Travel: Canyon de Chelly holds history of the Navajo Nation

Monday, February 27, 2012  

"The trouble started over a horse.

An American colonel named John Washington had led his troops deep into Navajo country and summoned some chiefs to sign a treaty. As the council ended, a soldier spotted a stolen mount among the Navajo warriors. Washington ordered the horse returned, tempers flared and the colonel told his men to fire while the suspected horse thief rode for the hills. When the dust cleared, seven Navajos were dead or wounded, including Narbona, the aging, though still influential, chief.

Washington kept looking for Navajos to sign a treaty, oblivious of the fact that he had blundered in the negotiations.

The troops eventually rode through Canyon de Chelly, passing beneath ancient pueblos built into the towering cliffs, their mounts splashing through a shallow stream that flowed along the sandy bottom. They passed cornfields and peach orchards while Navajos watched from ledges and outcrops."

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Canyon de Chelly holds the history of Navajos (The Arizona Republic 2/24)