Chief Manuelito Biography and Facts The Long Walk

On September 1, 1866, the last Navaho chief Manuelito turned himself in at Fort Wingate. From the article:

"Chief Manuelito as A Leader
Navajo Chief Manuelito was a Navajo Chief who was known for putting up a good fight against the whites who were determined in conquering the Navajo Territory. This has made him part of the list of famous Navajo people. One major event during the lifetime of the Famous Navajo Chief was the Long Walk. It was a form of forced relocation for the Navajo people where they were forced to march miles and miles at gunpoint. It was approximately 350 miles, and there was minimal rest.

It was an act of force uprooting of the Navajo tribe from their homeland, Arizona, and New Mexico. The journey involved them going to Fort Sumner, specifically in Bosque Redondo reservation. The people who were displaced were clearly unprepared, both physically, and in terms of the resources, they carried. They were not made aware of where they were heading; they were simply told to walk endlessly. In total, because of the level of torture, around 200 Navajo Indians perished.

At the beginning, the Navajo Indian Chief was still not really very keen on exercising violence against the white people. Unfortunately, with many American generals being active in using brute force against the Native Americans, the Navajo leader finally decided to take a different route of action.

Chief Manuelito and his armies were one of those who was highly opposed to the joining of the Long Walk. Instead, they opted into being guerillas who hide in the mountains. With their strategic location, they started some sort of warfare against the Americans. This has become the last option when an American general named Kit Carson targetted the agricultural livelihood of the Navajo people, especially crops and herds.

Over time, the conflict between the two distinct parties revolved around the fight over lands. The Navajo Chief Manuelito tried talking to the different presidents, such as President Hayes and Grant, as well as different generals such as Carleton. Unfortunately, the majority of the Americans who were talked to were firm in their goal of acquiring the lands of the Navajos. Thus, the famous Navaho Indian was forced to exert violence in order to protect his own tribe.

The “Long Walk”
With the circumstance in which the people were subjected to the Long Walk, it was clearly a form of imprisonment for the people. Having to walk endlessly with guns pointed in their heads, they were forced to expose themselves to the excruciating pain of walking under the constantly changing weather. The government of the United States were very harsh to the Navajo people; they cared little about the plight of the people that they were deporting. It was this kind of mishandling that led Chief Manuelito, as well as other famous Navajo Chiefs, to opt to hide in the mountains. The Long Walk did not discriminate across the people, from young to old, from men to women. The Long Walk was evidently one of the traumatic events that made the Navajo of today the way they are.

Chief Manuelito’s Surrender
Looking into the different accounts of famous Navajo leaders, or some other Native American leaders for that matter, eventually, they surrender due to the persistent pushing of the enemy. This time, the famous Navajo Indians managed by Chief Manuel, and him of course, ended up surrendering because of too much hunger. It must be remembered that within this time, an American general has been very diligent in cutting supplies in forms of livestock and crops.

The creation of the Fort Defiance and Fort Wingate has further widened the animosity between the Americans and the native tribes. These forts intensified the militia presence of the Americans. In the end, because of the scarcity. Chief Manuelito, along with the Navajo Chiefs, ended up surrendering in order to spare their native armies from further suffering. However, when despite the surrendering the famous Navajo tribe were still under dire conditions, Chief Manuelito again took matters into his own hands by petitioning for a new reservation in the Washington D.C. government. Fortunately, this time they were approved. Luckily, they were rellocated to their original homeland once again."