June Glimpses of the Past

Navajo at Fort Sumner

NPS photo

News Release Date: June 5, 2017

Contact: Lorenzo Vigil, 505-425-8025

Watrous, NM: In 1863, as the Civil War raged on with campaigns and battles in the East, the U.S. Army in the Southwest would shift its attention away from the Confederate threat back to the Indian Wars. Nearly 154 years ago, Fort Union led the campaign of forced removal against the Mescalero Apache of the Pecos River Valley, and the Diné, or Navajo, of the Canyon de Chelly. Members of both nations were rounded up and taken as prisoners under military guard to the Bosque Redondo reservation at Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Thousands of people were moved in successive trips over several routes, enduring sickness, beatings, and fatalities. By 1865, over 8,500 Navajo shared the Bosque Redondo reservation with about 500 Mescalero Apache under horrid conditions. Join us on June 15^th and discover the lasting impacts of the Long Walk of 1864.
 
 This program will be held at the CCHP/Santa Fe Trail Interpretive Center at 116 Bridge Street in Las Vegas, New Mexico on Thursday, June 15, 2017 at 7:00 PM. For more information, contact Fort Union National Monument at [phone]. You can find our free APP in the Apple App Store and on Google Play. Search for Fort Union National Monument. Visit www.nps.gov/foun, or like on us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/FortUnionNM.