Tensions between the Navajo Indians and American military forces in the
New Mexico Territory resulted in the Navajo War, which lasted from 1860 to
1864.  During a final standoff at Canyon de Chelly, fears of starvation
and harsh winter conditions forced t he Navajo to surrender to Kit Carson
and his troops in January 1864.  Carson ordered the destruction of their
property and organized the Long Walk of the Navajo to the Bosque Redondo,
a reservation already occupied by Mescalero Apaches on the Pecos River. 
In this photo, the Navajo are gathered at Fort Sumner, the post that was
built to watch over the reservation.  Government supplies were inadequate
for the tribe's needs, and their four-year exile was marked by hunger and
disease.  When they were permitted to return to their homeland in 1868,
the Navajo vowed never to make war with the white man again.