bead made ofwhite shell in the coyote's mouth. This
represented changing women in a new beginning. Then he let him go. The
(30:49):
coyote ran first to the east.Barbun Cito yelled, not that way.
All the people on that side ofthe circle began to shout and wave their
arms. The coyote changed direction,but this time he went south. That
wasn't right either. The people onthe side of the circle began to yell
and wave their hands. The coyotejust wanting to get away from the crazy
mob, turned again and ran fullspeed to the west. Barbon Cito shouted,
(31:11):
opened the circle, let him through. The circle opened and the coyote
ran. He paused once to lookback, howled, and then continued his
run west towards freedom. Samuel Teppinwas the next to come and meet with
the Denat. He was the UnionArmy commander who had single handedly tried to
end slavery in New Mexico. Williamto Kumse Sherman was with him. They
(31:36):
invited twenty four Navajo headman to meetand discuss the future of the Denat this
time, barbon Cito was chosen tospeak for the Denat. He had been
waiting years for this moment. Hestood and spoke, quote, we know
this land is not like us.It seems whatever we do here causes death.
Our grandfathers had no idea of livingin any other country except our own,
(32:00):
and I do not think it isright for us to do so.
Before I am sick or older,I want to go and see the place
where I was born. I hopeto God you will not ask me to
go to any other country except myown. This hope goes in at my
feet and out my mouth as Iam speaking to you, Sherman was taken
with a speech. I believe youhave told the truth. He said,
(32:22):
all people love the country where theywere born and raised. We want to
do what is right. Barboncito letout a whoop and jumped to his feet.
At this, he was done withthe Bosque. He wanted to go
home. He wasn't quite finished,though, he again broach the subject of
Navajo slaves. He wanted them togo home as well. Barboncito, I
(32:42):
want to drop to this conversation nowand talk about Navajo children held as prisoners
by Mexicans. Some of those presenthave lost a brother or a sister,
and I know that they are inthe hands of Mexicans. I have seen
some myself, Sherman, about theirchildren being sold as peons by Mexicans.
You ought to know that they're isan act of Congress against it. About
four years ago we had slaves,and there was a great war about it.
(33:06):
Now there are none. Congress ourgreat Council has passed a law prohibiting
peonage in New Mexico, so thatif any Mexican holds a Navajo and ponage
he is liable to be put inthe penitentiary. We do not know that
there are any Navajo's held by Mexicansas peons, but if there are,
you can apply to the judges ofthe civil Court and the land commissioners.
They are the proper persons, andthey will decide whether the Navajo is to
(33:29):
go back to his own people orremain with the Mexicans. That isn't matter
with which we have nothing to do. What do you say about schools,
blacksmith carpenter shops for the purpose ofteaching your children? Barboncito. Another counterfeiter
said, we would like to havea blacksmith, as a great number of
us can work at the trade.We would like a carpenter shop too,
(33:50):
and if a school was established amongus, I am satisfied a great number
would attend. I like it verywell. Whatever orders you leave here,
you may rely upon their being obeyedat being done. The courts didn't help
the Navajo get their people back,though. Whenever someone would pass by a
settlement, suddenly all the slaves woulddisappear. The young captors would grow up
to marry the colonizers, and theywould assimilate and forget the teachings that they
(34:12):
had learned as children. The parentsand siblings of these captives would remain in
mourning, but there would be nomore stolen children. The colonizers were unwilling
to risk imprisonment by enslaving any moreof the Denette children, so any new
trafficking stopped. On June first,eighteen sixty eight, the last treaty was
signed. This one allowed the Dinetteto go home. Del Gadito made his
(34:36):
ex on the treaty, along withall the other Navajo headsman, but there
had been a mistake, and ared line was drawn through his name.
Under that he signed his name incursive del Gadito. June eighteenth was the
day that the Navajo were released fromthe Bosquerretumdo, a line formed ten miles
long. As they began their journey, they sang in the beauty I walk
(34:59):
with beauty before, I walk withbeauty behind me, I walk with beauty
above me, I walk with beautyaround me. I walk it has become
beauty again. The land that theDina returned to was substantially smaller than the
one they left four years before.None of their four sacred mountains fell within
(35:21):
its borders. But it was theirs, and they could rejoice in that between
eighteen sixty eight and nineteen thirty four, tribal leaders would negotiate for more land
fourteen times. Del Gallito would liveto see all but the last two.
Barboncito would die three years before hespoke at the hearing that secured the release
of the DNA from the Boscatredondo.He was buried in Canyon d Celli with
(35:45):
one copy of the Tree of eighteensixty eight. Manuelito and his wife Anita
went on to lead the Navajo nationfor another twenty five years. After the
return to Canyon de Chelli, hewould continue to fight for the freedom of
Navajo children in slavery. When askedby General Oliver Howard, how so many
Navajo children end up as slaves,Manuelito bit back harshly. You know very
(36:08):
well how they came to be there, When this world was dark, with
dirt and sand flying, and thestones were raised by the wind, and
all were fighting with the government andthemselves. You know very well how this
thing happened. When all the nationscame against us, then we lost our
children. Manuelito may have never seenthe release of the Navajo children, but
(36:28):
their slavery spurred him on to becomea champion of education for the tribe.
He's quoted as saying, my grandchildreneducation is a ladder. He sent two
of his sons to Carlisle Indian IndustrialSchool. Both of them became ill.
One died at the school and theother died shortly after returning home. The
Carlisle School would become the model forother boarding schools, designed not to teach
(36:51):
children trades so they could eventually supportthemselves, but to assimilate them into colonial
ways. Delgadito passed away in eighteenseventy, just two years after returning home.
He would always be remembered as thefirst Navajo blacksmith and counterfeiter. No
other tribe has ever been allowed toleave a reservation to return to their homeland.
(37:12):
Most ended up far from the placethat they were born. After being
removed from their homes, many neversaw their countries again. The story of
the Busque Ralundo was all but forgottenby nineteen ninety when a group of Navajo
school children went went to visit FortSumner. Those children learned quite a bit
about Billy the Kid, but sadlynothing was mentioned about their ancestors who had
suffered for four years under military rule. When they left the site, they
(37:37):
left a note that read, wefound Fort Sumner Historical Site discriminating and not
telling the true story behind what reallyhappened to our ancestors in eighteen sixty four
to eighteen sixty eight. We thereforedeclare that the museums show and tell the
true history of the Navajos and theUnited States Military today. That letter greets
(37:57):
visitors at the Bosque Memorial Museum.A census of twenty twenty one found that
the enrolled membership of the Navajo Nationwas three hundred and ninety nine thousand,
four hundred and ninety four people.It's the largest tribal nation in the US,
even surpassing the enrollment of the CherokeeNation. The story of the Navajo
countefitters showed the resilience in fortitude thatexists in the Dank culture to this day.
(38:21):
Their ingenuity and studiousness are what helpedthem survive to foster a tribe that
has grown to the largest in theland. The ingenuity lives on in the
great grandchildren of Manuelito Barboncito de Gartoand others. The greed of the colonists
got them sent to the Bosque,but their integrity and perseverance brought them home.
(38:43):
Thanks for listening, and stay safeNew Mexico.
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