As more Americans settled in the territory of New Mexico, they met with fierce resistance from the Mescalero Apache and Navajo people who fought to maintain control of their traditional lands and their way of life.
In an effort to subjugate them, the U.S. Army made war on the Apaches and Navajos. Those who survived these attachks were starved into submission and forced to march to the Bosque Redondo Indian Reservation in eastern New Mexico.
By the end of 1864, some 9000 people were held captive at Fort Sumner and the surrounding BOsque Redondo Reservation.
Most of the MEscalero Apaches eluded their military guards and abandoned the reservation on November 3, 1865; but, for the Navajos, another three years pased before the United States Government acknowledged Navajo sovereighnty in the historic Treaty of 1868.
The Navajos began their joyful return home in June of 1868, and today the Navajo Nation is the largest Native American community in the United States.
Hours: 8:30am- 5pm, daily
Admission: $5 (children 16 and under free)
Location: 3 miles east of Fort Sumner on Hy 60/84 and 3 1/2 miles south of Hwy 60 on Billy the Kid Road, Fort Sumner, NM
Phone: 505-355-2573
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