Chief Manuelito: Navajo Leader Through The Long Walk

In1855 Manuelito was recognized as a very powerful Chief who led the Navajo tribe to a better philosophy of education and peace. Chief Manuelito is the very last
Navajo Chief and, as one of the greatest Chief’s, is significant for his leadership through the Long Walk. The Long Walk was truly an interminable and detrimental journey. Chief
Manuelito was a Navajo Chief who helped carry all of his followers through the strenuous walk of three hundred fifty miles by foot, facing the conflicts of the U.S. Army forcing them out of their homeland, leading to the compromise through the treaty of
Bosque Redondo. Chief Manuelito loyally stood next to his people. He did not abandon any of them and, after all of the disputes, he wanted to better his land

This was a pivotal event that led to conflict between the military men and members of the tribe. The fort was initially built by Col. Edwin V. Sumner to have a military presence in
Navajo territory, thought to help e

timeline from an article Manuelito, “Manuelito succeeded Zarcillos Largos [the designated captain of all Navajo territories] as principal chief of the Navajo and initially tried to avoid conflict with the US military. July 18, 1855, Manuleito signed the
Meriwether Treaty.” The territorial governor, David Meriwether, was the man who tried to sort everything out while in his office in Sante Fe, making and signing treaties.
Before the Long Walk, the Anglo men of the American armies wanted the land where the Navajos currently resided, so they decided to remove them from their lands around Fort Wingate, Arizona to Fort Sumner, New Mexico. In 1855, Meriwether had treaties with the Navajo and Mescalero Apache tribes but nothing was official as
Congress did not ratify them. By 1858, the relationship between the government was starting to strain as the Navajos began to distract the military’s buildup at Fort

The armies began to patrol though the Navajo lands in 1859-1860 which made the tension increase. Chief Manuelito began to feel intimidated so he ordered his people to harass the armies. The US Army decided to get back at the
Navajos by attacking them but their raid was unsuccessful. Instead, the raid infuriated the Navajo. In the article Navajo Long Walk to Bosque Redondo-1864 by William H.
Wroth, he states that, “James L. Collins, Superintendent of Indian Affairs in New Mexico in his 1860 annual report called for an end to the futile campaign and recommended that the Army create a reservation for the Navajo as the best way to control them.” In
August of 1862, General James H. Carleton was in charge of the New Mexico armies,

taking the place of General Canby. Carleton was more of an assertive, get right to it type of leader. He had an idea for solving the conflicts between the Navajos and his armies. He established the isolated Fort in Eastern New Mexico. Carleton was going to have the Mescalero Apaches travel first. However, in the spring of 1863, Carleton decided to focus more on the real conflict, the Navajos. He first decided to hold