Canyon De Chelly and the Navajo Nation

We spent a week exploring the Navajo Nation.  We camped at Canyon De Chelly in the National Monument Campground.  The National Monument Visitor Center and Campground are located at the mouth of the Canyon.  It was an eye-opening experience.   The Canyon itself is a natural wonder with high escarpments and a cottonwood tree-dotted floor, but this isn't the complete story.  

The Navajo still live in the Canyon, passing the land on from generation to generation through the maternal side of the family.  Yes, the Navajo women are the caretakers of the Canyon and the greater Navajo Nation.  

The Canyon is a geographical marvel comprised of 83,840 acres (131 sq mi; 339 km2) that includes the floors and rims of the three major canyons: de Chelly, del Muerto, and Monument.  These canyons were created by streams from the Chuska Mountains.   It has been continuously occupied since  Ancestral Puebloan times.

Originally from 1300 to the early 1700s, the Canyon was occupied by the Hopi Indians.   Their presence can still be felt throughout the Canyon by the various cliff dwellings that remain.  The only way to visit the Canyon floor is through a Navajo-guided tour.   This tour was one of the major highlights of our 80-day trip out West.  In addition to seeing the beauty of the Canyon, we learned of the history and the battles that were fought there.  It is a story of tragedy and rebirth. 

Kit Carson of Frontier Fame was ordered during the Civil War to round up the Navajo because there was a perception that they were aiding the Confederate cause.  At Canyon De Chelly, over 3000 Navajo were rounded up by the US Army after a scorched earth campaign, then a siege of Spider Rock.    They were then forced to walk 130 miles to a reservation in New Mexico, which came to be known as the Long Walk.    After the Civil War, around 1000 returned to the Navajo Nation created by treaty. 

One Navajo elder said of the Long Walk: "By slow stages, we traveled eastward to present Gallup and Shush Bìtó, Bear Spring, which is now called Fort Wingate.  You ask how they treated us?  If there was room, the soldiers put the women and children on the wagons.  Some even let them ride behind them on their horses.  I have never been able to understand people who killed you one day and on the next played with your children ...[9]"

Today, from the 1000 who returned, the Navajo Nation has grown to over 200k souls.  The largest Indian Nation in North America includes over 17000 square miles with major parts of Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico within its borders.  Larger than 10 states, it is a cultural treasure.  

Standing in line at a Tour Office, two Navajo men were talking to each other in their native tongue.  In English, in a joking manner, if you're wondering what we're talking about, it's you.   I just said I have been talked about by worse people.  We then had a good laugh and went on our tour to the canyon floor with them.  It was a magical experience.

The Great Basin National Park's Lost Winchester 1873

One of the coolest things we saw on our 80-day trip to California and back.  On this trip, we visited 32 National Parks and Monuments.  The drive across Nevada had unexpected beauty.  Along Highway 50, nicknamed the loneliest road in America, sits the Great Basin National Park, which is full of surprises. 

The Great Basin of the Western United States encompasses most of Nevada, as well as large portions of Oregon, Utah, and California.  The National Park is an Island of tree-covered mountains in the middle of a desert landscape.  

"In the Park, an archaeologist discovered a Winchester Model 1873 rifle leaning against a juniper tree in 2014.  The gun, manufactured in 1882, was found in a remote area during a habitat restoration project.  It was left in place for research and preservation, and its discovery has become a popular story, even going viral on social media. 

The rifle, a Winchester Model 1873, is a lever-action centerfire rifle chambered in .44-40 caliber.  It has a 24-inch octagonal barrel and a magazine that holds up to 12 cartridges.  The gun was found with a round of ammunition dating from 1887 to 1911, suggesting it had been there for many years.  It was later x-rayed, revealing a live cartridge in the buttstock. 

The rifle's backstory remains a mystery, contributing to its allure.  The area where it was found was known for hunting, prospecting, and sheep herding.  While the exact reason for its abandonment is unknown, it has become a symbol of the American West and its history.  The rifle is now on display at the park's visitor center.  "

I was very impressed with the drive through Nevada on Highway 50. Nicknamed the loneliest road in the nation, it was filled with big vistas that contained mountains in a desert landscape.  We didn't spend much time Great Basin National Park, but it was a great stop that proved to be very informative.  Plus, we got to see the Winchester 1873.

Fort Sill and Geronimo's Grave

Today, we did the Fort Sill historical walk, which took us around the old Fort Sill.  The commanding general still lives in the same house that Gen Sherman, of Civil War fame, stayed in 1870.  

The Fort constructed by Buffalo Soldiers has been active since then.  The original Fort Sill Square, with its parade field and cavalry barracks, is still in use.  The Fort itself is now the US Army Artillery Center.  The first Fort Sill has the original stone horse stalls and corrals that were used by the 1870 cavalry down the hill.  

In the early 1990s, I was a supply sergeant for a M109 Artillery Battery in Germany.  All the Artillerymen would talk about Fort Sill because they were trained here.  Artillery is nicknamed the King of Battle.  The M109 is a motorized track vehicle that carries a 155mm howitzer.  It is followed by a track ammunition carrier.  It looks like a tank, but it's designed to fire from a stationary position.  I have pulled the lanyard of this gun a couple of times, and it is a powerful feeling. 

It has been the highlight of our trip out west so far.  The Apache Chief Geronimo is buried here, and we visited his grave.  We are camped in a Live Oak grove along Medicine Creek, about 2 miles from the grave and cemetery as the crow flies. 

Fort Sill has a long history as a Frontier Fort.  It also has an infamous history with its Indian School and its participation in the Indian Wars.  After the last Indian Campaign of 1886, when Geronimo surrendered, he and his warriors with their families were kept prisoner here on Fort Sill.  He died in 1909, and the remaining members of his band were pardoned and released in 1913.

On his deathbed, he stated he should never have surrendered, that they should have fought to the last man.  The Indian graveyard is not in a developed area of the Fort, on the backside of the post golf course.  It's surrounded by fields and woods near a dry creek bed. 

It's a peaceful place with well-marked graves, and family members can still be buried here.  We saw one headstone from 2022.  As we walk through the graveyard, we let our dog Abbey run among the graves since we're the only ones there.  I'm sure the ghosts of the warriors and their family members were happy to see a friendly dog.