Jim Matheson: “In 1863, one of the darkest incidents in American history occurred in what is now Arizona and New Mexico. It was in that…”

“In 1863, one of the darkest incidents in American history occurred in what is now Arizona and New Mexico. It was in that year that Colonel Kit Carson began his campaign against the Navajo people. Riding out of Fort Defiance, Colonel Carson's troops stormed into the Navajo's sacred Canyon de Chelley and burned hogans, stole food and slaughtered livestock. The mission was to subdue the peaceful Navajo, and when the ransacking was over, 8,000 men, women and children were forced to March 350 miles to a barren wasteland. This was nothing more than a prison camp. There was no wood for fires, the ground could not support crops and the water was brackish. For 4 years, the Navajo starved until the government finally relented and granted the Navajo a new reservation that included their sacred lands. During their confinement, 25 percent of the Navajo died. This legislation is just a small tribute to the suffering and the proud heritage of the Navajo nation.”